E-books slow to catch on but that could soon change, observers predict

James Keller, THE CANADIAN PRESS

HALIFAX - Jan Nowlan likes books - they're portable, cheap, easy to read and can practically last forever. It's for these reasons, she says, that she can't see herself sitting at a computer or holding an electronic gadget in her hands to read her favourite novel.

"I like the feel of a book in my hand, I like to open it up," says Nowlan, 35, while browsing through a bookstore in downtown Halifax. "I'd rather just have a book and not have to worry about do I need batteries - you can do it (read a paper book) everywhere."

E-books have been around for years without making much of an impact on book lovers, but industry observers are speculating a new generation of the devices may soon cause readers and publishers to take notice.

Two recently released e-book readers in particular, one from electronic giant Sony and another from online retailer Amazon.com, aim to succeed where previous devices barely made a dent.

They use new technology called E-Ink to reproduce text in a way that looks more like real paper, without backlit screens or eye-straining pixels.

And they are promising tens of thousands of books, newspapers and other works that can be quickly downloaded to a device capable of holding hundreds of titles.

So far the devices are only available in the United States - Amazon isn't commenting about future expansion, while Sony says it's currently investigating how best to move its reader into Canada - but Canadian publishers are already planning for their arrival.

"The E-Ink technology that you see in the Sony Reader and the Amazon Kindle and in a number of these other devices is shockingly legible and is far easier on the eyes," says Michael Tamblyn of Booknet Canada, an industry group that examines technology issues for the publishing industry.

"They've certainly managed to move forward."

Tamblyn says consumers need to see something that offers a significant advantage over a traditional paper book - a medium that has remained relatively unchanged for centuries - before they'll spent hundreds of dollars on an e-book reader.

"The paper book is a remarkably resilient format," he says. "You can take it to what they call the three Bs - beach, bath and bed - without too much worry. Any time you try to introduce electronics into the mix, the paper book actually shows up reasonably well."

The obvious advantage of the e-book is portability - users can carry hundreds of titles in a device that weighs less than an average paperback.

Amazon's Kindle reader also lets users download books from virtually anywhere in the U.S. using Sprint's wireless network at no extra charge. It takes about a minute to download an entire book, which typically costs around $10.

Even the Sony reader, which requires a PC to download titles, will save a trip to the bookstore.

Tamblyn says there may be other hurdles before the devices arrive in Canada. Amazon would need to find a Canadian wireless provider to support its device, while both companies would need to negotiate distribution rights with Canadian publishers - something that in the past has slowed the spread of online music and TV sales.

Jack Wayne, president of the Association of Canadian Publishers, says the Canadian publishing industry is looking for ways to adapt as more content is delivered digitally - a potential shift that extends far beyond e-books.

"We can't just look at the e-book as some isolated phenomenon," says Wayne, who is also the president and founder of Canadian Scholars' Press.

"The whole switch to digital technology, storage, delivery, etc., has really changed the playing field for a lot of different activities that publishers may wish to get into."

He says some publishing niches have already been moving online.

For example, Harlequin already offers digital versions of its signature romance novels, and many academic journals and post-secondary textbooks have long been available electronically.

Rather than eclipsing the traditional paper book, Wayne predicts different media will grow in tandem with each other, offering readers multiple ways to access content.

"The electronic challenge is posing for us some interesting possibilities," he says.

"The industry now has a committee that meets very frequently to look at ways that we can meet the challenge (of digital media). We have to have a way of producing the physical book, the digital book, the online book.

"I think that it will be a long time before the bookshelf of books will be replaced by the e-book version."

The Canadian Press, 2007