Will print books like cassettes and VHS become a thing of the past? The eBook market has really taken off in the last few years, aided by the development of eReader devices like Amazon’s Kindle and Sony’s eReader.

Yet, the print book remains. It is a technology that has endured since before Gutenberg and his printing press. Slowly, however, change is coming to the publishing industry and to the very concept of what is a book. This change looks set to accelerate as new players enter the eReader market and there comes a tipping point in eBook acceptance among the reading public.

Changing of the eBook from PDF to interactive text

Most eBooks today are simply a book that has been digitized and made available online. Some eReaders, such as the Kindle, offer increased functionality compared to a print book in that you can look up words in a dictionary as you read and can make digital highlights and notes. In the future, both the eBook and eReader will evolve to take greater advantage of the opportunities inherent in the digital medium. Already, certain sectors of the publishing industry, such as textbooks publishers, have started to adapt to the eBook revolution and have begun offering customizable and hyperlinked text. Although digital text works well for some types of books, at this juncture there are still books that just work better in print– cookbooks and childrens’ picture books come to mind. The book market will remain a hybrid for the foreseeable future, until eBooks manage to embrace their true potential for interactivity and until eReaders can better mimic the best attributes of print.

Convergence of Devices

Amazon and Sony were two of the first major entrants into the eReader market. Both of their devices utilized E Ink technology, which greatly enhanced the reading experience and made reading from a screen similar to reading from a page. In the few short years since the release of the Kindle and the Sony Reader, there have been significant changes in eReader technology and a number of new entrants to the field. Apple enters the fray in mid-2010 with its iPad device, a tablet computer that will have a reader application. Barnes & Noble released the Nook in late 2009, which has both an E Ink and LCD screen combined. Spring Design’s not-yet-released Alex has a similar setup, with dual screens, one for web browsing and the other for reading documents. The line between a dedicated computer or MP3 player or mobile phone or eReader seems to becoming increasingly blurred. The future may bring a device that combines all these functions, but until that point it seems eReaders are evolving step by step and adding new features by the minute.

Free and Less Expensive Books

It is likely that as the eReader experience becomes more enjoyable and the price for the devices drop, more and more people will convert from print to digital books. Price is always a significant motivator, and the cost of an eBook is far less than for that of a print book at the moment. There are also thousands of free books available from sites like Project Gutenberg and Google Books. Although Macmillan, a large trade publisher, recently had a dispute with Amazon regarding pricing control, most books sold through Amazon remain priced at $9.99 or below. With the iPad, Apple promises to shake up the price structure of eBooks, as publishers will have more control in setting price. The maximum price allowed will be relative to the price of the hardback edition of the book instead of being just a flat rate. It will be interesting to watch how the eBook price wars play out and how much increased competition in the eReader market will decrease the cost of the average device.

Publishers/Authors

For publishers and authors, eBooks are a brave new world. With the internet and digital books, it is easier than ever for an author to publish his or her work. There are no printing or storage costs for the digital author. The staggering number of titles available, however, makes it hard to break through the noise. Publishing through a traditional publishing house still conveys a sense of authority, as the text has passed through a number of gatekeepers on its route to the printed page. Publishers are trying to stay relevant in the digital world by releasing eBooks and working on innovative projects, such as publishing novels in installments on mobile phones. Because no publishing company has yet developed an eReader device of its own, distribution of content remains in the hands of companies like Apple, Google, and Amazon. It remains to be seen if these these companies will at some point decide to cut out the publisher as a middleman and go into the publishing business themselves.