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The Ebook
Defining Terms
The Ebook as Product

Defining Terms

There is some confusion about what the term "ebook" (short for "electronic book") refers to: is it a piece of book-shaped hardware, or the words and images you peruse on a piece of hardware, or both? Part of the confusion is natural. The word "book," after all, denotes both message (words and images) and medium (bound paper). One without the other is not a book. Another part is marketing: some hardware manufacturers refer to their devices as ebooks, no doubt because "e-book reader" is a comparatively cumbersome and unsexy term.

Any definition of terms will be slightly problematic until technology and practice settle down long enough for language to catch up. For clarity's sake, however, a distinction has to be drawn.

  • Herein, "ebook" will refer to electronic files of words and images that are of "book length"--i.e., if printed, would exceed roughly 48 pages--formatted for display on one or more devices known herein as "ebook readers," and sold and/or distributed as stand-alone products.
  • Ebook readers are defined as the devices used to read ebooks. These can be handheld or not, dedicated or not.
  • Software that enables the display of ebooks on PCs or other devices will be referred to as "ebook reader software," even though some software companies (such as Microsoft) refer to their applications as "readers."

The Ebook as Product

In recent years the book publishing industry has adopted two new media: CD-ROM and audio tape. In the case of CD-ROM, it was often a matter of necessity. Encyclopedia publishers, for example, quickly discovered that the personal computer was simply a better medium for their content than print, and were forced to adapt. (CD-ROM encyclopedias now outsell printed ones.) The extraordinary and continuing popularity of audio books has been more of an unmixed blessing for publishers, as their sales often supplement, rather than supplant, book sales.

Ebooks are different from both of the above. First of all, unlike CD-ROM encyclopedias, ebooks are not (yet) clearly improvements on printed books--in cost, convenience, or quality of reading experience. Second, they are not physical products. For publishers, this means that (a) no manufacturing costs apply, (b) there is no clear precedent for pricing, marketing, and sales, and (c) publishers need to adapt their designs and electronic formats to a new display medium. Third, there is no doubt that the sale of ebooks will in some measure supplant that of printed books. Fourth and perhaps most important, it is not clear that consumers really want ebooks.

The success of the ebook depends upon the participation of publishers, and most traditional publishers want certain assurances before they participate. Namely: ebooks have to have at least the same measure of copyright protection that books have, and they must fit into a familiar and predictable sales model. Significant progress has been made on these requirements. It is now mostly a matter of building consumer demand--and in this, no one has a greater interest than the makers of ebook readers.


 

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