The context for ebook formats and e-readers
We have looked at the frameworks in place for developing digital products, from workflow and structured documents to the web and information architecture. Developments here have been in progress for some decades. However, there is one section of the marketplace that has taken off more recently and that is in the area of consumer books. We will look much more closely at the specifics of that market in Chapter 9 but here we will focus on the technological developments behind the growth of ebooks and e-readers.
The development of ebook formats
The technology for books to be produced in digital form goes back a few decades but, in terms of the more general consumer, the early ebooks were essentially available from the late 1990s. Various ebook formats existed, including PDF, developed by Adobe, which had the advantage of preserving the page as it appeared in the printed form and protecting it (unless one had the software to change it). Open source software distributed with it allowed the digital book documents to be read by anyone with a computer. Other formats were developing and various companies developed different systems, making it difficult for publishers to choose one to work with. This also meant that different devices or reading software were required and so the market continued in a fragmented way.
In the late 1990s a consortium was formed to develop the open ebook format. This was so that publishers could provide a single source document that could be used by different software and devices. This used an XHTML, CSS, some multimedia and an XML schema to list the components of a given ebook (such as a table of contents, cover artwork). This open format then formed the basis of the conversion of various books into an ebook format that was open. Google, for instance, used this in its mass conversion of titles (see the case study in Chapter 10). These formats continued to evolve further, and while many different formats still exist today there are two main ones that have become dominant: EPUB and Mobi. As the ebook formats crystallised around these two main systems, so the conversion of titles, already in a digital workflow of some sort, were able to be extracted and converted into ebook formats for use on the early e-readers. They were ready so that once ebook readers became usable and affordable the market could start to buy ebooks in ever greater numbers.
EPUB and Mobi have different benefits and limitations. One challenge, for example, is around illustrations: black and white pictures can be produced but they cannot be placed very accurately within a text. The latest developments in these formats are focusing on making them more flexible. EPUB 3 has recently been launched, based on HTML5, aiming to overcome some of these issues. It provides a much wider range of options, improving navigation as well as the rendering of audio and video material; it is altogether more designer and publisher friendly. Devices can only use it, however, if they have EPUB 3 capability.
An additional issue within the market is the use of proprietary versions. Amazon used its own version, based on Mobipocket, AZW, which is the system its older Kindles use; this has Amazon’s own DRM embedded in it. Amazon will usually take a publisher’s Mobi file and convert it into its own AZW. There is now a new file format as Amazon’s launch of tablets required different capabilities; Amazon has developed KF8 for its Kindle Fire, which supports HTML5 and CSS. This provides more styles, structure and functionality for Amazon’s tablet readers. Apple uses a version of EPUB for its formats which is incompatible with open ebook formats. Its iBooks Author has a system based on EPUB which does not allow material created in it to be reused elsewhere. These formats are constantly being developed and various levels of DRM or functionality (for instance) applied to them.
As one might guess, all this causes problems for publishers. While they can produce various file formats suited to different devices and have developed workflows usually to cope with this, there are still problems around ensuring consistency when files are rendered across a variety of devices, and this involves costs in checking each version of the file works. Nevertheless, with ebook formats becoming easier to use and more flexible to adopt, it has been easier for publishers to develop ebook workflows.
The increasing number of titles automatically produced in e-format reached a critical mass that coincided with the dramatic uptake of e-readers in the general market. While ebooks were available in the early 2000s in PDF and early ebook formats, they were generally for use on computers or laptops; this was not really the way most readers used books, particularly in the consumer marketplace.
A book has certain aspects built into its physical incarnation:
- it is reasonably light to carry around wherever one is, so it is portable
- it can be read almost anywhere – from in a bath to on a train – so it is easy to use anywhere at any time
- it is reasonably cheap and in some cases cheap enough to be regarded as disposable
- (certain genres, for instance)
- it is also easy to read again, lend to others or give as an affordable, tangible gift
- it does not require battery power or charging up
In terms of product design, the page is easy to read, clear and flexible layouts are possible, with easy reproduction of highly visual material where needed. In contrast, computers are back lit, so reading on screen could potentially be tiring in comparison to reading the non-reflective printed pages of a book. So to make an inroad into the print market, some sort of digital reading product needed to match these benefits of a book, from cheap prices to portability.
Using a computer as a reading device did not in any way match these book USPs (unique selling points) and it was clear an alternative was needed. Towards the mid-2000s there were increasing developments in hardware to produce dedicated handheld devices that could be used specifically for reading books. These devices were developed with certain key features:
- they were portable
- they had battery power that lasted a reasonable length of time
- they could hold many thousands of books at once
- they used e-ink technologies that meant they did not need to be backlit, which reduced the emphasis on battery power and allowed, potentially, for an easier reading experience
- they often had additional features, like the ability to change font size
Interestingly the e-readers adopted the same size as a paperback, kept page layouts simple like a straightforward book, and of course the e-ink made the device read as much like paper as possible.
