Mobile Reading Comes Of Age

Mobile reading comes of age NFAIS Workshop on the Mobile Delivery of Content October 30, 2009

This morning’s presentation
A mobile context
Current options for mobile reading
Expected developments
Implications for content creation and management

Core take-aways
Mobile content demand is expanding rapidly
The market starts with e-readers but includes an array of multi-function mobile devices
Low-cost “netbooks” are becoming widely available
Content forms are likely to evolve significantly as use of these devices expands

Mobile reading advantages
Portability
Searchability
Breadth of selection
Affordability (lower selling price for content)
Increasingly offering the benefits of the web
Open, social, linked

A mobile profile

Yes, we have cell phones Held together by an allegiance to a common cell-phone plan …

We also have a Kindle … Strength in What Remains , by Tracy Kidder Nifty Kindle cover, only $49 at M-Edge Download 25 titles a month at an average price of $5.20

… and iPod Touches Clean, shiny, new = mine Used and wired = not mine

With wireless access and commerce Stanza B&N Kindle Shortcovers Classics BookShelf BookZ Libris … as well as standalone book apps

All part of an evolving value chain This list covers only (most of) the existing players … Source: Forrester Research; Magellan research

The future will be even more robust Source: Forrester Research; Magellan research

Keys to mobile reading success
Wireless coverage
Seamless transactions
Extensive content libraries
Device reliability
Content interoperability
Adapted from work by Andrew Brenneman, Book Business

Mobile reading segments: a range
Various platforms
Game consoles (Wii, X-BOX)
Sony Reader
Amazon Kindle
BN Nook
iRex
BeBook
Bookeen
Plastic Logic
… and more
Treo (Palm)
Blackberry (RIM)
iPhone (Apple)
Android (Google)
Ovi (Nokia)
Asus
Acer
Dell
Courier
Apple Tablet (?)

How book content is read The breadth of content consumption (still) relying on PDF file formats suggests that readers are willing to forego a lot of bells and whistles just to get content digitally. Source: Bob LiVolsi, Books on Board, BEA 2009 Format All digital reading Excluding PDF PDF 60% -- E-book compatible 17% 42% iPhone OS 8% 20% Palm OS 4% 10% All others 11% 28%

Ebook sales have exploded Source: AAP

Book networks are also booming
Open, social, linked
Visual Bookshelf: 6 million users, 108 million books
WeRead (Facebook): nearly 2 million readers, over 45 million books
LibraryThing 750K visits a month; Goodreads 500K
BN, Amazon, Scribd and Wattpad all play a role here
Adapted from Brad Inman, Vook; Magellan research

Sizing the e-reader opportunity $199 price point $99 price point More wireless devices Color displays available Content, brands grow Early adopters drive a small market More mainstream, frequent book buyers adopt eReaders Students and business consumers Source: Forrester Research

A range of e-reader participants Source: Book Business ; Magellan research Status Competitors Leaders Sony Reader – Pocket, Touch, Daily Edition (3G, touch screen) Amazon Kindle – seamless order and delivery; proprietary format Existing or announced Astak Mentor Barnes & Noble Nook COOL-ER Reader Cybook Opus (Bookeen), Gen 3 Ditto Book eSlick Extaco jetBook Hanlin eReader (BeBook) Hanron iRex (touchscreen, international, through Best Buy) Plastic Logic eReader Polymer Vision’s Readius Txtr

And growth of e-book stores
Amazon: 300K to 400K titles
Barnes & Noble: 700K (600K?) to start; over a million in a year
Google: estimated 1,000K public domain titles
Apple: as many as 10,000 book apps?
Scribd: 10 million documents published
Source: Book Business ; Folio: ; Magellan research

A significant challenge: formats Today: Device + Format + Discovery + Acquisition + Installation + DRM = “Confusion” Adapted from work by Neelan Choksi, Lexcycle; “Confusion” courtesy Peter Brantley, Internet Archive Segment Options File types RTF and PDF BBeB .lit, mobi and AZW PDB and FB2 HTML, RB, CHM and OEB .. And EPUB Digital rights management Microsoft Reader Adobe Adept eReader Mobi Apple FairPlay DNL … and others

Some format/DRM examples Source: Fictionwise.com FAQ Explanation “ What formats are available for Secure Mobipocket Format eBooks and what devices can I read them on?” “ EBooks marked [Secure Mobipocket] are available as encrypted Mobipocket files. Mobipocket is a free reader application that is currently available on these platforms: Personal Computers Palm and Palm compatible; PocketPC; Franklin eBookMan; Symbian OS, including the Psion5, Psion5mx, Psion Revo, Psion Revo+, and Diamond MAKO organizers, and the Nokia 9210 (European model), 9290 (American model), Ericsson R380, R380e and R380 Smartphones.” “ How do I set my Secure Mobipocket Personal ID so I can read Secure Mobipocket Format eBooks?” “ Before downloading a Secure Mobipocket Format eBook file, you must set your Secure Mobipocket Personal ID (PID) in your Bookshelf. This is a code number that you can find by using the "About" menu item in the Mobipocket application on your device. (It) is used to encrypt the file so it is only usable on your PDA. (A future version of Mobipocket will allow you to read your eBooks on more than one device that you own.)”

