Booksellers are hoping to achieve for their business what the internet has done for music: widespread sales online. But they are finding that, along with the hoped-for benefits of such a move, there are many hurdles.
The arguments for switching to an electronic reader - which can
read books downloaded from the web - are many. The readers weigh
little, are easy to use and are becoming ever more plugged into the
net.
But there are drawbacks. Unlike physical books, items downloaded
cannot be resold, much less lent to a friend.
Whatever happens, there is a long way to go for the electronic
books industry. Whereas downloaded music made up 17 per cent of sales
in the music industry for 2011, electronic books only accounted for 1
per cent of the publishing industry's business - and that was twice
as much as in 2010.
Publishers hope to reach the music industry's 2011 figures by
2015. Those hopes will be on full display at the Frankfurt Book Show,
which runs October 10-14, when ebook innovations and the newest
readers take centre stage.
"We have special areas and six hotspots where a lot of start-ups
and digital service providers can display," says Kathrin Gruen of the
fair. She notes that many publishing houses have set up special
departments for ebooks.
"More and more, an ebook version is coming out along with the
hardcover version," she says. An industry study showed that 42 percent of new releases in 2011 also came out digitally.
A lot of this storytelling now comes with new multimedia and
interactive features. There's a lot of experimentation with apps in
children's books or books in the EPUB-3 format, which can be enriched
with audio or video features.
That could automatically turn every ebook into an audiobook.
Belgian company Acapela Group will demonstrate text-to-speech options
that feature pleasant reading voices.
"Maybe the black-and-white ebook is just a transitional
phenomenon," says Gruen.
Other bonuses include text searches, definition and translation
services, digital notes and bookmarks. Thanks to their colour
displays and loudspeakers, tablet computers are also drawing some of
the electronic book market. But many ebook fans swear by electronic
paper technology, which provides strong contrast, even in direct
sunlight, while holding a battery charge for weeks or months.
But there are still comparatively high introductory costs to
ebooks. And different markets vary, with physical and digital books
priced almost the same in some countries, but with wide variations in
others.
There's also the issue of what to do with an ebook once it has
been read. Many enjoy lending out their old books, but that's almost
never an option with ebooks.
About 61 per cent of publishing houses protect their wares with
electronic watermarks (DRM), which make it almost impossible to pass
on a book. DRM-protected books can only be opened on a maximum of six
devices registered to a user. That policy also prevents resale of a
book.
However, ever since the European Court of Justice ruled in January
that trade in downloaded software should be allowed, the industry has
puzzled over whether that applies to downloaded music and books.
German media expert Christian Solmecke says the owners should be
able to sell on ebooks, just like they do with physical books.
"Digital goods have to be treated just like material goods," he says.
But he notes future rulings will be required to create clarity.
Such arguments might be minimized by other changes like flat rates
for ebook purchases or lending options. In its efforts to emulate the
music business, the book industry might still break some new ground.
