Where are all these e-readers?

OK I'm signed up to dozens and dozens of online newsletters, websites, and read more magazines and industry announcements than I can keep track off. If you believe everything you read, the future is e, the printed book is dead. If it's not dead, it's for special purposes, a gift, a keepsake, a premium product. Don't get me wrong, I quite like the idea of the book being a premium product. I also like that train of thought that says "want a printed book? go to the library!" of course with libraries also offering ebooks, it gives the reader the choice of format. Some publishers have already spoken to me about e being another format not a competing product i.e. you have the hardcover, the paperback, the e. It's so readers can have whatever they want to read in the format they want it in. Now I've subscribed to that theory for years - give the reader what they want. But where are all these e-readers?

Apparently there's zillions in the world now. OK I exaggerate but here I am in New York and for days I've been scouting around for people reading on devices. I've seen the printed book but no Nook (except advertised outside a Barnes & Noble store), no iPad (except in the Apple and tech stores), no Kindle (except for advertising on a subway and even that was for "e-reading accessories"). I've been in airports, on planes, on the subway and in this city of how many million people, not one person has been reading on an e-device. I strolled around parks, university areas (NYU), in and out of cafes, restaurants. Not one e-reading device have I seen. Am I blind? This is starting to get disturbing unless everyone just reads from them at home. Have seen plenty of books but nothing electronic yet.

I have another week in the US and that will include the American Library Association's conference and exhibition in Washington DC. Hopefully I will see a few e-readers around. I thought by now I'd have least seen the iPads around town. But zilch, nothing, na-da.

I'm on the hunt for those e-readers people. At least those that take them out in public. Will keep you in the loop as to what I uncover.

Signing off from the city that has a population of some 19,541,453 (thanks Google) but no e-reader yet seen.

The ipod moment is already here

Ebook articles often refer to the iPod moment. Is it just around the corner? There is much debate on the subject and the comparison is inevitable.

Ebook readers aren't mainstream here in Australia. They are still way too expensive and a luxury item (The Iliad sells for $1299 with the 'cheaper' version at $1099 and prices generally start from $500). Sourcing content can be problematic, particularly for new releases and don't even start me on the various ebook formats out there! It's bloody confusing.

As you know, I've been playing with ebooks for this blog - I have Mobipocket Reader and the Sony ebook portal loaded on the computer. Through Mobipocket you have access to Fictionwise and 13 odd ebook vendors. Sony just links to Sony but they did partner with Google to load 500,000 public domain books for free. You can access that content as well through Project Gutenberg. It's there for the taking.

Anyway, I have to laugh whenever I read about the iPod moment. I've only had an iPod for 15 months and promptly loaded iTunes onto the laptop, copying favourites songs from my extensive CD collection and spending a small fortune on new and old songs (especially those classics in my extensive tape collection!). The good thing about iTunes is you can listen to a song for 20 seconds or so and download it. Click, Click, Click it's all easy and accessible. The Genius application is a killer but at the same time it's introduced me to other music, which I've enjoyed. It's also cost a small fortune over time but as a music lover, it gets used frequently. As does the Mastercard.

Ebook portals offer pretty much the same process, but their preview functionality still needs work. US$11.99 for this book, specials, collections, free books. It's click, click and click and all that content is downloaded. Just like iTunes. Only dearer!

There's another problem. The average song time is 4 minutes. You can download 15 songs and have an hours entertainment. Books take time to read, particularly when you are a busy professional. So I have the dilemma, a few easy clicks, and I have the content (and an ever increasing Mastercard bill!). I already have more than a dozen printed books waiting to be read. I now have the same on the e-reader or in the ebook portals on the laptop (for those that won't transfer to the e-reader). I don't need more content. I need a time management system! NOW!

Oh, and if you can have a word in the ears of the nice people at Mastercard, I'd be most grateful....

Exactly when should I jump?

For today's blog, I'm going to give you a quick rundown on industry headlines from some of the articles that are currently flooding my desk. All associated with ebooks, e-readers, and the like. In no particular order (and apologies in advance to those I've left off the list):

• Springer Leaps Ahead in Academic E-book Market (FT) - about how ereaders like Amazon's Kindle are transforming academic publishing much faster than the consumer market
  
• Borders kick-starts UK reluctant e-book revolution (Times Online) - BTW the picture of the e-reader looks awful, very basic and unappealing. What were they thinking?
  
• Copyright, cost, content - so many barriers between Australians and ebooks (Special report in the Australian Library News)
• Ebooks: is this their ipod moment? (ALN again)
• Is Amazon taking over the book business? (Time Online) granted this was more about the Amazon business model but The Kindle featured prominently as did the comment"When it comes to ebooks, Amazon doesn't just sell them; it practically owns the entire medium". Ahem.
  
• Amazon vs Google (cut & paste from the web so did not note source) loved the opening line "Amazon's Kindle is not so shiny and new anymore and it was Google that made the biggest ebook splash"
• Stay Ahead of the Shift: What Publishers Can do to Flourish in a Community-Centric Web World (Online Presentation by Mike Shatzkin, a man I admire for his vision of the publishing industry)
• The E-book Pricing Conundrum (Publishers Weekly)
• Kindle DX: Bigger Screen, Higher Price, Many Questions (Publishers Weekly)
• The Lonely Stand of Print Reference (Publishers Weekly): mentioned purely because the the article has to mention the internet and Google's role in diminishing/changing print reference
• Commercial eBook Conversion Utilities (post from the web that is in double dutch - how to covert all different files and the software required, I think I'll wait for the Dummies Guide to...)
• More and More Books Digitally Published (AOL news): this was more about POD (of which I'm a big fan) but it has implications for e, particularly when another article refers to the restructure of Ingram (also a big fan) and the role of content in their future
• The Random House Group Launches Ebook Reader Apps on Apple App Store (that's nice, anyone using it in Australia? Contact me if you are please!!!!)
• Reading Mobipocket ebooks on a Blackberry (ditto)
• Google Books now available through Sony
• Analyst sees Amazon's Kindle Generating $2B in Sales (Streetinsider.com)
• Indie Booksellers Debate the E-book Conundrum (Publishers Weekly)
• Whither interior Book Design: ReadSmart re-creates publishers' book designs on iPhone (Publishers Weekly)
• So is $9.99 the ebook price point? (Brave New World blog: excellent blog from the UK Bookseller Association)
  
• Preparing to sell e-books, Google Takes on Amazon (New York Times): another good opening line "Google appears to be throwing down the gauntlet in the ebook market"

Glancing across my desk it's all e-focused. Is the death of the book finally around the corner? After 20 years in publishing, what do I do next? Exactly when should I jump? The questions start pouring out of me and my heart rate rises. Beyond my desk, I look at the noticeboard in my office where I've been storing these sort of articles for years. I glance for a headline that will restore my confidence in the industry I've chosen to work in all these years and the one I would prefer to stay in. Searching... searching... searching... Yep, there it is one entitled "Why e-book readers don't stand a chance". I breathe again. I start to relax. Then I remember I'm reading e-books onscreen and off a reader. Argh! My eyes focus on another article "How the E-book will Change the Way we Read and Write" a wonderful item from the Wall Street Journal. And I ponder the future silently....