Before Google, Amazon and Apple were the top contenders with Amazon at an obvious lead. Now, Google is only a few short strides away. Both offer free and priced titles. Both have deals with Random House Publisher which means they will have that new John Grishom or vampire teen romance novel. Both offer mobility. Amazon with their Kindle while Google is planning on releasing Web reader software for browsers to be used on Androids and iPhones.
This is all well and good, but I don’t think it matters who comes out on top. Just like radio was the end of print and television the end of radio etc, etc, eBooks are going to start getting credit for ending how we get our literature. But as a reader, I can’t think of a substitute for weathered binding, dog-eared pages, and sand still in the creases from last summer’s beach book. I am not saying that eBooks is a dead end of market. On the contrary, eBooks is a new market that will continue to skyrocket. In fact, the industry is expected to triple by 2015 to almost $3 billion. I myself have thought how great it would be if I could Ctrl + F my way through a book. I just don’t believe that by then our bookshelves will be left bare except for a lone eBook reader and its charger.
So maybe Google will win this battle in its war for total Internet domination, or maybe Amazon will continue to dominate. Frankly, I don’t think it matters since only 7% of online adults currently read eBooks. Yes, we still plenty of time to watch that number rise, but we won’t see paper printed book prices drop drastically. Everyone believed that the Internet would destroy magazine sales, but this print ad reveals a surprising truth.
Google has, so far, had a great sense for what is important on the Internet. So important, that people when people think “search,” “maps,” “news,” and “images” they say “Oh, just Google it.” But Amazon is a worthy competitor and I think that Google Books has a long way to go until they are on equal footing.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/smb/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228500296
2 comments:
I think if Google has shown us anything, it's that it has the ability to cover as much ground as any company in the world. As Devon stated before, Google has become a force in web browsing, maps, and various other fields, so why not tackle the eBook field? For the record, I completely agree with many things from the original post, but I believe Devon left out the most important factor that really makes eBooks an incredible invention: convenience.
Many of us have actually taken the time to buy and read rather sizable books, such as Harry Potter, and know that often times its harder to store the books in a carry case than it is to find a place to read, so the fact that eBooks is wireless accessible becomes a major advantage. Just about any device with an internet connection can access Google eBooks, whether its a laptop, iPod, or SmartPhone. There is just something too convenient about having the ability to read an 800 page book on a 4 ounce phone that entices me more than carrying around a brick of a book. For a businessman on the go that needs fast and easy access to articles or books, Google eBooks can be a very reliable source of information. Also, Google eBooks operates on any system available, as opposed to the certain limitations that comes along with other eBooks. The combination of the most available copies and the convenience provided by eBooks makes the product very enticing to users. Also, Google eBooks is easy on the battery life of your mobile device. With its customizable menu, the user can choose settings that will put less strain on the battery depending on reading conditions.
The only issue that truly concerns me about eBooks is: Just how much more convenient can Google possibly make their product to sway users away from Kindle and Nook? Sure, Google has access to more books, but in a short while its likely that all books will be available to all products. Also, many people do take into account aesthetic presentation when judging products, and from various accounts that I have read, the design of Google books does not even compare to that of Kindle or Nook. When a market becomes excessively crowded, it is what sets one another apart that sways users, not the same product in a different version. I just don’t believe Google eBooks has enough different qualities to set it apart from other eBook providers. Take into account, though, that this is Google- a company that is always changing and releasing new products. I would imagine future generations of Google eBooks to at least have something different, other than more titles and the ability to run on any server.
All in all, I’m not too sure how I feel about eBooks from Google. It seems to me like a little more convenient version of products that are already on the market. For a first time user, I would definitely recommend the product as it seems like a very good option. However, if I was a user of Kindle or Nook, there is very little chance that I would switch over to Google eBooks.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/12/06/review-google-books-for-android-the-best-ebook-reader-app-for-android-ive-used/
http://thenextweb.com/apps/2010/12/06/google-ebooks-review-kindle-and-nook-finally-need-to-worry/
http://www.onlinesocialmedia.net/20101208/google-ebookstore-review-no-kindle-store/
I agree with Devon Ogle's opinion on the matter of the popularity and future of Google's eBooks. Although the success of the electronic book industry is indisputable for the future, I think Google will most definitely take a back seat. However, I disagree with her opinion on Amazon's Kindle.
Google has no doubt increased its market share in the electronic book industry by releasing Google Books. However, to compete with such a success (such as the Kindle) and a future success (the iPad) is, in my opinion, a very negative decision for Google.
It seems the only real competition Google has to offer is in terms of ebooks available at one time. The Amazon Kindle only has enough memory capacity to store 750,000 books at once, compared to Google's astronomical 3 million. However, does this number even matter? The Kindle's popularity does not rest in its ability to store a library in it's 3G connection. The attraction is in the Kindle's ease at which you can maneuver and read, dog-ear, and highlight from the ease of an electronic device no bigger then a marble notebook.
Google is yet to come out with the hardware to match the Amazon Kindle or the Apple iPad. This is why I think Google will not be quite as successful as the competition. Although Google offers their 3 million titles on Androids and iPhones, several problems have come up in the past to dispel these "innovations."
This, again, is where Amazon will take hold of the market share. The new Amazon Kindle is released with E-Ink technology, which allows the Kindle to be read in direct sunlight, due to the screens 14 different shades of grey. Phones such as the Android, iPhone, or normal laptops (the only platforms for Google Books) do not have this technology.
In closing, I agree with Devon when she says the popularity of eBooks comes from the ease at which poeple can read books at the beach. But, without the Kindle, customers of the eBook industry will be unable to even view such technology.
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