Relating to fiction (reading for pleasure)

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Request for Question Clarification by morris-ga on 18 Apr 2005 13:39 PDT

rusedski-ga,

I'm interested in your question having written a few articles about
the topic before changing my mind and contradicting myself. However,
it's unclear to me what you are hoping to see as an answer, an essay
on the subject, a list of links? It's entirely subjective, I could
answer either way and make a decent argument, but it would be strictly
speculation. If you Google

the future of ebooks

or any related query, you'll get a variety of opinions. The majority
opinion amongst publishers is that ebooks won't impact the fiction
market for mature readers (except for certain material they may be
embarassed to buy in stores), and the future of ebook fiction is
actually intertwined with the future of e-textbooks. If a new
generation of students are forced to adapt to ebook textbooks (major
cost savings for a variety of reasons, not to mention getting rid of
those heavy backpacks), there's a good chance they'll expect their
recreational reading in the same format. Future generations may even
find paper books "icky", and you can certainly make an environmental
argument in favor of ebooks. For the time being, you can get a pretty
good idea of what's working in mainstream ebooks by looking at the top
100 list on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/new-for-you/top-sellers/-/books/551440

You'll find a couple fiction bestsellers sprinkled through the list,
but the majority of the titles are business, how-to, or adult.

morris-ga

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Clarification of Question by rusedski-ga on 18 Apr 2005 17:50 PDT

Very interested in your approach to the topic - that it all hinges on
the success of e textbooks. Also Interested in whether there will soon
be a device used for ebook reading which is as aesthetically pleasing
as the paper book. current PDA is as you say more suitable for reading
ebooks that are used rather than enjoyed..this is mainly due to poor
resolution of an ebook and perhaps the fact that lovers of fiction are
still keen to posess a tangible item as opposed to a file which may
soon become obselete. If you could summarise your position, it would,
I think help with my reaseach...also doing some work on creative web
writing..whether this kind of new fiction that is only possible in an
electronic format will take off and usurp the role of conventional
fiction. Am interested in your views in prose but with some links that
you feel would be useful. Thanks.