[Asis-l] Library In A Pocket: Some Prefer To Read (Some) eBooks On SmartPhones

[gerrymck]

NYTimes / November 18, 2009 / Library in a Pocket By MOTOKO RICH and BRAD STONE

With Amazon’s Kindle, readers can squeeze hundreds of books into a
device that is smaller than most hardcovers. For some, that’s not
small enough. Many people who want to read electronic books are
discovering that they can do so on the smartphones that are already in
their pockets — bringing a whole new meaning to “phone book.” [snip]

[snip]

Over the last eight months, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and a range of
smaller companies have released book-reading software for the iPhone
and other mobile devices. One out of every five new applications
introduced for the iPhone last month was a book, according to Flurry,
a research firm that studies mobile trends.

All of that activity raises a question: Does the future of book
reading lie in dedicated devices like the Kindle, or in more versatile
gadgets like mobile phones? [snip]

But there are already 84 million smartphones that can run applications
in the United States alone, according to IDC, a research firm. Apple
has sold more than 50 million iPhones and iPod Touches, which both run
e-book software.  Apple itself doesn’t see the iPhone as the ultimate
reading device. Next year, it is likely to further stir up the e-book
market if, as expected, it introduces a tablet computer — a device
bigger than a phone that will most likely run e-reader software along
with other programs intended for the iPhone.

People once scoffed at the idea of reading a book on a 3.5-inch mobile
screen. For many readers, though, sheer convenience trumps everything
else.

[more]

Access To An Excerpted Version Of The Article And The Original Full
Text Is Available At

[ http://tinyurl.com/y8t8qy3 ]

EnJOY!

/Gerry

Gerry McKiernan
Associate Professor
Science and Technology Librarian
Iowa State University Library
Ames IA 50011

gerrymck at iastate.edu

There Is No Answer, Only Solutions / Olde Irish Saying

The Future Is Already Here, It's Just Not Evenly Distributed
Attributed To William Gibson, SciFi Author / Coined 'Cyberspace