Tag Archives: eBooks

Many people have told me over the years that eBooks do not interest them because they prefer to read paper books and I have always understood this notion. You can sit at a screen all day in your job and the thought of then staring at another one in your leisure time will leave these people cold.

I have always understood it to be that the screen can never achieve the same level of clarity that printed paper can, but the iPhone 4 proves that wrong. Take a look at the two pictures below and you can see what I mean. If you ignore the reflection from the iPhone screen, it is arguably better than the newspaper which is also photographed.

Paper

Screen

There is little doubt in my mind that the iPhone 4 screen offers a similar, if better, experience than reading on paper. The imperfections are removed and of course so is the hassle of carrying around half of a tree, at least in the case of the Sunday Times. When / if this technology is ported to bigger devices like the iPad then the experience will take on a whole new meaning. It will offer the reader near perfect presentation of text and images and potentially this clarity will beat paper every single time. It will be like reading a normal newspaper or book, but better in every logical way. And it will not matter at all…

The fact is that people who do not want to read digital media care little for the quality of the text or the photographs reproduced within. They do not care that it is an advance of technology that deserves praise from every quarter. They just will not read for leisure on a screen.

This innovation is great for those of us who are more than happy to read digitally, but we are in the minority and will continue to be so for some time to come. I’m just glad that the technology was invented before the inventors realised this as well.

My son is heavily into his iPod Touch; games, internet, homework research, video and music are activities he regularly undertakes with it and he wouldn’t swap it for the world.

My son is also into reading and loves The Famous Five in particular- his appetite for reading is a pleasure to see, as it would be for any parent, but he is adamant that he will not read eBooks. He is 9 years old and when I commented to him the other day that you can buy books to read on the iPod, his reaction was “I like to read real books. Screens hurt my eyes after a while and I like the feel of a book.” He then went into a typical 9 year old description of how the “book is there in my hand” and how “an eBook is just words on a screen”.

It is a fascinating insight into the mind of a child who has not had many years enjoying the feel of real books, and it highlighted the stark differences between paper books and their digital equivalents. Is it built inside us to prefer reading on paper? The story can be extended by the book cover, the typeface and most importantly the fact that it is an object which is often times desirable to look at and hold.

It is different than music- when you listen to a song you don’t stare at your CD player or even the turntable if you can remember back that far; you simply listen to the music. When reading a book you turn the pages, you hold it and you immerse yourself into the experience. It seems that my son has already discovered this without even knowing it.

Publishers and software developers are doing their best to make the eBook feel more alive, but if a 9 year old child who is into technology in a big way still prefers the tradition book form what chance do they have?

You are probably aware of my thoughts on the recent geographic restrictions problem that has hit people who like to read eBooks and who, by no fault of their own, live outside the US. eReader and fictionwise is now a pointless resource for those of us who want to read new books and despite their claims that only 10% of eBooks are restricted (which I don’t believe for one moment) we simply cannot buy new eBooks worth reading anymore.

After a few months of not reading eBooks at all I took the plunge and purchased the Peter James app from iTunes for my iPhone. It costs £4.99 and you get 2 full eBooks plus exclusive extras and the ability to buy more books in the Roy Grace series. I wasn’t particularly interested in the extras, but just wanted to read something new and this seems worth the risk. And well worth the risk it was- so far I am heavily engrossed in book 1 of the series and am fully expecting to go through the next 5 books throughout the year ahead.

I am no fan of the way eBooks are sold on iTunes because some of them are very expensive. For example, The Lost Symbol by Dam Brown is £14.49 and the reviews suggest that the eReading experience is not that good. I can buy the hardback for £9.99 everywhere else. However, eBooks are practical and allow me to read whenever I like and so I will continue to read them albeit it at a premium. If the number of eBooks on iTunes grows then this will be my first port of call for future purchases and the likes of eReader will lose my business forever.

It is not just the fact that the restrictions are in place because I understand why they are there, but the fact that they never respond to questions about it, they have not bothered to make their sites usable by only allowing me to see books I can buy and they seem to have no interest in helping loyal customers who have purchased hundreds of books from them in the past. Once again, Apple sneaks in while others drop the ball…