Sony launched the earliest e-reader using e-ink in 2004 and developed its Sony e-reader by 2006, which was sold exclusively by Borders at launch for the first six weeks. The Kindle then launched in 2007, produced by Amazon. It was this device that really started to move the market. Amazon already had direct contact with a huge book buying customer base through its well-established e-tail environment, which, significantly, other players like Sony did not have. A cheap price for the e-reader, combined with easy set-up and then access to a vast library of ebooks and extremely good customer service to ensure a seamless consumer experience, drove Kindle sales. The advertising campaigns for the early Kindles were based on price and the ability to download books immediately at any time (and from anywhere if you chose a 3G device).
The relationship between the price of the Kindle and the price of the ebooks has some strategic implications for the sales of the device. If a customer has had to invest in the device, should the books be very cheap? And if the publisher has made savings on printing and distribution, who should benefit from that saving? Selling the device cheaply can help to drive the sales of actual ebooks but, in the same way, cheap prices for ebooks could drive the sales of the devices – with the Kindle appearing to customers to open up access to a market of cheap books. We will look more closely at pricing in Chapter 12 but, in terms of the device, Amazon appears to have adopted both strategies (pricing the device cheaply and pricing the books cheaply) at different times to continue driving the growth of the Kindle; the move to agency pricing for ebooks has dampened down the race to the lowest prices for those books held by publishers.
Ultimately, the fact remains that the Kindle, from release, sold in tremendous quantities in the US and opened up the digital market. Amazon continues to roll out the Kindle programme to other countries, and in some countries, for instance the UK, the Kindle dominates the e-reader market. In the US the strength of the book chain Barnes and Noble has helped its e-reader, the Nook, take some market share from Amazon for e-readers and at various points it has been able to outsell Kindle. Others have entered the market, notably the Kobo, with a focus on flexibility alongside price: it does not include proprietary DRM so EPUB files can be transferred more easily and books can be bought from various online stores; devices like Kobo, unlike Kindle, can be useful too for those wanting to access library services providing ebook lending programmes. Nevertheless despite these entrants, the Kindle still has the largest market share in the US (around 60 per cent) though it is much less dominant than in the UK. With the growth of e-readers sales of ebooks have been able to grow year on year. We will look much more closely at the development of ebooks in the consumer chapter (Chapter 9).
Tablets and the new readership
E-readers may well be used by existing book readers, those already reading quite a few books a year: this is a market that is moving increasingly into a digital format for its books, whether alongside or as a substitute for print. However, there is another aspect to the growth of the digital market for books. The ebook market was additionally spurred on by the launch of the smart phone, first by Apple in 2007; smart phones provided the opportunity to develop apps for downloading books that could be read anywhere, so ensuring portability and ubiquity – two essentials for driving the market for ebooks.
However, the development of the smart phone potentially takes the market further. While those interested in reading widely might purchase a Kindle, there are sectors of the market which do not want to buy a specific single-purpose device such as an e-reader; however, if they have a smart phone anyway, they may well download a free e-reading app that will enable them to read books on their device. To drive sales of smart phones, the more they can do and the more applications they have, the more attractive they are; books are just one part of the offering, but a reasonably attractive one; and the more content that can be provided for a smart phone, the more attractive it is, and the more downloading can take place (ensuring a greater need for packages allowing internet access).
Apple did not set the ebook market alight with its smart phone but it did add to it, and made the argument for ebooks more compelling. We will explore Apple’s response to the book market more closely later (see the case study in Chapter 8, as well as Chapter 9) and will also consider its impact on the textbook market; while the starting point for Apple has been less focused on market share in the books market compared to Amazon with the Kindle, it is gaining momentum as more attention is focused on iBookstore.
E-reading apps became even more compelling with the launch of the tablet. Apple’s iPad was first launched in 2010, with others following and even Amazon launching the backlit tablet already mentioned, the Kindle Fire. While ebook readers can reproduce some designs in black and white they are not very useful for highly visual books. Smart phones did not have the screen size to be very useful for books with a complex layout. The full-colour high-resolution screens that tablets have are much more suited to illustrated books for all sorts of markets; in order to gain ground in this market, where higher prices may be charged for the products, the market is set to move on quite considerably as products become available. The tablet market too has grown extremely quickly; as with the smart phone, tablets’ attraction for customers is their ability to do a variety of things; while books are not the main reason to purchase a tablet, the ability to download books and interact with them is a compelling additional feature of the iPad. They also put books firmly into the entertainment environment, something which has attractions for ensuring the longevity of books, in one form or another, alongside other forms of entertainment. So a distinction is being drawn between single-use devices such as Kindles and other devices that have a multitude of uses, of which reading is one.
Conclusion: the changing view of the book
While book reading is not the prime use of a tablet, and a book has to compete with all the other forms of entertainment that a tablet can support, nevertheless there is an attractiveness in well-produced, visually exciting, potentially interactive content that the tablet can render effectively. When considering a book-based app, the line between a book and other forms of entertainment such as games and video is becoming more blurred in the tablet environment, and there are at least some opportunities for publishers to develop newer markets here.