E-readers seen as holiday hit, presage tablet PCs

Electronic readers could be the hottest gift this holiday season as a new crop of portable media devices begins to join iPods and other music players as must-have tech accessories.

The number of readers bought will be closely watched by industry analysts in advance of the expected emergence of multimedia tablet PCs, which Apple and others are thought to be working on and which could alter the competitive landscape.

Falling prices and an ever-growing library of digital books are driving demand for e-readers like Amazon.com's Kindle and Sony Corp's Reader.

The light, thin devices now mainly appeal to book lovers, but many see them as the first iteration of a go-everywhere gadget that consumers will use to watch movies and surf the Web, as much as scan books and newspapers.

ISuppli, a technology and value chain research company, expects global sales of e-readers to top 5 million this year from about 1 million last year. It remains to be seen whether the current crop of readers morph into something with richer features, or tablets swoop in to define the market.

"There is tremendous potential for these devices to become more multi-function," said Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst with Forrester Research.

Holiday shoppers will be able to buy e-readers in stores owned by Wal-Mart and Best Buy. In May, Forrester predicted 2 million e-readers would be sold in the U.S. this year, but the research group now expects sales to far exceed that forecast.

However, the market is still small. Around 225 million portable music players are expected to ship this year, according to research firm In-Stat.

"More consumers read books on their iPhones and iPod Touches than own Kindles and Sony Readers put together," noted Forrester's Rotman Epps.

But e-readers are growing in popularity. A study by Retrevo, a website specializing in consumer electronics, found they beat the perennial favorite, MP3 players, on the holiday wish list this year, with 20 percent of respondents planning to buy an e-reader.

Amazon's Kindle is the dominant device, with an estimated 60 percent U.S. market share. The Kindle 2 retails at $299 and costs about $186 to make, according to iSuppli, giving Amazon a nice margin.

But the market is getting increasingly crowded. Sony, which pioneered e-reading devices but was eclipsed by Amazon, has been adding new models, including one for $199. Both will see competition from iRex Technologies, to be sold through Best Buy. Taiwan's Asustek, pioneer of netbook PCS, is also reportedly launching a reader, perhaps this year.

Tablets

The wildcard of tablet-style computers is looming on the horizon, analysts say, with the potential to disrupt a market that is far from settled. They are essentially laptops with touchscreens that can be swiveled to lie flat.

Much of the buzz about tablets has been generated by Apple, even though it has said nothing publicly about moving into a category that has seen its share of failures. Last week, reports emerged about a Microsoft Corp tablet called Courier, said to be in late-prototype stage.

Tablets offer the promise of Web browsing, video, music, and e-books -- but battery life has been a major obstacle.

The next batch is expected to break new ground. Archos, a French company, has unveiled a keyboard-less, touchscreen 9-inch tablet, and Toshiba has showed off the 7-inch Journe Touch, which can play high-definition video.

For now, analysts say e-readers continue to appeal to a particular slice of the market by offering an experience that many find equal or even better than reading a real book. They have long-lasting batteries and mimic the appearance of the printed page, easing eyestrain.

"There's a lot that could be done with e-reading devices down the line. The technology will continue to mature, refresh rates will improve, and we'll eventually see color in these devices," said NPD analyst Ross Rubin.

Reading in the 21st century

Reading never goes out of style, even in the age of technology.

In the August 1894 issue of Scribner’s magazine, an article by Octave Uzanne, predicted “The End of Books,” proposing that in the 20th century, the printed page will be replaced by “storyographs,” patented cylinders containing recordings of books. Uzanne imagines today’s libraries transformed into “phonographotecks” or “phonostereoteks,” repositories for the “storyographs.” He also imagined portable players that he called “pocket phono-opera-graphs.”

While Uzanne’s predictions almost accurately cover audiobooks, ebooks, mp3 players, and personal ebook readers, he was wrong on one count: the introduction of these technologies did not herald the end of books, but rather gives the 21st century person new ways to enjoy the printed page, and enhanced the reading experience.

The Manila International Book Fair lists the top 10 reading technologies, proving just how relevant reading still is in the 21st century.

As the Manila International Book Fair, the paramount event of the Philippine book industry, marks its 30th anniversary this year on Sept 16-20 at the SMX Convention Center, it once again welcomes book lovers to celebrate it celebrates the written word in all its forms.

