M'kay, I listened to it while paying the bills, so I didn't take note of names, but here's the gist of "Mark Lawson reports on rumors of the death of books".
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Introductory remarks re: E-readers replacing books under the Xmas tree. Compares ebook to Gutenberg press. Are ebooks fad or wave of future?
Comments by Sony spokesman: Explosive market...exceeding all expectations...sold as many in two months as expecting to sell in a year.
Lawson: What is the scale of this revolution?
Sony: Depends upon the category. Some genres adapt better than others. Expects that "dedicated reading device" will become standard household item.
Lawson: If e-reader = mp3 player, publishers will face shift in paradigm similar to music industry.
Sony marketing spokeswoman: Already big in US, UK catching up.
Focus group comments on Kindle: Ooo, can takes notes, doodle, and play music, too. Would be great for researchers and folks who want to read but not keep the book afterward.
Lawson: What about tactile experience?
Focus group: There's indeed loss of sentimentality and atmosphere. Not to mention being able to inscribe books as gifts, etc.
Lawson: Let's hear what writers think about all this.
Author1: I'm a Luddite, and don't want to put all my life on a screen.
Author2: Prefer tactile experience, being able to carry book without worrying about it. But ebooks do allow portability and storage of large numbers of books, plus accessibility to visually impaired.
Lawson: But why fix what isn't broken? How do you address fears of loss and failure?
Sony spokesman: Kindle has lowest rate of faulty devices than all other Sony products.
Lawson: But you still can't drop it off a building like a book....
Sony: Well, yeah....
Lawson: What about author/publisher concerns with piracy?
Sony: Thieves will scan or retype a print book. It actually helps to have good quality digital files out there. Advances in encryption and protection make digital libraries possible. Publishers realize they need to get on board or be left behind.
Lawson: What about support businesses? Hot type is dead. Is the printer far behind?
Pan Macmillan spokeswoman: Smart businesses change with the times. R&D anticipates trends, invests in technology.
Lawson: Are publishers doomed? E.g., authors can publish direct with Amazon.
PM: There's always been self-publishing, but most authors recognize the value publishers provide. Even with ebooks, an author still has to convince a distributor their book is worth carrying.
Lawson: Many authors are making ebooks out of their out-of-print books. Publishers are now jockeying for e-rights to old books that did not have such addressed in their contract.
PM: Yep. And new contracts are getting language to cover any technology yet to be invented.
Lawson: Will ebooks change writing?
Author3: We'll see more multimedia and add-ons, especially with reference works. There'll be less focus on the book and more on the work.
Author4: Books will become organic, like changing with each reading.
Lawson: Definitions of a good book generally entail its ability to take the reader away. How will that work with the above?
Author3: Add-ons will enhance the experience, not distract from it.
Lawson: What if publishers start saying "readers want shorter chapters", etc. Will you alter the way you write?
Author5: No.
Lawson: So, are ebooks really changing everything?
Sony marketing spokeswoman: Yes, but we're not there yet. Technology is still clunky because development has been focused on the e-ink. Today are the prototypes.
Lawson: Will there be a generational divide?
Sony spokesman: Not as large as one would expect. Older folks like e-readers because they're easy to handle and have adjustable displays.
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My opinion...anyone remember how interactive Laserdiscs were going to revolutionize the classroom? I think there's a lot of confusion re: the message and the medium.
