The rise and fall of e-books

I have commented previously in this column and elsewhere in this newspaper about the rapid rise of electronic books or e-books. I myself am a big fan of e-books, owning two Amazon Kindle e-book readers and an iPad, which is also used for reading. But that does not mean that I do not like printed books - in fact, just a couple of months back I purchased several hardcover books and have a fairly big library of printed books.

The idea of e-books and e-book readers is not new. As far back as 1930 when screen technologies did not even exist, American writer Bob Brown predicted that the printed book was bound for obsolescence. Ironically, he predicted this in a printed book, the only medium available then. In his book The Readies, he said the time has come "to rid the reader of the cumbersome book".

Machine

He envisioned a "machine that will allow us to keep up with the vast volume of print available today and be optically pleasing," which is exactly what a Kindle e-reader is. It can hold as many as 3,000 books and some of the older Kindles can even store audio books which no one saw coming back in 1930.

E-books rose to prominence so fast, that many people even began to predict the death of printed books, also called 'dead-tree books'. (For most books printed now, that is not exactly true given the extensive use of recycled material in printing). Not so fast, say those in the know.

Millions of books are still printed and published around the world every year in hundreds of languages. The major book and literature fairs held in key cities still attract thousands. Moreover, the latest studies indicate that printed books are regaining popularity even among the younger generation. Reports on the death of the printed book have certainly been highly exaggerated.

The most popular sentiment that goes against e-books is that they are not 'real' books. It is well known that Amazon and other e-book providers can remotely wipe e-books in your collection if an issue with the publisher or a ban crops up. (This has actually happened). You actually do not own a physical copy of the book, in the same sense that you do not 'own' that download of the hottest Hollywood movie you just obtained (legally or illegally) from the Net.

On the other hand, a physical Blu-ray or DVD copy of a movie is yours to keep. The same way, you can proudly display your hardcover copy of Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, the latest bestseller by Erik Larson in your bookshelf but you cannot do the same with your Kindle copy.

Distribution

One might think that e-books are way cheaper than printed books, because there are virtually no distribution and transport costs involved. Wrong again. There is an alarming trend where the e-book is actually more expensive than the physical book due to various contractual issues faced by publishers. The above book is a clear example - the last time I checked on Amazon, the printed hardcover book cost only US$ 17 after Amazon's usual discount but the e-book cost US$ 18.14. A marginal difference perhaps, but when you take into consideration the fact that most people will get free shipping on the physical product, the e-book instantly loses its appeal. Surely this should be the other way around if e-books are to truly take off.

Textbooks are another big problem for the e-book world. Apart from the fact that black and white e-readers cannot simply display the highly colourful artwork and photography found in most printed textbooks, students want to take margin notes and affix annotations which cannot easily be done on an e-reader (there is limited functionality for these tasks and future models will get better at this). Colour E-Ink displays are coming - and would address one part of the problem. You cannot also share most e-textbooks which have more copyright restrictions, but printed ones can easily be shared. A printed textbook is always handy in a way that no e-book can be in more ways than one. In a fact, a recent study in the USA showed that 87 percent of textbook spending for the fall 2014 semester was on printed books.

There is also the emotional factor to contend with. A 2012 study featured in the Guardian newspaper of UK gave half its participants a story on paper, and the other half the same story on screen. The result? The iPad readers did not feel that the story was as immersive, and therefore were not able to connect with it on an emotional level. Those who read on paper were much more capable of placing the story's events in chronological order.

Device

It is actually difficult to feel emotional about an electronic device - as the famous example goes, can you curl up in bed with a computer? You can, with a good book. And talking of going to bed, a Harvard study on e-reading and sleep deprivation found that if the e-book was "light emitting" it took participants an average of 10 minutes longer to fall asleep than those who read physical books instead.

You have to wake up to the fact that e-books can drive the smaller bookstores out of business. Amazon has already severely affected traditional bookstore chains such as Barnes and Noble and many independent booksellers. That is bad news for the local economy of any region. If you buy the above-mentioned "Dead Wake" at a bookstore, it will help pay the salary of at least one worker. But if you buy it online, only the publisher and the e-reader software provider will get your money.

After all, there really is nothing like going to a library or bookstore where you can feel and browse the books at your leisure. (Some e-book sites do offer a Look Inside). Many libraries even offer the e-book versions to complement their physical selection. Some publishers are gearing up to offer the e-book version as a digital download if you buy the physical book - the same way you usually get a digital copy of a movie with a Blu-ray and a MP3 version with a CD/Vinyl album. Physical and digital worlds exist in harmony in the movie and music spheres - why not in print, literally?