Penguin Casts Its Lot with iPad

Here's a demo of what Penguin is planning to make available on Apple's iPad. Guess it answers my question, "Are we forgetting the little ones?"



FULL ARTICLE AVAILABLE HERE

$3.99 For One Short Story On the Kindle?

Here's an interesting post from the VQR Blog. Seems The Atlantic has entered into an agreement with Amazon to sell individual shorts for the Kindle at $3.99 apiece. I can't imagine paying $3.99 to read one lousy short story or even a good one. Of course the writer gets a "four figure" return. That's a lot too. Is that really necessary?

Why do I see failure in their future?

It's an Islate, It's an iReader: No, It's iPad with an e-Reader Built

So, it's finally here. And it starts at only $499. Pretty clever of Apple to let the prediction add up to $1000. So now this looks ve-e-ery good. I'm not one of those has-to-have-every-new-tech-toy types. I didn't get an iPod until everyone had one. I really have no desire for an iPhone. Why do I need a cell phone that acts like a laptop when I barely use the cell phone I have––honestly. I don't give out the number because I don't want people calling me at the supermarket or in the fitting room at Boscov's. But I've been seriously thinking about this e-reader thing since I gave up my print newspaper subscriptions.

While it isn't all that big a deal taking my laptop down to the kitchen every morning so I can read the paper over breakfast, it isn't the most convenient thing in the world. I saw a friend's Kindle, and it was ok. Only I couldn't see the point in spending that much money for something that only does one job, even if it is easier to read in bed than my Mac. This baby does it all. Not just is it a reader, but it looks like the perfect mini-laptop for travel.

I can't afford it quite yet, and I never buy anything as soon as it comes out. Let them get the kinks out. I do want to run over to the Apple Store soon and play with it though. Bet there'll be a long line.

E-reading News

Can Apple Save the Written Word?

I thought Google was doing that. Oh wait, I guess they are just preserving it. Anyway more speculation on Apple's new e-reader that doesn't even have a name yet. Yikes, $1000. That's quite a lot of books and magazines and newspapers. Then again, it will be a reader and computer all in one from what I can tell, but I still need the one here on my desk because I don't think I can write on that thing.  Maybe it will be like the iPhone and come down in price immediately. According to the P&W website, Apple's new iWhatever is due to be unveiled tomorrow. Way to upstage the Prez on his first State of the Union. Though something tells me the State of Apple is way better anyway.

Here's another good post on Enhanced e-Books, what publishers will be adding to e-books to make them more tantalizing––and expensive–-to readers. It puts me in mind of when DVDs first came out. Remember the "Easter Eggs"? Those special hidden features? Do they still have those? If they do, does anyone look for them? I think the idea was to wean the public away from VHS. Now that you can't find VHS anymore that's no problem.

It looks like there will be much in store for reading in the very near future when reading may very well be something only the wealthy can afford.

Kindle Killer Coming to an Apple Store Near You?

Here's an interesting article from The Huffington Post dubbing Apple's soon to be debuted iSlate (name not yet official) as the "Kindle Killer." The author has an interesting point. Why create a reader that is so wedded to print that ends up being not quite as good as a book or a laptop? Instead, the Apple reader will make use of multi-media.

I understand the arguments for the e-ink format: the non-back-lit screen is easy on the eyes, easy on battery life, etc. And since we spend upwards of ten hours a day staring at glaring screens--whether 30" wide or glowing in your pocket-- I can understand the argument for not wanting to read the latest vampire novel off yet another backlit screen. When I desire such a quiet reading experience I pick up the paperback. It is still the best at what it does.

Prol'em is, will the paperback survive and will it be affordable?

E-reading: Are We Forgetting the Little Ones?

All the discussion about e-reading, whether online or on a device, seems to focus on the comfort/convenience of the reader or the profits of the publisher. Until I read this letter in Indian Country Today about pediatricians "breaking the cycle of poverty" by giving away books during well child visits I never thought about an important demographic being overlooked––kids––and not just the ones from low-income families though they will, of course, suffer most.

"Today in the United States, there are more than 11 million children aged 5 and under who are living in poverty. Millions of these children will arrive at their first day of kindergarten bright, eager, and happy – but with deficits in their reading readiness that leave them underprepared to read and learn. Sadly, starting one step behind decreases the likelihood that those smiling, eager children will ever catch up. Once behind these children are at increased risk for absenteeism, dropping out, juvenile delinquency, substance abuse, and teenage pregnancy."

Obviously, I'm a big promoter of online publishing, and I have complained before on this blog about too many studies on the reading habits of young adults equating reading with books and ignoring  reading done online. So far I've passed on the Kindle based on price and a premonition that it will soon become a relic as better readers untethered by a single retailer hit the markets, but I'm resigned to the inevitable march toward e-reading, and, honestly, don't feel those same tactile connections to print so many fuss about.  However, this article got me thinking about children and what effect the digital age could have on their first contact with the written word.

I recall an elderly aunt attempting to introduce my then two-year-old daughter to Winnie-the-Pooh through the original chapter book by AA Milne. While she later came to cherish that book and read it and re-read it, as a toddler my daughter couldn't focus on a book with more words than pictures. Reluctantly I gave in to purchasing the bastardized Disney versions with the fatter, yellower, cartoon Pooh until she reached the age where she could focus on pages of words with few illustrations . There lies the problem, or at least as I see it, with kids and e-reading.

I'm relying on personal experience so I could be all wet here, but it strikes me that even if a toddler did have the dexterity to "turn" pages on a laptop or e-reader, and even if you didn't mind having your $300 Kindle double as a teething ring, could a child ever be engrossed by an e-reader version of Goodnight Moon ? And then there's the sense of ownership. Children own their books like few other things in their young lives. My daughter used her favorite books as a form of bonding, thrusting them into the hands of a person to whom she'd taken a liking, climbing into that person's lap and asking to be read to before she could even form words. Sitting with a book can also be a form of self-entertainment, one of the few things a toddler can choose to do alone. We all know how children will memorize entire books,page for page and word for word, at a young age, and claim to "read" them to us. Is all that possible with a laptop or e-reader?

While I haven't heard this issue discussed much, I imagine there could be some movement to continue printing books for the pre-school set, but what would such a small, specialized product cost? Already children of wealthier and better-educated parents get a jump on their education. Could this make that divide even worse? Then again, will better-off parents who grew up assuming New+Technology=Better Life even consider that an old traditional form of reading might be better for their kids? Or will they force e-reading on them as the better way, not to mention more convenient for the parent?

I am certainly no expert in child development. My concerns could be empty. Maybe reading on a Kindle is every bit as good for a child as reading a Golden Book. Maybe reading on devices will lure children into reading as much or more than books.

I'd be interested in know your thoughts, especially the teachers out there.