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Feb. 2nd, 2010 09:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
megwritesThere's been a lot of TL;DR (too long; didn't read) in the blogosphere about AmazonFail and eBooks/eReaders and I've tried to keep up for the most part with those sources that know what they're talking about and have common sense.
But one thing I think a lot of these people are forgetting is that eBooks are not a reality for a great majority of people. Most people are still reading paper books. I read this excellent post about eReaders from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ktempest and one thing that occurred to me is that while talking about this is great, what about the folks who don't even have iPods much less the iPad yet?
I'm not just talking about techphobic Americans, either. I'm talking about those who can't afford it, too. And I'm talking about places in the world where this great technology is just not available, and people read in those countries, too. They have books and magazines and newspapers, too.
One privilege of being an American who can afford to buy shiny new things is that we are almost exclusively the first to get the really cool stuff, or at least not so far behind that other countries are Twittering and blogging about their new tech while we're still wondering when companies are even going to begin selling a version for us.
Talking about the eBook revolution is great, but so far it's a very small, contained revolution relative to the total population of readers out there. I think that, especially in this economy, a lot of people are going to be wary of making those kinds of technology purchases. Never mind the places where the technology isn't even available.
Plus, when I hear people speaking of the bugs yet to be worked out in the system as far as formats go, it doesn't encourage me to want to delve into this technology. In fact, the more I hear, the more determined I am not to make the leap to eBooks for the next few years because I just don't want to waste money on something that won't be truly convenient or functional until about 2015.
I think if Amazon had merely pulled Macmillan's eBook titles, much of this furor would never have occurred. I think it was the pulling of the paper book titles that truly got so many people angry, because in the end, that's still the most accessible, cheapest, and most functional format for the majority of people out there.
ETA: Fixed broken HTML.
But one thing I think a lot of these people are forgetting is that eBooks are not a reality for a great majority of people. Most people are still reading paper books. I read this excellent post about eReaders from
ktempest and one thing that occurred to me is that while talking about this is great, what about the folks who don't even have iPods much less the iPad yet?I'm not just talking about techphobic Americans, either. I'm talking about those who can't afford it, too. And I'm talking about places in the world where this great technology is just not available, and people read in those countries, too. They have books and magazines and newspapers, too.
One privilege of being an American who can afford to buy shiny new things is that we are almost exclusively the first to get the really cool stuff, or at least not so far behind that other countries are Twittering and blogging about their new tech while we're still wondering when companies are even going to begin selling a version for us.
Talking about the eBook revolution is great, but so far it's a very small, contained revolution relative to the total population of readers out there. I think that, especially in this economy, a lot of people are going to be wary of making those kinds of technology purchases. Never mind the places where the technology isn't even available.
Plus, when I hear people speaking of the bugs yet to be worked out in the system as far as formats go, it doesn't encourage me to want to delve into this technology. In fact, the more I hear, the more determined I am not to make the leap to eBooks for the next few years because I just don't want to waste money on something that won't be truly convenient or functional until about 2015.
I think if Amazon had merely pulled Macmillan's eBook titles, much of this furor would never have occurred. I think it was the pulling of the paper book titles that truly got so many people angry, because in the end, that's still the most accessible, cheapest, and most functional format for the majority of people out there.
ETA: Fixed broken HTML.