Growing e-reader awareness Source: Forrester Research

A “reverse” generation gap?
Average age of today’s p-book buyer is 44; most frequent book buyer is 50
“ Seniors are leading the way in the digital market”
Over 65 = largest cohort of Kindle users
First group to move beyond the desktop for digital content
Source: Bowker presentation at BISG’s “Making Information Pay” conference, 2009

A growing mobile market “ Reach” “ Exchange” “ Engagement” Source: Magellan research

Projected smart-phone growth Source: Yankee Group Research; Magellan research

Rich-media: powered by apps
A mix of carrier and device stores*
Multiple rich-media readers (e.g., Stanza, Kindle)
A growing number of books
*Apple, Nokia, Palm, RIM, Microsoft and Google are the primary players.

A range of operating platforms
Apple iPhone OS
Android
Symbian OS
Windows Mobile
Blackberry
Application design depends on what platforms matter to your audience. Sometimes a mobile web solution would suffice.

Top uses of iPhone apps Although “books” doesn’t make the top ten, there is a reason. Source: Alisa Bowen, Thomson-Reuters Top 5 Next 5 Weather News Entertainment Directions (maps) Sports Traffic updates Shopping Work and related information (growing) Stock quotes “ Other”

Book apps: popular, not persistent Used frequently, not kept Used frequently, kept around Used infrequently, kept around Source: Kara Swisher, All Things Digital; Magellan research

Behind the persistence “issue”
Each book its own app
Downloads are read using Stanza, Kindle etc.
Readers stay, books go
“ Disposable” books may pressure publishers to open formats or lower prices
Source: Kara Swisher, All Things Digital; Magellan research

Mobile web access: 22% netbooks Source: Magellan research Considerations Examples Announced players Asus Eee PC ($300, Linux, now Android) Acer ($100 with a 2-year AT&T contract) Dell Courier (Microsoft tablet) “ Mythical Apple Tablet” (M.A.T.) Netbook implications Useful while most documents still PDFs A full-service multifunction device A window to the web

Full web access = digital editions?
Exact Editions
Texterity
Nxtbook
Zinio
Imirus
… among others

Digital editions: an interim fit? Source: Texterity Inc, “2008 profile of the digital magazine reader”

New formats, new rules
Portrait vs. landscape
San serif fonts, larger than normal
Increased leading (4-5 points more than font)
Linked (when the device supports it)
Serving images as slideshows in a single window
Source: Book Business

Mobile growth creates possibilities Last week’s announcements by the Internet Archive open up a range of possibilities for lending digital content. Trends Examples Current Bundling content by genre Reading as part of a consumptive culture Evolving Selling content in chunks Licensing vs. owning Role of libraries Impact on (and from) library lending

Content as a consumptive tool
On demand
Personal
Engaging
Networked
“ OPEN”
Source: Carolyn Pittis, HarperCollins; Troy Gibson

A cross-section of mobile models Typically supported using web-based wireless applications Opportunity to develop and implement device-based apps Source: Alisa Bowen, Thomson-Reuters

Other trends to watch Category Trends Participants Digital-only (ebook and POD) imprints Whatever the Internet Archive has up its sleeve Google Books Integrated selling with bricks-and-mortar outlets Applying semantic tools (e.g. Peer 39) to book content Market developments Publishers developing their own readers Dynamic pricing App store backlash (censorship?) Concerns about uptime (service reliability)

Core take-aways
Mobile content demand is expanding rapidly
The market starts with e-readers but includes an array of multi-function mobile devices
Low-cost “netbooks” are becoming widely available
Content forms are likely to evolve significantly as use of these devices expands

“ Information wants to be free. Information also wants to be expensive. Information wants to be free because it has become so cheap to distribute, copy and recombine – too cheap to meter. It wants to be expensive because it can be immeasurably valuable to the recipient. That tension will not go away. It leads to endless, wrenching debate about price, copyright, intellectual property, the moral rightness of casual distribution, because each round of new devices makes the tension worse, not better .” -- Stewart Brand (1984)

“ 98 percent of all the people who will eventually read e-books are not reading on them today …” -- Bob LiVolsi, BooksonBoard.com

For more information
A mobile biography, http://bit.ly/1g0Ll4
“ Future of Books”, CQ Researcher, 5/29/2009
Book Industry Study Group (www.bisg.org) , “Consumer Attitudes Toward Digital Publishing” (Jan 2010)
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Mobile Reading Comes Of Age

by Brian O'Leary

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