Discussion

By Dr Joe Webb on Sep 29, 2009

Maybe it's just me -- but I was taught never to write in my books, never to underline and never to highlight because someone else would get the book after me. In college it might affect whether or not it could be sold back as used. If it was important, you should write it in your notebook. Who knew? Now I feel disappointed because I never had the experience of "physical interaction with the text." Consultant Peter Muir, and even Mike Fichera (Publisher, Dealer Communicator), almost 40 years apart in age, have the same interaction with their books. Both of them mark up their books significantly, OMike in pencil, Peter in pen (he's the more impetuous of the two).

I've wondered if Kindle would work in the classroom, and I suspect that it will not, but the TabletPC would because the interactivity of a full-featured computer is far different than an e-book, even if the Kindle is as good as it is.

What will probably happen is that the move to have college students each have a notebook (and netbooks, of course) will crowd out the Kindle and push it to a consumer market only.

By Joe Schmidt on Sep 30, 2009

What will probably happen is publishers will lose control of their content as students find a way to share electronic books much as they have with digital music.
The cost of textbooks is a very strong incentive to copyright infringement- talk to most college students and you will find that they feel they are being robbed.
The price point on textbooks may need to drop significantly (half?) to facilitate the change to electronic adoption and safeguards will need to be in place to prevent sharing (although I would bet on students to break the code).

By Chuck on Sep 30, 2009

I don't want to be a naysayer about ebooks, quite the contrary. But the Kindle is an incredible fragile and limited device. I've seen more than a few with cracked screens. Take note of how kids handle their backpacks. To the point about limited, I think single-purpose devices are doomed. And I am definitely in the Peter and Mike camp-- I like using multi-colored hi-liters on paper; it is a great way to solidify your learning.

By David Handler on Sep 30, 2009

I have been a raving fan of Kindle for more than a year, and the first time I ever turned mine on, I said to my wife, "This will replace textbooks someday." Our daughter is a sophomore in college...and the expense each semester for books would be greatly reduced by switching to an electronic device. Whether it's Kindle or another format is still to be determined, but it's clear the future is moving away from text books.

I, too, was someone who used highlighters and margin notes during college. Today's youth think and do with their opposable thumbs, and they'll quickly adapt to the technology that replaces printed text in the classroom.

By Michael J on Oct 01, 2009

I don't usually disagree with Dr Joe, but my take is different from

"What will probably happen is that the move to have college students each have a notebook (and netbooks, of course) will crowd out the Kindle and push it to a consumer market only."

I think what will probably happen is the more, the more. The thing about the Kindle is that it's a one purpose device, to buy and read. It's not an Internet device for search, ect...

The important takeway from the article(2me) is that the best machine for "close reading" is the physical book. The inconvenient truth is that the amount of close reading that goes on in most colleges is negligble.

The good news is that with Harvard, Stanford, University of California and Yale posting free videos of their lectures, it's likely that reading will continue to grow and eventually go mainstream. That's huge opportunity for printed books and printed newspapers.

The way I see this playing out is a differentiation in how people read. Some on iPhones, some on Kindle, some in books. My take is that the huge market for Kindles is among retired baby boomers who now have the time and the money to read some of those things that they didn't read in college because they were too busy with sex, drugs and rock n roll.

By Brian Regan on Oct 01, 2009

I am going to side with Michael J on this. Perhaps I should use my iPhone to make a picture and video log of these things. But here is what I have been noting.

I live just West of Boston and use the healthy public transportation system we have, Boston also hosts a lot of colleges. So it is inevitable that when I am commuting I see people in the work force and students on the various trains with me.

I note a lot of the working people have smart phones, laptops and some Kindles. I note a lot of the students have paperback books and small local newspapers in hand, never a Kindle.

They all have cell phones. The working people more often use the phone part of the cell phone and the students more often use the texting feature.

By Dennis McGarry on Oct 01, 2009

First, let me say that I am an Ink-On-Paper guy, and have been ever since I ran a flexographic press in college. I purchased a Kindle to explore this e-ink technology that we have been talking about for years; I wanted to become a user so I could understand more about paper replacement technologies.

