The Future of Reading: Learning From the Past to Thrive in the Future

As many of the world's literati gather in Boston this weekend for the Boston Book Festival, it's hard not to think of what a powerful role literature plays in our society. Mark Twain's Huck Finn gave us a new way to think about the search for both adventure and freedom; Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird shaped how many of us view personal integrity; and Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front opened our eyes to the impact of war on the individual. Since the beginning of recorded history, books have framed our thoughts and shaped our lives. The digital revolution has reshaped and drastically accelerated the reach and impact of literature -- from eBooks to viral videos, digital content is now the critical component of the exchange of ideas and freedom of expression.

Of all the digital material available today, eBooks most fully embody the spirit, format and role that books have played in the spread of ideas. Thirty-eight years ago Project Gutenberg was set up to digitize and archive cultural works to encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks. Since then several companies have entered this burgeoning industry. Together we have opened up avenues to bring classics and new releases to people across the globe in new and exciting ways.

We are now at a juncture where technology is making it possible to improve the accessibility of literature to a greater number of people than ever before. Indeed, we're seeing undeniable strides in the right direction. According to Forrester Research, eBook sales worldwide are expected to jump from $323 million in 2008 to nearly $9 billion by 2013 and, as of June of 2009, sales were already up 149 percent. Right now, this bodes well for global access to information -- digital books are relatively easy to download, consume, annotate and share with others. Despite all this progress, we still have a ways to go as an industry.

There are several factors working to limit the exchange of digital information -- both in the eBook realm and the broader digital world. While nobody is burning eReaders, netbooks and handheld devices, there are governments bent on curbing access to the Internet; there are competing standards that sometimes hobble what we can do on the wireless web; there are device providers that insist on proprietary formats that limit choice; and there are still economic factors that render connectivity too expensive for some.

We must guard against factors that promote imbalance in access to technology and digital content and work to eliminate the "digital divide" between those who have access to information and those who do not. For eBooks, we can fight the digital divide in several ways: the purchasing process for eBooks must be simple, ownership needs to be permanent, file standards should be universal, and devices should support public libraries so that everyone has access to free content. Right here in Boston, members of the Boston Public Library can borrow from nearly 3,000 eBooks -- and that number will only grow.

As the popularity of digital readers continues to expand, so does the debate around the best format for the devices. At Sony, we actively work with organizations that share our commitment to openness; we worked with Google to bring free books to our users and we recently teamed with self-publishing services to open a new door for independent authors. We've also partnered with libraries across the country through our Library Finder application, which provides digital visitors the same opportunity as physical visitors to browse and check out their local library's full collection of eBooks.

To truly open the future of books and reading, consumers must be set free from proprietary devices and formats. I call other members of our industry to join us in this practice. We owe it to those who came before us to bring access to as many as possible. Open formats in the digital age embrace the traditions of the past and build a strong foundation for the future.

Steve Haber, the head of digital reading at Sony Electronics, will be appearing at the Boston Book Festival on Saturday.

 

Comments

[GwenElle]

Personally, I find reading an eBook to be rather fatiguing. That reality makes it unlikely that I would ever attempt to read a novel on an electronic device. Holding a book in my hand, being able to highlight passages and scribble notes in the margin are kinesthetic experiences that facilitate assimilation and are benefits that I don't receive when using the electronic format.

I do subscribe to an online electronic book site, but I do so because the books are related to my work. These are not the kind of books that you read cover to cover. The electronic format makes the books easily searchable. Subscribing to books on the site makes it possible to check out their content and relevance before I purchase *the real thing*. That is the advantage of the electronic format to me. Every book that I have *subscribed to* that I needed, I did in fact buy (which is the likely objective of the publishers in the first place). That makes the electronic format more a marketing function than delivery mechanism.

Just as word processing software displaced the typewriter and made it a relic, I imagine that the eBook can have a similar effect in publishing. Still, neither the typewriter nor word processors changed the fact that there are times when all you really need (or want) is a pencil and a sheet of paper.

Having said all that, I still imagine that one day I will purchase an eReader.

[Kyle Austin]

Gwen - Some of the new eReader devices, including the Sony Reader Touch Edition, offer those features you still enjoy with books. For instance, on the Touch Edition you can touch a word and bring up its definition. In addition, you can also take notes right on the page, which you can save to go back to at your convenience.

