Here at Hall Media, we have been working a lot with emerging technologies, such as digital books. Through our research we have seen a growing trend of paper backs turning into electronic backs. There are a number of reasons why book worms would want to make the switch to Pac-Men.
1. eBooks allow authors to quickly release their work, without the run around that a publisher would give them:
Usually it can take 12 months, or even years, for an author to find a publisher for their work and to have them print, duplicate and finally sell their book. This can be frustrating for authors, because they may have a blockbuster work, but no one will ever get to read it.
With eBooks, an author can hire their own editor, have their work finalized, and in seconds upload it to a service such as Stanza or eBay.
2. eBooks can reach a larger audience, while still targeting the right crowd:
The greatest thing about digital books is that it can reach anyone who has the internet or an eBook reader. In addition, the audience can easily search for your book based off of the genre, keywords, or other search criteria. You don’t even need to have a well known name to sell millions!
3. You can fit a million books in your pocket:
Perhaps the greatest feature of electronic books is that if you’re using a device such as an iPhone, Blackberry, Kindle, Sony Reader, smart phone or PDA, you can store thousands of books on the phone and read them right off of the device’s screen. No more lugging around educational text books that weigh a hundred pounds, or trying to pack tens of paperbacks into a bag, only to see them tear and shred apart.
4. Features and Interactivity:
eBooks offer a wide variety of features, such as digital bookmarks and “Find” capabilities, where you can type in a word and it finds it through out the book. You can even virtually “write” in them, by highlighting words or even scribbling in them if you have a touch sensitive phone, such as the iPhone.
5. They Cost Less and Save the Environment:
Well you might not jump on the “Save the Environment” idea, but ideally they don’t use any paper. But the real punch is electronic books simply cost less money. Here are a few examples to prove it:
Amazon.com has their own digital book collection, that works with their own device called the Kindle. Now here are a few prices of books, where the paper back is compared to the electronic Kindle version:
The Da Vinci Code: A Novel (Kindle Edition) - $6.39
The Da Vinci Code (Paperback) - $7.99
Breaking Dawn (Paperback) - $12.64
Breaking Dawn (Kindle) - $11.38
The Host (Paperback) - $10.87
The Host (Kindle) - $9.99
The Host (Hardcover) - $15.59
Overall, for Amazon’s Kindle format, the electronic version sells for about 10% less than the paper back equivalent.
Amazon isn’t the only company jumping on the digital bookwagon. Just recently Barnes & Noble announced that they have purchased an eBook publisher.
Amazon and Barnes & Noble are the two largest book stores, and now both have entered the cyber world of books. But don’t forget about the Apple iPhone, which now has the popular Stanza application which allows people to purchase books and read them right from the phone. But the fun doesn’t end there. Now even Google is jumping on book, with their Android operating system for phones. (Pictured below):
Overall, it won’t be long until books made of paper go the way of the stone tablet, the vinyl record and the VHS tape player, as technology continues to improve our everyday activities.
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