CHAPTER 8:

CURRENT TRENDS IN BOOK INDUSTRY

The Future of Books
The Future of Books
Definitions
Book: “a written or printed work of fiction
or nonfiction, usually on sheets of paper
fastened or bound together within
covers.”

E-Book: “An E-book is an electronic

version of a traditional print book that can
be read by using a personal computer or
by using an E-book reader”
E-Book Formats

Microsoft
Reader
Mobipocket
Sony Reader
Kindle
And many more
Microsoft Reader
“Microsoft Reader is
a free,
downloadable
software application
that allows you to
read e-books on
Windows-based
devices you may
already own.”
Mobipocket
 “The Mobipocket
software package is
free and consists of
various publishing and
reading tools for PDA,
Smartphones, cellular
phones and e-book
devices”
Amazon Kindle
 “Asoftware and
hardware platform
developed by
Amazon.com for
rendering and displaying
e-books and other
digital media. Three
hardware devices,
known as "Kindle,"
"Kindle 2," and "Kindle
DX" support this
platform. ”
Sony Reader
 The Sony Reader was
one of the first e-book
readers
 Similar to the Amazon
Kindle
 “A touch screen
features a virtual
keyboard for
navigation and note
taking and there's an
LED light built in for
reading in low light
conditions.”
Advantages of E-books
Multimedia format – contains audio and
video
No wait time – the book is available
once it is brought
Searchable – you can search through the
book using the “find” tool
Inexpensive – there is no shipping cost
Storage – Uses less physical space
Disadvantages
Increased Piracy
Health-related issues – eyestrain can
occur from too much usage
Software compatibility
Not convenient to read
Printing cost
E-books can be hacked
 E-book Reading Vs. Word Meaning

Shamir, A. Processes and Outcomes of Joint Activity with E-books for promoting
kindergartener’s emergent literacy. Volume 46.(1), p.81-96
Discussion: E-books
The graph refers to how e-books were
able to help children with their vocabulary
and phonology with the help of the
features embedded in the e-books, which
in turn help children with literacy
E-books reach to the children in a way
children can learn most, which is through
interactive activities
Hotspot Types in E-books
Discussion: Hotspot
• The hotspot refers to the picture or word in
the e-books that the children can tap on to
provides further explanation or pronunciation
to help children with learning
• E-books provides the “read with dictionary”
mode which helps children with difficult words
they encounters while reading
• E-books also has a picture activation feature
where children can explore further the picture
they like
 Annual US Wholesale E-book Sales

Source: http://www.idpf.org/doc_library/industrystats.htm
E-book Trends
US wholesale sales of electronic books
have increased drastically over the last 5
years and are poised to increase as E-
books continue to gain in popularity
among kids and adults.
Accessibility to E-books will further drive
sales through websites such as
Amazon.com as they expand into
electronic media.
Adults and e-books

Newspaper subscriptions will become

available as an electronic subscription
accessible through E-book readers instead
of traditional paper issues
This will be especially useful for mobile
adults who will be able to access their
subscriptions from anywhere in the world
E-books & Piracy
E-books & Piracy

With the rise in the number of e-books

available for purchase, the number of e-
books being pirated on websites and P2P
(file-sharing) sites has also risen (see Fig
1.)
Fig 1.
This figure shows an new book in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer called
“The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner”. This book was released June 5 th, 2010
and is already available for download on P2P sites.

It retails for $16.99 in Chapters. Even at an online discounted price it is $12.26. (

www.chapters.indigo.ca).
How to download an e-book

A YouTube search yielded more than 20

results on how to download free e-books

The following YouTube video is a tutorial

on how to do this...
E-books & Piracy
The rate at which e-books are being
pirated year to year is unknown, however
it has risen exponentially over the past
year.

PCWorld found that 1/3 of the best-selling

books for 2009 could be found on P2P
networks, book swapping sites and file
sharing sites
Is it easy to find pirated copies of
books?
Pirated e-books are not as easy to
download as music. Finding a good copy
of one can be hard as they tend to be
scanned into computers and render poor
images
Solution for e-book piracy
Many companies are using specific file
formats to “code” their e-books. This is
called DRM.
DRM = digital rights management
For example, Amazon has protected their
e-books by putting them in AZW format –
so they can’t be read on e-readers other
than Kindle.
DRM Criticism

Some say the restrictions are too tight –

they compare this to purchasing a CD only
to have it play on one type of CD player.

Adobe allows purchasers to share

books on 6 computers and 6 handhelds
with files called e-pub.
How does DRM affect publishers?

• Publishers are forced to work with many restrictions,

such as which company has the rights to their work

• They have criticised those who use DRM for stunting

the growth of the e-book market by gaining exclusive
rights to other e-books by authors like Steven King,
and first lady Michelle Obama

• This makes some e-books unavailable to a wider

market
Can DRM be cracked?

Like an other type of restriction, with the

right software and patience, almost
anything can be cracked
How Authors feel about pirating
• Due to pirating some authors have yet to
embrace the notion of e-books. JK Rowling is
an example of one.

• However, some authors feel that the revenue

to be had from e-books far outweighs the few
dollars they would lose from pirating.

• And, they are more concerned about getting

people to pick up a book and read.
The Future of Libraries
Web or Print?
Use, Not Read

Some researchers believe that e-books

are part of the “use, not read trend”
E-books are seen a point of reference and
research
Libraries Here to Stay

Libraries not only contain expertise in all

areas of human endeavour, but also have
strategies for categorizing and maintaining
information in productive ways. In short,
libraries are the best line of defence for
maintaining the value of the printed page
and promoting the value of digital texts.
“Instead of asking how digital formats will
replace print collections, we can ask, how
will an e-book version extend the reach of
our current collection or provide our
readers with resources previously
unavailable or unaffordable.”
- James E Gall, Dispelling Five Myths
about E-books
Why Books??
Studies have shown that some students
prefer the use of printed books over that
of e-books
E-readers may also “inhibit note-taking
and retention.”
See table 3 on the next slide
Future of Print
Majority of avid buyers today are baby
boomers and seniors whom still prefer
reading a book for pleasure.
Baby boomers and seniors constitute the
larger portion of the countries population.
therefore print books, book stores and
libraries will be around for a long while to
accommodate this group.
Future of Print cont’d
New technology takes a while to learn and
only a few having the knowledge base and
capital to keep up with the latest trends.
E-books and e- readers are still
considered a novelty owned by fringe
members in today’s society.
The Need for Libraries
Libraries are sources of out-of-print
materials
They are set up and funded to acquire,
maintain important works that are still
useful.
In our current economy they are a cost
effective way of obtaining resource
information.
“…It needn’t be a question of books or the
web, of letters or e-mail, of digital libraries
or the bricks-and-mortar variety, of paper
or digital technologies…These modes of
operation are only in conflict when we
insist that one or the other is the only way
to operate.”
- David M Levy, Scrolling Forward:
Making Sense of Documents in the Digital
Age
The End