» How Will the Adoption of eBook Readers Affect Designers?

After Monday’s announcement by Amazon about the new Kindle 2, the Internet and blogosphere has been ablaze in eBook articles. Without a doubt the technology is very easy to be impressed by, however is this the “electronic book” experience that is going to replace the printed book as we know it? As a designer I find it hard to believe, at least as it currently stands. It is also very easy to see the future of this technology and how it could quickly progress to reach mainstream adoption.

The Business World of the Future

It is very easy to see how electronic reader technology could help businesses of all sizes reduce their internal printing. Especially when you consider that we are rapidly moving towards an always-on Internet connected environment. What business person wouldn’t want to reduce that stack of papers in their briefcase down to a small light-weight device that is easy to hold and can automatically have documents sent directly to it?

The Potential for Disruption

I can’t help but think about the possibility for disruption that could be caused by an eReader device like the Kindle. To me this feels like the eve of a technology shift on par with the adoption of the Internet. For example take just one small part of design, Annual Reports. If a device and file format gained mainstream acceptance in the business world it could be completely possible that printing an Annual Report would no longer be economically feasible.

We could argue that the internet and PDFs have already achieved this, at least in part, however not in a form that could actually replace the experience of the physical printed object. It is this emulation of the printed experience that I believe will cause a major change in the way we receive information. This perfect emulation of the experience isn’t there quite yet, but with the speed that technology progresses at we can’t be more than 5 years away from it. What happens then?

I would love to start a discussion on how a change such as this could affect the design industry? How will it impact design education, design agency business models, or even the demand for design?

02/10

ADD A COMMENT

9 Comments

Share This Page: Tweet this // Stumble It! // Del.icio.us // Float It! // Digg It! // Reddit

9 Responses to “How Will the Adoption of eBook Readers Affect Designers?”

joyoge designers' bookmark
February 11th, 2009 at 9:09 am

great article thanks..
Paula
February 11th, 2009 at 9:52 am

One thing that might hamper its adoption is the price… not of the device, but of its content! Pirated music became popular long before the iPod came around: http://sn.im/boz9b [www_psfk_com]
Zinni
February 11th, 2009 at 12:30 pm

Paula,

I agree. That is why I think that in order for the kindle to really gain traction it is going to need to support more formats and hold content that comes from outside Amazon. PDF support strikes me as an obvious conclusion, however I do not know the technical details behind supporting such a feature… I do know it would make sense outside reading books though (something Amazon might not want).
Marie Poulin
February 11th, 2009 at 9:29 pm

“This perfect emulation of the experience isn’t there quite yet,”

I don’t think the web *should* emulate print perfectly. Its such a different medium, and our society is in such a transitional phase, that I think there may come a time where people do not crave the ‘tangible’ the way we do now. It is because we are used to reading books that we feel it is necessary. I think we need to embrace the medium as it is, and stop thinking about how it should emulate print so perfectly. I’m excited to see where technology will go, and see how much it can actually integrate into our lives. Embrace it, its here to stay!
Tracey Grady
February 12th, 2009 at 2:10 am

The experience of reading an e-book may improve over time but it will take a lot longer - if at all - for people to opt for e-books as a preferred reading experience. Paperbacks and hardcovers don’t heat up, get flat batteries or have flickering screens.

The price point for devices like this will have to come down (which is likely) if they are to become popular. They do have potential advantages for people with reduced vision e.g. the ability to enlarge text for elderly readers. In many countries the older population will increase considerably over the next decade or so, so devices which cater to this age group will come into their own.

Will that supercede the printed book? I don’t think so.
Zinni
February 12th, 2009 at 11:31 am

Tracey I think you make a great point about the aging population and the added usability of an eBook reader, something I did not think of. This seems like a huge market just waiting to be tapped?
Ebook Reader Enthusiast
March 17th, 2009 at 6:08 pm

I think that ebooks are going to be a great tool. They will probably adapt more to meet our demands but I really don’t think that it will be long before students will be using these in the classroom on a regular basis. They provide the capability to transport hundreds of books without the weight or frustration of carrying paperbacks. I think that for the older generation they are excellent. I always felt bad for my grandmother, who LOVED reading, but could only read large print books, and those are not easy to find nor do many of the new releases come in large print. In a few years I will be going back to school for my Masters and I am hoping that ebooks will have evolved even more so that I can just use one of those for all my research, school books, and study.