Posted on: Thursday, October 17, 2002
MIXED MEDIA
E-books haven't fulfilled much-touted promise
By Linton Weeks
Washington Post
Whatever happened to e-books?
Not too long ago and not very far away, certain citizens of the digital world were convinced that an e-book future — in which the content of traditional books would be electronically zapped to home computers, laptops and specially designed devices — was just around the corner.
At BookExpo America in 2000, the annual gathering of booksellers and publishers, more than 60 e-vendors strutted around McCormick Place in Chicago like so many vultures over a fallen doe. Publishing houses were launching e-book divisions. E-book companies were popping up. Writers were in a dither about digital rights.
But BookExpo America 2002 this spring in New York was virtually devoid of e-book chatter. The two-year-old International eBook Award Foundation folded because of lack of money and interest.
There are those in the industry who continue to praise the e-book, but the plain old reading public just isn't buying into e-books.
"So much about e-books was about simulating paper on the screen," says Mark Bernstein. "It's like vinyl siding. People rarely like simulations as much as they like the real thing."
"The medium was overhyped," says Calvin Reid, who tracks e-books for Publishers Weekly. He says the industry is "moving along, growing incrementally."
He believes people who read e-books will be using multifunction handheld devices, such as Palm and other personal digital assistants, rather than machines designed specifically for reading.
Asked if any company is making money solely on e-book business yet, he says, "The answer is essentially no."
Some firms continue offering dedicated reading devices. Gemstar-TV Guide has Gemstar eBook in two sizes — paperback for about $300, hardcover for $600 — available at SkyMall.com, which Gemstar owns. About 50,000 have sold. The eBooks download titles over a telephone line. "Silent Prey" by John Sandford, for instance, costs $6.39.
"We're still very optimistic that there is a long-term future for the electronic book as a format of choice for readers," says Stuart Applebaum of Random House.
Though Applebaum wouldn't be specific about how many e-books Random House sells, he says: "Our revenues from our electronic books were at an all-time high during the first quarter of 2002. It'll be a long time before e-books supplant any of the print formats. But we haven't given up on their viability someday."
