networked, mobile, and landlocked: current ereaders
DESCRIPTION
Devices and ecosystems for digital reading have changed dramatically since 2009 when our first "Current E-Readers" presentation was given at Tools of Change. This presentation looks at some of the steps forward (and back!) for interoperability and a sane ebook ecosystem.TRANSCRIPT
Networked, Mobile &
LandlockedCurrent Ereaders
Liza DalyThreepress
Keith FahlgrenThreepress
2010 versus 2009:Fragmentation vs.
consolidation
2008 - Q3 2009: Format consolidation
Everyone else
Mobipocket
Consolidated on ePub
Adobe
Widespread adoption of ePub DRMand mobile SDK
Q4 2009 - Q1 2010
• B&N merged eReader DRM with Adobe DRM
• No other support for eReader/Adobe hybrid outside of
• Landlocked readers may never be upgraded
Q1 2010
• Apple embraces ePub...
• ...but will use its own DRM...
• ...compatible with anybody?
• ePub + PDF bundle?
• Compatible with anybody...?
Q1 2010
Blio
Only 3 formats!
Page-based ReflowableePub
MobipocketPDF
Some ebook know-it-all, Fall 2009
Requiem for an ebook shopper
What has fragmentation wrought on the purchase process?
Barnes & Noble
FictionwiseStanza
Kobo
?
“You shall not pass”
Barnes & Noble
FictionwiseStanza
Kobo
?
“You shall not pass”
Even though most of these devices and stores use ePub, there’s almost no way for consumers to understand which
devices will support which individual books, and when books can be exported from cloud-based ecosystems.
Don’t expect people to put up with this.
They have many easier choices for entertainment.
Can you think of a singleconsumer product that is
so difficult to buy?
(It’s hard to look at the previous chart and not
conclude that DRM is the primary culprit.)
Three ways to segment e-readers:
e-ink
Last year at our talk, “A Survey of Current E-Readers”
we looked at the market through this lens
This year, we’re focusing on ecosystems and usability:
Cloud
Interoperability
Consumers can choose to read on one or many of these devices.
Approaching Clouds
In a Cloudy World, Networking Wins
Devices without web connections are not “landlocked”, they are “landfill”
Menacing Clouds?Privacy concerns and vendor lock-in
are critical to consider.
Happy Clouds?But cloud-based systems offer users flexibility
and ebook capabilities beyond just text on screens.
Browser Required?
Google Editions and others may offer browser-based clouds that allow greater access to the web and
greater interoperability... maybe.
Discovering NewContent
OPDS
BookServer and OPDS are part of the web ecosystem and suggest that books and other
publications will be most easily discovered via the internet rather than single-point retailers.
Liza DalyTwitter: @liza
Keith FahlgrenTwitter: @abdelazer
Thanks!