"This ebook thing is not going to last." (UPDATED: HP Touchpad bites the dust)

[Martin Perry]

Yeah, as both an iPad and Kindle owner, I can't ever imagine picking the former for eBook reading. It's such a strain on your eyes.

I am looking forward to the eventual release of quality colour e-ink screens. There are a few examples floating around but the colours often look washed out - they'll get it right soon enough though.

[mooshie78]

I wouldn't want to use my iPad as my main e-book reader.  But I've not had any issues reading a few library e-books on it while waiting for that update to come to the Kindle.

It doesn't strain my eyes that much personally.  But I also seldom read for more than 30-60 minutes in any one stretch so that probably makes it less of an issue than for those of you who read for hours and hours on end.


As for traveling, if I'm going to do any work, I take my laptop (and Kindle) as I need my stats software, MS Word (too hard to deal with tables, figures etc. in things like quick office as the formatting gets screwy a lot of the times when going back to MS Word on the PC) etc.  If it's a personal trip with no work, I'll just take my iPad as I don't read much when traveling (other than on the plane) anyway and it can handle my vacation computing needs--looking up stuff online, checking e-mail, reading the news etc.

[ronvitale]

I love The Office and reading Darly's quote just made me laugh. When I look back and see how CDs changed the music industry and then mp3s changed the industry again, I don't think it's that much of a reach to say that ebooks are here to stay. And I LOVE my paper books, but that doesn't mean I can't adapt and try new things.

I really thought that I wouldn't like the reading experience on the Kindle, but I was wrong. It's easy on my eyes, light to carry and very convenient. My biggest problem is that my wife and I are sharing one Kindle and that makes things complicated as I'll pull the book I'm reading up on my phone on the way to work in the morning and sometimes the synching doesn't quite work so I have to scroll to where I am. But think about that: How many times have you said something like: "Great, I forgot my book at home!" Now I simply fire up the Kindle app on my phone and I'm good.

With how good the Kindle is (and this is important), Amazon working on putting the Kindle app on Android devices and the iPhone, I see a long, long future for ebooks. And I think that's a good thing.

That reminds me of the episode of The Office where Daryl walks into a bookstore, and the nice lady behind the counter asks if he'd like to try an ereader.

"I work at a paper company," Daryl said. "Those things terrify me. They could put us out of business! I heard those things hold like 10 books at once."

"Actually, it’s 10,000."

"Holy ####! What? Let me see it…"

And by the end of the episode, Daryl's bought himself an ereader.

But you know what's really funny? The bookstore he walked into was Borders -- and they're the ones who didn't last. Shortly after that episode aired, they declared bankruptcy!

[MichelleR]

I see a market for these in schools...where they might not want the added distractions provided by multi-functional tablets.

They? ME! I have the attention span of a gnat and don't need extra distractions.

[MichelleR]

I would have told him to find a new job!  Besides, what does this guy know he sells electronics for a living  (not to bash him directly but lets face it any high school kid can get a job selling electronics)

Now, now, is that Minnesota Nice? You and I both know that Minnesota Nice is way more passive-aggressive, and the person can only suspect -- but not know for sure -- that they've been insulted, because the "slam" was blanketed in a thick coat of outward politeness.

"Oh, yah, you like selling gadgets? My son is thinking of getting a job here, but it's his junior year of high school -- not that he couldn't handle it -- but his father has aspirations for him and would prefer that he concentrates on his studies. So ... where are the tablets? That's a nice nice uniform, by the way! Polyester? .... Oh, a blend! Well, it's real nice! Reminds me of the shirts my uncle used to wear back in the seventies. He owned a disco Do you have layaway? ... Real good then."

[Liam Ireland]

Ebooks are the future. More and more book stores are going out of business. It's only a matter of time.

[StephenLivingston]

I'm sure that there will still be ebooks around long after that shop assistant has shuffled off this mortal coil.

[kcmay]

I play with the notion of getting a tablet, though I'm not sure I'd use it for much. For computing, I'd use my PC or laptop, for watching movies I'd use my TV/DVD player/Wii for streaming, and for reading I'd use the Kindle (or the nook). The Kindle is lightweight and easy to shift positions with. I can't imagine being able to get cozy in bed with a big, heavy tablet glaring at me.

[mooshie78]

I find my iPad nearly as easy to curl up with as the Kindle.  It's heavier, but not enough to bother me personally.

I use mine a lot despite having a desktop, a laptop and a K3.  I mainly use it for reading things that aren't well suited to e-ink devices/the small Kindle screen--newspapers, magazines, comics, pdfs of scholarly research articles etc.  But some can't stand reading at all on LCD screens, so that's a "to each, their own" thing.  I prefer e-ink, but reading on the iPad doesn't bother my eyes very much personally.

