1. Will E-books Change the World? Class Discussion Leaders: Byung K. Kang, Mike Maas, Shanna Tayor, Mark Wieman

2. Presentation Agenda Article summary Discussion questions

3. Introduction Technology has had profound effects on traditional publishing Many publications are now available in digital form Digital content is exchanged globally by a highly networked society Introduction of E-books is happening slowly but was inevitable Diffusion of E-book technology will shake up publishing industry and ultimately impact society

4. What Are E-books? Digital objects designed to be read on or by portable reading devices More than just simple text files Include features such as: Customizable display of content to accommodate individual type and layout preferences Metadata to aid in navigating, searching, or reorganizing content Digital Rights Management (DRM) software to control distribution

5. Technological Basis for E-books Internet technology enables digital content to be distributed globally Handheld computing devices enable digital content to be used anywhere DRM software enables content rights to be maintained XML enables content to be separated from presentation, thus customizable

6. Social Necessity for E-books Need for book content to be more accessible, not locked in a library somewhere Need for book content to be more flexible so it can be indexed, searched, reorganized, cross referenced, translated, or reformatted

7. Factors Delaying Diffusion Poor quality and high prices of reading devices Screen readability problems Weight and battery life problems Price still prohibitive to many Non-standard and ineffective DRM systems Proprietary systems prevent interoperability Lack of common copyright laws among countries Consumer confusion about their rights

8. Challenges to Book Industry Traditional workflow to produce new books does not accommodate separation of content and presentation Work of converting old books is time consuming and costly Traditional distribution systems built for physical objects, not digital ones Physical book stores may lose business to online sources

9. Will E-books Change the World? Question has to with whether technology shapes society, or vice versa Similar to Winston, author contends that E- books are the result of social and economic necessities If diffused, E-books are likely to have major impact on society in the long term In the short term, however, they may only have major impact on the book publishing industry

10. Discussion Questions - Mike Are e-books truly the books of the network society? Then why would traditional booksellers do well? 1999-2003 year over year growth. (The Booksellers Association - www.booksellers.org.uk, accessed 07 November 2004) Book clubs and mail order is the only category without positive growth. Is that the network effect?www.booksellers.org.uk

11. Discussion Questions - Mike With the exposition of the sentence, "Technology is simply society and society cannot be understood or even represented without its technical tools," is the author considering all of the common human patterns of sharing useful information besides "economic and technological trends"? What about the oral tradition? What about other forms of visual learning? Could books in general be becoming less used as a technical tool?

12. Discussion Questions - Mike Will eBooks change the world? Or do we have to "see" it to believe it? (The Tiananmen Square protests, The fall of the Berlin Wall, Vietnam war correspondence, etc.) Has the fundamental way in which we express ideas changed? Are words cheap? The author states, "E-books are all about mobility and information flow." Really? I thought it was still about content. What do you think? Who here uses eBooks now? Which format? (.oeb,.lit,.eb,.pdf, etc.) What is your experience?

13. Discussion Questions - Shanna How many print their reading assignments and why? How many read it on-line and why? How will libraries be effected if their is a diffusion of e-books? Will ebooks create more jobs or less jobs? What sort of new skill sets will publishers need?

14. Discussion Questions - Byung Many, including publishers, expect e-Book to dominate the industry in the future. However, it is the fact that most people have not accepted e-Book as a material to read even though they admit the merits of e-Book, like low price, immediate access, highly developed search functions and so on.The e-Book industry seems to be located between the early adapter and majority. To go to the next stage, the majority, the most important block that e-Book has to overcome is people's minds. Is there any way to change the stereotype of people's perception of a book?