E-book hardware is on the verge of going mainstream. More dedicated e-readers are coming, with ever larger screens. So, too, are computer tablets that can serve as giant e-readers, and hardware that will not be very hard at all: a thin display flexible enough to roll up into a tube.Read more at NY Times.
With the new devices in hand, will book buyers avert their eyes from the free copies only a few clicks away that have been uploaded without the copyright holder’s permission? Mindful of what happened to the music industry at a similar transitional juncture, book publishers are about to discover whether their industry is different enough to be spared a similarly dismal fate.
Will eReaders lead to rampant book piracy?
Posted on Tuesday, October 06 2009 @ 3:35 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
NY Times wonders about what the future may hold for the book market. These days few people bother to download books because it isn't comfortable to read hundreds of pages on typical computer displays, but this may change as the eReader market is expected to become increasingly commoditized in the near future.