I am sorry to report to you all that the Kindle is an amazing device. It has shattered my concept of how content gets transmitted and sold. When most of us that are over thirty years old think about obtaining data, we think about computer networks, needing a wire or wireless technology to get you what you need. Using the Kindle, in less than a minute, you can download today's London Times, or the latest bestseller in a moving car or bus, sitting at the beach, riding on a train, or walking down the street.

While on vacation this year I read the daily paper using the Kindle. It is amazing, you open your leather Kindle cover every morning to find today's paper, just sitting there waiting for you. It's all very passive, open the cover, slide a switch and there it is in its searchable and sortable glory. It made me visualize a day in the future when this technology is incorporated into many different devices delivering content to the masses via cellular technology.

When compared to other e-reading devices, the e-ink technology wins. I don't see mass adoption of people reading books on LCD panel displays--maybe it is just me but the eyestrain is just too great. One of the primary benefits are of the e-ink screen is that it can be read in bright sunlight (it actually looks much better in bright sun), something that you cannot do with other reading devices.

So, that is my take. I still get the paper delivered to my house every day and probably subscribe to a dozen magazines (and that is just the ones at home), so I am doing my part to make up for the Kindle ownership.

By Brian Regan on Oct 01, 2009

Well if we as an industry are going to start fighting back we may want to start sooner than later.

All these things came to my attention just today alone.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/10/01/digital.business.cards/index.html

http://www.vook.com/

http://disneydigitalbooks.go.com/?cmp=ddb_hp_redirect_extl

By Lisa Bickford on Oct 01, 2009

Isn't the motivation for using the kindle in a pilot program flawed to begin with? I mean, if their motivation is truly an environmental one, replacing the printed piece with more computers is not necessarily better for the environment, is it? Follow my train of thought and let me know what you think: Less printing = less paper = less land used for forest "crops" = more housing developments, industrial land, and urban sprawl. The only way this country can reserve that land for crops of trees is to make sure it is income producing for someone (ie: paper mills). If the paper mills have no use for the land, it will go to the highest bidder, and almost certainly that highest bidder will not be the national park system to forever protect that land. Thoughts?

By Jeffrey Stewart on Oct 01, 2009

I'll stand by what I had to say earlier in the year in a blog post http://bit.ly/4xfrL

"As I was using the Kindle, I began to think about how I consume information. I tend to dog-ear the pages or bookmark web content. Very often, I'll forward these pieces of information to others. That's how I work, that's how I ‘play.’ I like to share information. The Kindle 2 has a clipping feature, but unfortunately I don’t get it. It seems to do just that, cut and paste the article to a clipboard. What I really want is a simple way to send clips to friends."

While the e-ink is awesome to read in any light, it is not awesome for interactivity. The interaction with the content is what students are complaining about. For that reason, the Kindle is a huge step forward, but I still need to use my laptop as a read. So does the Apple Tablet have an opportunity? You bet!

By Lou Berceli on Oct 08, 2009

Let's Flash Backwards to the early Macintosh computers, now leap to today's iPhone and Laptops, not Flash Forward....the Kindle and Sony digital book readers are already antiques as to what is about to become a part of our educational media...keep in mind the publishers will always own the content and all the advances by adding colorful images, yellow highlights as you read an e-textbook,(most students highlight most college text books) an automatic summary of highlighted areas of text books, and links to rich audio / video content,
customized chapters added to the college e-textbook by the instructor (approved by the publisher) ...all will continue to drop in costs, improve qulaity and user friendly for K to 12 to PhD textbooks, while the print world I have been a part of for 30 years will continue to increase in costs and will be sureto decline...Our grandchildren will find it very difficult to find any printed textbooks or catalogs or magazines....The electronic reading devices that will replace today's antique Kindle type devices are coming will replace paper for most publishing

By Michael J on Oct 09, 2009

Lou,
Just a couple of quibbles:

"keep in mind the publishers will always own the content" I don't agree. There are already a couple of open source textbooks delivered for free that are on my radar. My sense is that textbook publishers, like the music publishers before them, are going to have to figure out a better way to earn revenue going forward.

I also disagree that e will replace real paper for the global market. What's more likely is that information will be delivered however the consumer decides. To that point, my understanding is that in the first couple of weeks of the Mine magazine project, when consumers had a choice between an e version and printed version, more chose the print than the e.