COULD WE BE CLOSER TO THE END OF PAPER?
This post was written by Sameer Shariff
I recently read an article on Fortune.com by Michael Copeland titled, ‘The end of paper‘ and was delighted. It just reaffirmed my thoughts in terms of the direction I predict the industry will take. The article sums up just how you may be reading your newspaper or your book on an e-paper device in the near future. A sleek, lightweight, portable e-reader is slowly becoming an attractive alternative to the hardcover tomes. The excitement, for me, is around the rapid pace at which this transformation is taking place.
Several companies, including giants like HP, Fujitsu and startups such as Polymer Vision, FirstPaper and Plastic Logic are developing new versions of e-reader addressing the limitations of the current devices available in the market. The new e-readers feature larger screen, wireless connectivity, longer battery life, and touch screen functionality for easy navigation. In short, the e-reader is all set to take…well…reading to a completely new level. 
Not only does it come packed with a host of advantages, the e-Books are a cost-effective, durable way to go. What we can look forward to in the near future is flexible display technology that will allow you to fold your screen small enough to slip into your pocket. Apart from Plastic Logic, other players including HP, LG Display and Polymer Vision are working on developing their own versions.
Though e-book sales are still a small percentage of sales compared to print sales, I believe we are closer to the tipping point than ever before. The signs all indicate that we are going in the right direction. Publishers need to be aware of all these advancements and be ready when e-sales take over from print. They need to experiment and see how best to make their business models work in the electronic world.
On another equally uplifting note, we will have more trees thanks to e-books and perhaps do more than our bit for global warming.
Tags: digital books, e readers, ebook, ipublishcentral, Sameer Shariff
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April 6th, 2009 at 12:35 am
I think that we do not have a choice in this matter. Technology - like it or not - will upstage the current structure of the industry , by making available content on e-book platform , which will be read more in bits & pieces rather than end to end as it is done today. I think that there will be long lasting impacts on the way content is created, disseminated & absorbed.
April 6th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
If I had e-books when I taught at risk high school aged children how to read, I would have had them all engaged. This upcoming generation is not illiterate as people assume; they are actually e-literate. They enjoyed everything on the classroom computers more than on the printed page. Plus, the good news is we will be going green; fewer trees will fall to produce paper keeping the foliage green. This process is not totally green due to e- waste but that can and should be addressed as e-evolves.
April 7th, 2009 at 4:20 am
I don’t think ebooks will save the planet. The main cause of deforestation is to clear land for agriculture, which will only increase as the earth’s population grows and demands more food.
April 9th, 2009 at 7:47 am
No, I do not see the “end” of paper. We are morphing, changing, choose any word you want–however, paper will not be in museums, although some beautiful scrolls, manuscripts, and paper media are already in such places.
Think about it. We have gone from hot lead to microcomputers from the 1970s to the 2000s, and I daresay the Heidelberg Press I first saw at the local daily newspaper, which, is now in a museum, still gives me chills. Paper is beautiful. The pen is mighter than the sword; and we will have all kinds of online, immediate-tech gadgets to augment PAPER. Just pick up a 1900 cookbook or a lovely old edition of Idylls of the King–NOW CAN YOU IMAGINE LIFE W/O paper.
Embrace the changes/keep the beauty of the past. Today I am editing/proofing a major educational Technology Journal via HARD COPY and tomorrow I will edit online. I am proof that PAPER will and still does exist.
August 30th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
I really like this blog good job.
December 3rd, 2009 at 10:20 am
you just got yourself a place in my bookmarks