The eye speaks

E-Books: A Killer Application in Search of a Market

Would you buy a lightweight, compact device that is immune to viruses and software errors; a device that can run from light sources as strong as sunlight on a clear day or as feeble a candle; a device with a "non-volatile" memory that can only be destroyed by fire or moisture; a relatively inexpensive device with an "intuitive" text and graphics interface? Of course you would!

In fact you probably already own a few of these devices. They're called books. And, because they are still inexpensive, convenient and elegant, their newfangled cousins, electronic books, will find it difficult to challenge them for market or shelf place.

To me, the SoftBook® and Rocket eBook™ electronic book devices look like giant personal digital assistants-in landscape mode. The Everybook Dedicated Reader™ is an exception because it has two "pages" that open like the cover of a printed book. The electronic readers' main advantage is their ability to store on a single device the amount of content equivalent to that contained in many printed books and documents.

However the current reader designs could be improved. Here are my suggestions:

• Redesign the annotation features. I would like the ability to create permanent graphic and text notes that I can link to content or other annotations.
• Make it wireless. Universal Serial Bus (USB), Ethernet and modems are cool, but I believe that the future is in short-range wireless interfaces like BlueTooth™.
• Provide a way to backup all content, including my annotations. I would like the ability to create an "E-library" of books that I have read and annotated, and store it for future reference.
• Make them accessible. Better controls, and high-resolution, color displays would make E-books more useful for "visual" thinkers (like me), as well as visually impaired people.
• Support standard content formats. Content should be in a standard format like HTML, or XML. Standard content formats could be a boon to independent publishers-- just as MP3 (MPEG, audio layer 3) was a boon to underground bands.
• Provide open source authoring tools. The software for developing content should be licensed under GNU, and available free to anyone who wants to write a book.
• Design better power and battery options. With today's battery technology, the electronic book equipped hiker in a recent advertisement would either have to fill her backpack with heavy batteries or pray that the park service provides outlets along her trail.
• Design rugged hardware. Current devices are too fragile to use while I am working on my car, house or computer--the situations in which I could make the best use of electronic how-to manuals.
• Reduce the prices!

I love new gadgets, but I also love my "obsolete" books. My problem with some of the current E-book designs is that they mimic printed books instead of creating something original, captivating, and useful. I believe that electronic book designers and marketers should reconsider their current designs. New ideas are needed to turn their newfangled luxuries into killer applications.

© 2000 Jesse N. Alexander