I have come across various articles today about a new product which has just been released - the Sony Reader, a new electronic book reader. Not a new concept perhaps, but there is certainly a high degree of enthusiasm behind the advertising campaign. It is the size of a paper back book and has a screen made from ‘electronic paper’ - e-ink in fact, a technology which it is claimed can almost reproduce the quality of print found in hard copy books. It can also hold over 80 ebooks (and more with memory card). It certainly looks the part but will this one succeed or fall by the wayside like many others?
I have found in my own personal research (and from my own experience!) that people like books. They like to hold a book in their hands, turn the pages, feel it, smell it, look at it, take it into the bath… will an electronic device ever be able to reproduce the same emotions?? I certainly believe that such a device has it’s uses, and am particularly interested in the combination of different functions that it offers, e.g. rss feeds, access to blogs, pdfs, mp3s and jpeg files. Clearly this is beyond the capacity of the average book. But does this mean the end of dusty bookshelves…? I doubt it.