I also use it for web surfing (anything but forums as I want a real keyboard for that), playing games, accessing my work calendar, checking e-mail when I'm not near the laptop/desktop, taking notes in work meetings and so on.

Tablets are definitely not for everyone, but that's an outline of how mine is useful for me at least.

[mom133d (aka Liz)]

Right...and television would never catch one...rock and roll was just a fad...the internet would never be in every home...space travel was a fantasy...

Well, space travel is a fantasy (again) at least in America.

[JRTomlin]

In our house, to use the iPad you have to steal it back from the kids.

[Simon Haynes]

I spend 16+ hours per day looking at a computer screen. When I read, the last thing I want is a backlit LCD. In contrast (hah!) e-ink is soothing to the eyes.

[FastPop]

eBooks are becoming a solid part of our media ecosystem.

[Brem]

e-readers will stay, just like mp3 players and other such devices. Everything will be digital in the coming years. I bet we can even start watching movies in theaters while at home one days. That may not be true, but it would be kind of cool.

[mooshie78]

e-readers will stay, just like mp3 players and other such devices. Everything will be digital in the coming years. I bet we can even start watching movies in theaters while at home one days. That may not be true, but it would be kind of cool.

I read somewhere a while back that one of the cable or satellite providers was going to start doing that soon.  Having currently in the theater movies on Pay Per View for like $20.  Pricey for just one person, but if it's two or more it would be the same or cheaper than movie tickets many places.

Personally, I wouldn't use it as I like watching movies on the huge theater screen and don't mind waiting for things to be out to rent for ones I don't go see in the theater.  So to me the $20 isn't worth it to see a new movie at home.  But I could see it being useful for family films etc. where it's cheaper to do that than buy 4+ tickets and popcorn etc. for people who aren't movie buffs and don't care about the theater experience etc.

[JeanneB]

I love my Kindles and my iPad...I hardly ever read a physical book anymore.  But I am finding it so unnerving to see bookstores closing.  I wonder what will happen to the publishing companies, if they will be able to make it publishing only digital copy in the future. We are at a turning point with all this new technology..its exciting and scary at the same time. 

[mooshie78]

I wouldn't worry about that anytime soon

Look at music.  MP3 sales have been bigger than CD sales for a while now and CDs aren't going away.

A lot of music stores have went out out of business as a result--so it's a bit harder to find somethings locally since the selection at the big box stores is mostly only mainstream stuff.  But you can order anything you want online.

I imagine books will be the same way going forward.  Book stores will close, making some lesser known books harder to find.   But we'll be able to easily order them online from Amazon and other sources.

[QuantumIguana]

I don't see the end of bookstores in the foreseeable future. Independent stores that are much more in tune with their local market will be more likely to survive. The market for paper books will be smaller, but still significant enough for the independents to remain in business.

It's similar to music. Independent music stores are doing OK, as far as I have seen, it's the chain music stores that have dried up.

[LisaGraceBooks]

::shrug:: Heck, my life isn't going to last. But I'll enjoy it while I can.

LOL, I'm reading books now over my Kindle app on my PC. But I'm definitely treating myself to one for a Christmas present. This is after I have considered all the options on the market. I have my laptop for writing novels, skyping, & shopping. I have my cell phone for talking, and I want a Kindle for reading. Here in the bright Florida sunlight, all other screens are just too hard to see. I like how light weight it is and easy to handle. Cell phones are too small to read on. Lap tops, too large, but a Kindle? Just right. 

[mooshie78]

It's similar to music. Independent music stores are doing OK, as far as I have seen, it's the chain music stores that have dried up.

That's true...though it does seem that most of those are doing most of their business selling Vinyl more so than CDs from talking with staff at one of the local indie music stores here.  Where as I don't see an equivalent with books.  Books are books.  There's not an old format equivalent of vinyl to be a novelty.  Though maybe selling older, out of print used books could have a similar effect...

Around here,where the local book stores are thriving is in making money off their coffee shops--at least around here.  They have a selection of books to fit their crowd, and the coffee shop to keep them coming back (and making money off them even if they don't buy books every visit).  They attract the younger, trendy crowd that doesn't want to support chain places like Starbucks or Borders and are doing good business catering to that market.

