The arrival of crisp, high-resolution screens, mass wireless and broadband access, inexpensive multiple-application handheld devices and solid business plans—all long claimed as key elements in developing a mass market for digital reading—was the prevailing news about today's digital marketplace at Connected & Mobile 2006, the International Digital Publishing Forum's annual conference held last week at the McGraw-Hill auditorium in New York City. If a succession of panelists at the conference are to be believed, the digital future is now, and it's full of consumers downloading all types of content, which they are reading, listening to and/or manipulating on cellphones and iPods.
The sale of more than 45 million iPods has pushed audio digital content to the forefront; college and graduate students are embracing digital textbooks and supplemental material—and their convenience and economical price points—in growing numbers. There's even a company called LiveInk with software that reformats traditional blocks of text into short poetry-like stanzas—a simple but radical change that research shows will greatly improve reader retention and comprehension for online or offline content.
Too many single-application devices? Martin Gorner of Amazon.com's Mobipocket, an e-book reader software that runs on every handheld device, said there's no need to worry—multiple devices have now been merged into one: the "smartphone." It's basically the ubiquitous cellphone, now upgraded with easy-to-read screens, PDA software and other applications combined in one Web-connected device. Domestic and international phone manufacturers, said Gorner and the other panelists, are set to ship more than 100 million wireless phone devices with cutting-edge technology in the next year.
Other firms, like Motricity, aggregate digital content—from ringtones to books to games—for phone networks like Cingular and its 50 million users. Motricity's Elizabeth Mackey, a veteran digital executive, noted that her firm supports 17,000 book titles and that selling content through phones is a $3 billion a year business, set to grow to $9 billion by 2010. "Portability is key," said Mackey. "Everything is coming through the phone. Average revenue per user on Cingular has grown from $1 to $3.70. All these devices should have books bundled on them so consumers know they can be used for reading."
Indeed, the success of iPods and iTunes was a much-cited theme at the conference. Said Frank Daniels of Vital Source, a company that offers educational content from STM publishers bundled on laptops and desktops: "It's the iTunes lesson: inexpensive content; flexible DRM that isn't Fort Knox; and customized content. It's like a tunnel right to consumers' desktops for publishers."
The forum's afternoon sessions were devoted to search technology. Amazon gave details on the consumer launch of Amazon Upgrade, which enables customers who have purchased a print edition of a book to get online access for an additional charge of 10% to 20% of the least expensive price of the title. Amazon will split the extra revenue with publishers. Access to Upgrade allows customers to view the entire book online and to print out pages, with the number of pages that can be printed limited by publishers. To participate in Upgrade, a title must be part of Search Inside the Book, the search program that now includes about half of all books on Amazon.
Microsoft gave an update on its book search efforts, now encompassed in Windows Live Books. The new program will provide a limited amount of online viewing of a book, with directions on how consumers can buy the title. Windows Live will also feature an ad-sharing model. Microsoft is working to accrue a critical mass of titles before it launches the service later this year.
