David Maybury | Blog

Colm has two posts on downloadable books here (and here) following the post on Neil Gaiman and Harper Collins’ success .

I think books are the medium most likely to succeed with this kind of model – apart from the whole “owning the artifact” thing that applies to all media, I find that reading from a computer is much more tiring than reading from a book.

I hope that the advent of newer technology (e-Ink for instance)  will make the issue of reading from a screen obsolete. Until a product is developed with wider appeal, devices, like Kindle and Sony’s e-Reader, will appear on the horizon but continue to fall short of the mark. The iPod Touch, with it’s large, legible screen, could be the solution – or an indicator for others to build an e-reader that appeals to people.

The appointment of Bob Miller (Guardian and Telegraph) to Harper Collins is a sign of publishers willingness (despite scepticism in the industry) to diversify and develop – especially relationships with bookstores.