The big chain stores tried that, but made the mistake of expanding into music and movies etc. and couldn't compete on those as their prices were absurd compared to places like Best Buy, Target, Wal-mart etc. (much less online).  Carrying so much merchandise necessitated huge warehouse sized stores with huge rents and that's what really did borders in.  B&N is doing a bit better, but they seem to have more small, book only stores around so maybe that's helping them.

[Erica Sloane]

See the update in the original post.

[mooshie78]

Yeah, the HP touchpad was pretty much always doomed to fail.  Apple and Android have the market cornered now.  There was no chance a third OS like WebOS was going to succeed.

The only possible exception is Microsoft with their forthcoming Windows 8 tablets and slates.  If anyone has the clout to crash the party, it's MS.

Otherwise Apple will continue to dominate the tablet market, and Android will remain the other option on a variety of tablets.

[QuantumIguana]

That's true...though it does seem that most of those are doing most of their business selling Vinyl more so than CDs from talking with staff at one of the local indie music stores here.  Where as I don't see an equivalent with books.  Books are books.  There's not an old format equivalent of vinyl to be a novelty.  Though maybe selling older, out of print used books could have a similar effect...

The equivalent is paper. Just as there are some people who prefer listening to vinyl rather than CD, some people prefer paper books over e-books. The difference is greater between paper and e-books than it is with vinyl and CD. Vinyl and CD are different formats, but you listen to them the same way. Assuming that the vinyl record has no scratches, you might not be able to tell if you are listening to vinyl or CD. But if you're reading a book, it's going to be obvious whether it is paper of an e-book. Paper and e-books offer different experiences. I know there are stores that specialize in vinyl records, but from my experience, that's not the majority of the independent sellers. We have one store the specializes in folk music. Most of their business is in selling instruments, but they also sell a lot of CDs. Then there is the local music scene, and a number of independent stores cater to that market, while the chains ignored it.

Around here,where the local book stores are thriving is in making money off their coffee shops--at least around here.  They have a selection of books to fit their crowd, and the coffee shop to keep them coming back (and making money off them even if they don't buy books every visit).  They attract the younger, trendy crowd that doesn't want to support chain places like Starbucks or Borders and are doing good business catering to that market.

Uncle Hugos (a science fiction bookstore in Minneapolis) makes its living on science fiction, no coffee shop. A friend of mine was looking for a book, didn't know the title or the author, and had only a vague description of the plot. I would have thought they wouldn't be able to help him. He had the book in his hands in about 2 minutes. The store doesn't try to be all things to all people, but they know their subject very well. That's one way that independent stores can survive.

[mooshie78]

Note I said "thriving."  I'm talking local book stores that are making money hand over fist as they are always packed with people having coffee and browsing the shelves.

There's certainly a place for specialty stores like that scifi shop etc.  But those tend to be labor of love stores where the owners make enough to barely get buy and keep doing it because they love that niche and talking to fans of it etc. and are ok living on a small income.  Nothing wrong with that.  Just saying those kind of places aren't what I meant when talking about stores that were thriving.

[Meemo]

I'm dating myself now but I can recall in the early days of PCs, in the 1980s a lot of doubters said the same thing about PCs.  "No one will ever want one of these in their homes" they said "they'll be gone tomorrow" others said.  Well the doubters are all gone the PC remains.  There is a significant amount of the population that are like me we want more advanced technology, we are not satisfied with the current state of technology and would be happier if we could live in August 2111.

Heck, I said that myself back in the 80's - to my husband when he started to talk about wanting a computer (Commodore 64, I do believe it was).  "Why in the world would we want one of those???  We're a family, not a business!"  (I said the same thing about microwave ovens, VCRs, and cell phones - why would we need that?)  Now sitting here on my couch I can scan the room and see an iMac, 2 laptops, 2 iPads, 2 iPhones, a Kindle, a Nook, and my old netbook that my daughter pulled out to use because she wanted to go to a site that required Internet Explorer.  Not to mention the satellite dish receiver - wasn't sure we "needed" satellite either - the AppleTV, the BluRay player......my how times have changed!

As far as "ebooks" not lasting - I think eBooks are here to stay.  eReaders, on the other hand, will continue to evolve and change, and what we see as cutting edge now we'll scoff at in 20 years or so.  Back in college in the 70's, going with my husband to the computer that took up an entire ROOM, I couldn't imagine we'd have that spiffy little Commodore 64 we had on our desk in the 80's.  In the 90's when my husband had to carry around a brick of a cell phone for work, we couldn't imagine the Razr phone we'd have 200? - and when that Razr phone was cutting edge we couldn't imaginen the iPhones we have now.  So there's no telling what form eReading will take in another 5 years or so.  But it'll be fun to watch it unfold!