Thought you should know.

In full disclosure I work with the Sony Reader Team.

-Kyle

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10551&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665921192

[GwenElle]

Thanks for the feedback. I am familiar with the features you mentioned; however, I find they don't work as well for me as highlighter and pencil. Being a visual-kinesthetic learner, involving the muscles and movement allows the information to more readily assimilate. Probably has a lot to do with being primarily right-brained and that my body-brain wiring has been re-enforced by decades of having processed information a certain way.

When I eventually make a decision on a reader, I'll be sure to key the Sony Reader in mind.

[brettrobbins]

"Just as word processing software displaced the typewriter and made it a relic, I imagine that the eBook can have a similar effect in publishing."

In publishing maybe, but not in my world. I'm with you, GwenElle: I highlight the books I read thoroughly; it's a way of putting my personal stamp on them, enabling me to reread them in the future more efficiently, focusing primarily if not exclusively on what I've highlighted before. I love the books on my shelves, being surrounded by them, basking in their atmosphere. It's hard to imagine a future in which the walls of those who love literature are not graced with bookshelves filled with books, but I suppose it's possible. But not on my watch.

[GwenElle]

I'm totally with you Brett. Not only do I like to highlight, but to highlight subsequent readings in a different color and date them as well. It's always interesting to see how my understanding of or appreciation for the material has shifted between readings. Often what stood out before as interesting, relevant or insightful may have now become run-of-the-mill, humdrum. Or to discover information that now makes everything perfectly clear that was right there on the page but managed to escape my notice or comprehension.

As for being surrounded by walls full of books, I so totally identify with that. To my mind and spirit, books are a way of being surrounding myself with possibilities and potentialities. Regretfully, I have more of them than I'll ever get around to reading. I kid (delude) myself that one day I'll get around to them, but for the most part resigned myself to the fact that I never will. Still it's a joy to have them. I agree with you, that's an experience that an electronic device cannot replicate.

[VoteOnPaper]

I use my books in the field. I need to be able to look up plants, birds, insects, fungi.
It would be brilliant to record a bird song in the field and have my electronic book search for similar matches or get the latest scientific name on a plant because the names are always changing.

I am OUTDOORS in the sun, snow, rain, mud. The pictures in the book don't get washed out in the sun, nor am I cursing on a two hour hike back to the truck because I dropped my electronic book reader in the stream. If I drop a paper field guide, printed on 100% post consumer is fine with me, then I just replace the book if necessary. True, I can carry more books on an electronic book reader, but I can't afford a new one every time I drop it.

[skrashen]

Let me recommend another device for reading: It is random-access, highly portable, requires only natural, easily available energy, and is simple to use. You don't have to shut it down when the airline people tell you to turn off your electronic devices and put your tray table up.

These devices are already commercially available and can, in fact, be borrowed for free. They last for decades, even centuries, and no arbitrary changes are planned for the future. When using this device you don't have to call for help to find the right command when the screen goes blank or freezes, or get a new equipment every few months because your electronic reader is now obsolete and your electronic books unusable on the new readers.

The device is, of course, the book and its close relatives, the magazine, the comic book, and the graphic novel. Someday, electronic books will undoubtedly replace the book, but so far none of them has all the advantages of the book. Right now, they are only androids, approximations of the real thing.

[Geoffreys]

I travel overseas a lot. Have you tried carrying 10 or 12 unread books in your luggage recently? It's both extremely heavy and often expensive.

Books are great - I read them all the time - but ereaders have their place as well.

[EmmaGold]

Stephen Krashen, you are my hero. I suspect a lot of people here won't know who you are, but I do and I respect you and your work greatly. Thank you for all you do to promote reading.

[bobbobato]

eBook viewers aren't going to catch on for a while. I don't think most people will be willing to shill out 300$ on an ebook reader when they're only casual readers themselves. More likely people will use eBook apps on smart-devices like iPod/iPhones.

[ESerafina42]

He's talking to YOU, Amazon.

[Geoffreys]

I strongly agree with your last paragraph. Proprietary formats will hold the ebook industry back and a standard format needs to be agreed upon and implemented.

In the long run, though, I assume that one day soon I can buy a device from any company and move my elibrary from device to device as I see fit. I do that with my music and photos, so why not with my books?