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We are happy to offer you another issue of
the Warren Adler E-Sheet, which
keeps you up to date on what is happening
in the author's world.
 When I first began to proselytize, as a lone
voice, that digitalization and screen reading
would one day supplant the paper book, most
people looked at me with dismay and many with
pity. They still do, but with grudging
acknowledgement, and sadness, that reading on
a screen is the inevitable future.
After years of false starts and failed
attempts to make a reader-friendly device that
might bring the on-screen technology one step
closer to fruition, I am happy to announce
that the new Sony®
Reader using so-called "digital paper" as its
content delivery system is the first major
step to bring reader and content together in a
happy union.
I have always believed that it was the
contents of the book not the architecture and
particular style of its delivery system that
gave the words within its real heft and
meaning. Having made the bet years ago to
digitalize my back list of 28 books in all
formats and to prepare any new work to meet
this perceived future, I waited patiently for
a delivery system to validate my bet.
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| The Sony Reader is the harbinger of things
to come in every aspect where reading is
essential, especially in education. |
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Frankly, none of the devices created before
had hit the gong as far as I was concerned. I
longed for a portable device, easily operated
and understood, dedicated to reading, pure
reading, without all the distracting bells and
whistles of cell phones, calendars, reminders
and internet gimmicks. As a serious and
voracious reader, I wanted a device that was
handy, with a library capacity well enough
organized for easy reference and research,
even those read once books that might draw me
back for a second or third time.
The device needed to have clear and easily
readable type with the capacity to upsize if
necessary, be light enough to tuck and travel,
be very friendly for bed reading and
effortless in loading new books, have a
long-life charge without worry about needing
to charge it after every reading session and,
above all, allow the reader to trance out on
the contents and not be obliged to think out
any page turning distractions. It is also
equipped for audio presentations.
The Sony
Reader meets all of those requirements and, in
my opinion, is the harbinger of things to come
in every aspect where reading is essential,
especially in education. As the Sony Walkman revolutionized the portable music player, I
truly believe that it is the opening gun of a
reading revolution. It might not make
dedicated readers out of the upcoming more
visually oriented generation, but for those
happy souls to whom reading is an essential
part of life, it will make it easier to
enhance the reading experience and hopefully
draw new people into the reading fold.
Having read a number of books on the new
Reader, I can say with absolute integrity that
the experience not only rivals that of a paper
book, but enhances and speeds the effort. No,
I did not use a stop watch, but I am convinced
that my absorption rate was quicker than
provided by a paper book.
It will be a quiet, gradual revolution. There
are obstacles. The Reader is a bit pricey at
$350, but considering the eventual savings on
the cost of books, the device should pay for
itself for those who are regular purchasers of
books. The device can hold eighty books and be
increased with an enhancement to double that
number.
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| I must admit I am torn between my love of
the paper book, its touch and design, and
my obsession with the content that books
provide. |
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Because it has a proprietary format and some
publishers might still be wary, the number of
books available for download have not yet
reached critical mass, although there is more
than enough available to meet most tastes and
requirements. Obviously, the device needs
great public acceptance to realize its full
potential. If it does hit the gong for others
as it did for me, I see accelerated movement
ahead as more and more books become available
for increasingly happy users.
Changing people's habits is like turning a
battleship in a narrow channel. It takes very
brave and imaginative people to take the risk
of effecting change.
I must admit I am torn between my love of the
paper book, its touch and design, and my
obsession with the content that books provide.
Upcoming generations will not be bothered by
that conflict. But the words themselves, the
content, can be far more durable and life
changing than the way in which they are
delivered. They will survive as they have from
oral to hand written on parchment, to moveable
type, to imprinting on paper and now through
digitalization.
Like everything else going on with digital
technology, it is impossible to predict what
is in store for us in the future. As an
author, I faced the reality of this
technological onslaught early on, perhaps too
early. My motives were purely self-serving. I
had no wish for my life's work to be
obliterated by time and fashion. In cyberspace
no work goes "out of print" but remains on the
planet for the foreseeable future, if it has
one. All of my books are available at the Sony
store to be read on its Reader just as they
are available in all other e-book formats and
brick and mortar venues as paper books.
Indeed, I expect other e-reader devices to
follow Sony 's pioneering effort just as I
expect Sony to continue to upgrade and enhance
its current offering.
I still love my paper books and adore seeing
these proud soldiers of joy and knowledge
standing at attention on my bookshelves. But
as an efficient long lasting speedy
communication system, I'll now opt to get my
reading fix on an e-reader, like the one Sony
has just produced.
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