1. E-books and E-book readers – E-books are digital media that are equivalent to the conventional printed book, usually read on e-book readers. These are devices that specifically function to display books, equipped with an electronic ink display that mimics the appearance of a printed page. As an added advantage, e-book readers can store hundreds of titles, are portable, are readable even in bright sunlight or in a dark room, and have a long battery life. Other gadgets, such as personal computers, laptops, PDAs and cell phones, can also be used to read e-books but do not have the book-like display of e-book reader devices.
2. Audio books – Audio books are recordings of the spoken word, often (but not always) the recording of a conventional printed book. While they first appeared in cassettes and CDs, audiobooks are more popularly available today in digital formats. Some audio books are abridged while some carry the complete text; some are straight narrations, others are dramatized or narrated by celebrity readers. Audiobooks are convenient for multi-taskers, who wish to enjoy books while driving, working out, or doing housework, and also open up more reading opportunities for slow readers, or the visually-impaired.
3. Social Networking sites – Book lovers can reach out to fellow book lovers via social networking sites that allow members to create virtual book shelves, post reviews, and create book discussions. Examples of such sites are Shelfari.com (currently housing the biggest online community of Filipino book lovers, Flips Flipping Pages), GoodReads.com, LibraryThing.com, and Anobii.com.
4. Online Book Trading – Swapping books with other readers across the globe can be done through book tradings sites. Some sites, such as BookMooch.com, operate on a points system, others, like Paperbackswap.com and Titletrader.com, operate on request queues. Other sites, like Bookcrossing.com involves randomly leaving books in public areas for other people to find.
5. Reading implements – These are mechanical implements that aid the reading of the conventional printed book. Book lights are personal lamps that can be slipped inside or clipped on to books to illuminate reading in the dark. Some book light varieties consist of a thin sheet of acrylic lit up by LED lights so that the whole page is illuminated by white light (as opposed to a portion of the book) and eliminates shadows cast by lamps. Book stands or book holders are devices designed to free hands from the weight of the book while reading, especially for heavy books, such as textbooks, encyclopedias, and bibles. There are also thumb rings that allow reading a book with one hand, and book totes that protect the book and mark the page where the reader left off.
6. On-demand Publishing – It is always difficult to get publishers to look at new manuscripts. Limited financial resources and high capital requirements mean greater selectivity by publishers, resulting in fewer new authors every year. The alternative route left for authors is self-publishing, which is an arduous task for any new author. But with the advent of new printing technology, anyone can be capable of printing their own book, with print runs as small as 50 copies or as big as 1000 copies, in a matter of minutes and at feasible costs. In the Philippines, this option is offered by Central Books Publish on Demand Service, offering packages includes the registration for copyright and ISBN, guidance for cover design and layout, full proofs of the book, and even marketing material, such as book posters. Central Books also offers the Picture Books service, which layout a collection of digital photos using a template-based system, and come up with a personalized book of memories.
7. E-learning – With the pervasiveness of technology in everyday life, academic istitutions have realized the need to maximize the benefits of technological advancement. In 2004, the Department of Education recognized e-learning as an effective solution to the downgrading quality of Philippine education by issuing a policy directing the incorporation of information communications technology (ICT) into school curricula.

In response, Diwa Learning Systems, Inc., established iDIWA, an e-learning group designed to take the initiative in spearheading the integration of information technology in its core business: education

or academic publishing, and came up with GENYO (pronounced as jen-yo), a fully integrated e-learning program that has multimedia content for five key learning areas: Science, Math, English and Araling Panlipunan.

GENYO comes with an authoring tool that allows teachers to customize pages, a teacher training program that helps them become effective educators, access to an online learning portal (GENYO Online at www.genyo.idiwa.ph) ICT strategic management services, network consulting, and technical support.

Central Books and Diwa Learning Systems are exhibitors at the Manila International Book Fair.

As the MIBF celebrates its pearl anniversary, it once again unites bibliophiles and major players in the publishing industry in its continuing efforts to promote books and reading, with the largest and most varied collection of titles that will surely inspire the avid reader.

Co-located at the MIBF is Edu.Shop, a trade fair for school materials, supplies, equipment, and facilities.