E-Books Carol Deuling-Ravell

Need What problem gave rise to the innovation? – Traditional books can be cumbersome – take a lot of storage space – be difficult to travel with – versatility of the book

Research What research organization developed a solution to the need? – Ebooks have been driven by the booksellers Kindle, Nook, online services, Project Gutenberg, Feedbooks, Internet Archive What were their findings? – Slow adoption by consumers – Ebook readers tend to be perceived more favorably than reading ebooks on computers Reading on computer offers many distractions

Research (2) Who were the “lead thinkers” for this innovation? – The booksellers (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders) How did they convince a manufacturer to produce it? – Each bookseller has produced their own ebook reader – This causes no standardization in the market, which may be part of the problem for mass adoption

Development What problems did the innovation encounter in the development process? – Current question is whether it is really a book – Standardization of platform – “lending” of ebooks is limited or nonexistent LendMe feature of the Nook (only 1 lending per book & only one copy can be accessed at a time) (Griffey, 2010)

Development (2) Who was the intended audience for the innovation? – Fiction reading audience – Market is driving development of other applications Textbooks Reference materials

Commercialization Describe the production, manufacturing, packaging, marketing & distribution of the innovation. – Computer ebooks are available through online services, some are free – Ebook readers have been marketed by booksellers like Amazon These books are proprietary and do not “share” their format with other readers Prices of dedicated ebook readers have been dropping

Consequences Digital Rights Management (Falk, 2001)

Timeline Needs/Problems 1948 – Ampex Tape Recorder standard created to inexpensively record books for blind war veterans Jan 1967 – Hypertext developed Research July 1971 – Project Gutenberg begins Development 1986 – Franklin launches dictionaries on hand held devices Jul 1990 Sony releases Discman (plays audio books)

Timeline Dec 1990 – first digital ebook published – Afternoon by Michael Joyce Jun 1993 – PDF and Adobe Acrobat Reader launched by Adobe Commercialization Feb 1994 Helsinki City Library launches first library website Jun 1997 – eBooks available for Apple Newton Oct 1998 – NuvoMedia launches first handheld eBook reader Mar 1999 NetLibrary launched Jan 2000 – International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) created Mar 2000 – Stephen King releases Riding the Bullet as an eBook 2003 – Gemstar and B&N close eBook stores Jan 2007 – Steve Jobs says eBooks cannot succeed because people do not read

Timeline Diffusion and Adoption Sept 2007 – Harlequin announces front list titles will be released as eBooks (approx 150 titles per month) Nov 2007 – Amazon Kindle launched Oct 2008 – Google announces Google Book Search project Oct 2008 – Google can show 20% of a book for free online 2010 – iRex, Que-E Reader, and SKIFF eBook readers all stop production Apr 2010 – iPad released

Scurve for eBook Diffusion

Innovators & Early Adopters? Innovators are busy professionals with little time but like to read. They are reading journals, magazines, newspapers, and nonfiction books for the most part. In their spare time they are reading fiction books for pleasure.

Innovators & Early Adopters? Teens are beginning to read more but not as much as their parents. Why not? – Cost – Many young adult titles are not found in ebook form – Libraries increasing ebook lending titles

Laggards? Publishers – Afraid libraries lending ebooks will cut into their profits Teens – Money issues

Attributes to encourage Critical Mass? Relative Advantage – Elending of ebooks Currently this is a big controversy in the ebook publishing industry Complexity – As standardization occurs for ebook readers and file formats, using the ebook format will become easier for people to convert to

Attributes to encourage Critical Mass? Trialability – Being able to read a sample of a book before purchase – in a print book people read the flap and the first chapter before purchase Observability – The more visible ebooks become the more attention they will attract. – For example, when I read my Kindle in public someone always stops and talks to me about it, often more than one person.

References Allen, K. (2010). “A short history of ebooks” timeline according to Diesel eBooks. Retrieved from: Cavanaugh, T. (2008). eBook timeline. Retrieved from: Griffey, J. (2010). Electronic book readers. Library Technology Reports. April, Falk, H. (2001). Technology corner. The Electronic Library, 19(5), Korat, O. (2009). Reading electronic books as a support for vocabulary, story comprehension and word reading in kindergarten and first grade. Computers & Education, 55, Lebert, M. (2010). Booknology: The ebook ( ). Retrieved from:

References Lindabeekeeper. (n.d.). History of the ebook. Retrieved from: Pledger, P. (2010). Future of the book? Challenge of the digital world. Paper presented at the 12 th Biennial School Library Association of Queensland, the 39 th International Association of School Librarianship Annual Conference, Brisbane QLD, Australia.