SLL 2.0--Week 3, Thing 7--Ebooks

I could write a lot about this--in fact, I already did: a multi-page posting to an online forum for a small group of tech-interested San Diego County teachers working together to come up with new ideas for how to leverage technology to improve education. This was way back in February of 2002. However, even at the time I realized I didn't want to lose it, so I captured it all to a Word document I titled "Hardware Matters", PDF'd it, and posted it on my little "Shared Professional Resources" Web site where it still lives today. There also is the PowerPoint I used when I presented on ebooks to CSLA ('04 and '05) and CUE ('06).

What I find interesting is that most of the arguments I was making for the adoption of ebooks in 2002 still are valid, and here almost six years later I still believe one of the biggest things holding it up is the hardware. Reading a book on a computer--even a modern "ultraportable" notebook or tablet computer--just isn't going to cut it for most of us used to bound-paper books: the device is still too expensive, too fragile, too short-lived (battery), and the display is far too hard to read under several lighting conditions. To replace bound-paper books, an ebook reading device (ERD) must be as portable, robust, and easy on the eyes (in all lighting conditions); it can't require a computer to get new books on it; it's got to display color graphics (including photos) virtually as well as print; it's got to allow easy markup of your copy (highlighting/underlining and adding your own notes anywhere in its text); and it's got to cost less than about $200.

Since my last ebooks presentation a little less than two years ago, the Amazon Kindle has emerged to trump the Sony Reader as the best ebook reading device (ERD) to date, but IMHO it's still not there yet.

Both the Kindle and the Reader use essentially the same E-Ink screen, which for monochrome (OK, 4- or 8-grayscale) text is a huge improvement over the LCD screens computers use: several reviewers have reported the contrast and sharpness are very close to that of print on paper. The screen also barely sips power--and that only when the display changes (i.e. when you "turn the page" or are making annotations, etc.)--since it is not backlit but reflective, just like a printed page (sorry, bedtime reading is still going to require that lamp on the bedstand!) These devices go for days of typical use without needing recharging (the Kindle recharges in two hours). And the resolution (pixels per inch) is actually sharper than that of a typical LCD computer screen; one report on the Reader said you can magnify"zoom" the text 200% before resolution begins to degrade.

The Kindle adds a hardware QWERTY keypad (real key buttons instead of virtual key spaces outlined on a touchscreen), speed (the Reader was reported to update its screen so slowly that one reviewer said he could "type" several letters before any showed up), and a huge collection of available book titles (90,000 and counting), most available for about $10 each. But most important of all, unlike the Reader which had to be synced with a computer to upload purchased ebooks to it, you don't need a computer (or a cell phone) to get books on your Kindle. Using Sprint's EDGE cellular data network, the Kindle wirelessly connects directly to Amazon's servers. Using just your Kindle, you can browse all 90,000+ titles, purchase one online, and have it on your Kindle in less than a minute. A limited number of magazines and newspapers are available as well: if you subscribe to, say, The New York Times ($14.00/mo.), as soon as the next issue becomes available, it will automatically be downloaded to your Kindle. Ditto for about 250 of the most popular blogs on the Web. (If you're not somewhere within Sprint's EDGE coverage but have access to an Internet-connected computer, you can download an issue/blog--or book--to the computer and sync it to the Kindle via USB. And to save power so you only need to recharge your Kindle about once a week instead of every other day, you have the option of turning the wireless connection off.)

Another important feature is that all your purchased books (and, I assume, magazine/newspaper issues) are archived for you on Amazon's servers... including any markup/annotations you've made to them (Can you annotate Kindle periodicals? Not sure...) This means if you lose/break your Kindle, you haven't lost your purchased library of books: when you replace it, you just download them to the new Kindle--complete with your annotations. And if you run out of storage space (the Kindle holds about 200 average-sized books in built-in memory, and has an SD card slot so you can add gigabytes more if you choose), you can delete some books to make room for new ones knowing they're retrievable later at no charge from your Amazon archive.

What's missing... 1) Affordable price, and 2) Color. Although color isn't necessary for the majority of fiction and nonfiction books most avid adult readers read, it is necessary for etextbooks (and digital versions of magazines and newspapers--ezines and enewspapers?). Until we switch to etextbooks, children won't grow accustomed to reading "books" on ERDs, and the mainstream adult transition from bound paper to digital books will not occur.

When something equal to (and no doubt better than) the Kindle comes along with 256-color graphics at as high a resolution as the text--and for $200--stand back. One reviewer, Steve Gibson, wrote, "Amazon's entry into the eBook market is a BIG deal -- it forever changes the game." Compared to the ERDs that have come before, that may be true... but when good color graphics at $200 are added to the equation, then I'm convinced we'll see a massive shift away from "dead tree edition" to digital books. It's going to take awhile yet (color like this will not be as easy as it may sound), but it's coming.