Just catching up on instapaper'd articles and came across a couple of James Bridle articles with bits I want to refer back to, share and annotate, so I've merged two blog posts together.

From The new value of text:

Text lasts. It’s not platform-dependant, you don’t just get it from one source, read it in one place, understand it in one way. It is not dependent on technology: it is what we make technology out of. Code is text, it is the fundamental nature of technology

and

we are terrified that in the digital age, people are constantly distracted. That they’re shallower, lazier, more dazzled. If they are, then the text is not speaking clearly enough. We are not speaking clearly enough. Like over-stuffed attendees at a dull banquet, the mind wanders. We are terrified that people are dumbing down, and so we provide them with ever dumber entertainment. We sell them ever greater distractions, hoping to dazzle them further.

From Everything is the same only different:

when I talk about “books”, I don’t mean ‘ebooks’ or ‘bound books’ or any division thereof: I’m talking about something written down and transmitted. When we talk about how we feel about and interact with music now we don’t have to specify whether it’s MP3 or vinyl in most contexts. That’s not really what the discussion is about.

The reason this needs to be clear is because when we ask what is different about digital books, what we are asking is what existing qualities of the book digital enhances.

and

as publishers race to the bottom to produce ever cheaper editions, and with that a range of formatting and proofing problems arise, further damaging the reputation of the book. These can be resolved instead of increased through digital, through better workflows, linked content and more openness to feedback.

As usual, I found myself nodding along to most of the points, and taking away some more threads to think on. I've been conciously trying to change my viewpoint based on "Ask not what is the future of the book, instead ask what is the future of reading" to consider the reading as the activity and not getting hung up on the delivery mechanism and to think, basically, about the text. Or the concepts behind the text.

And he's spot on about the quality of the text provided in (some) digital books. I recently read Quick, Let's Get Out of Here to my Mum and, as I said in my Goodreads review, 

I was, however, frustrated by some of the spelling mistakes in the kindle ebook version - I find this annoying in a print book, but inexcusable in an ebook.

You see, I don't understand why revisions can't be made to ensure that a ebook is the best it can possibly be. Actually, I do understand it from a publishers perspective, once the ebook is in the store, then it's moved from a delivery phase to a support phase (using technical project speak) and no longer gets much attention, but, why should the next person who comes along to buy the book not benefit from a feedback mechanism about spelling/formatting mistakes and get a version that is improved (with would surely lead to better reviews etc). I know, a simplistic view that ignores the complexity of the matter. But for me, t's not about the way the text is displayed, be it on paper, or digitally, or whatever, it's about making my experience of reading that text a good one, of enabling me to engage with it (or the thoughts behind it) without being jarred out of my "happy reading place" by a badly encoded accent etc

As for digital distraction, I do get distracted easily, when I'm in the mindset to be. If I'm consuming a twitter feed then I will pop off all over the place following links, some of which I'll flag to read properly later. If I'm reading within the context of my kindle, then I'm usually pretty focussed on what I'm reading and don't get distracted other than within the text I'm reading (following footnotes etc) or with thoughts provoked by the text I'm consuming. The same goes for reading instapaper'd articles, whether on the kindle or through the iPhone app, I've usually already quickly skimmed the article and decided I want to read it, so when I start reading it, I'm commited to reading it. And it is all about commitment. With a side-helping of opportunity. The opportunity to sit down somewhere quietly and focus.

Anyway, as I say, more things to think about. It's an interesting time in the life of text. It feels like we're surrounded by more text than ever before, at least some of which has been made available by the internet (whether that's web pages, ebooks or just the accessibility of out-of-stock/rare books that the local bookstore can't/doesn't stock) and that thought pleases me.

Condé Nast magazines like Wired, Details, Epicurious, Glamour, Allure, Golf Digest etc. will be “delivered” to people’s personal HP web printers so that they can presumably read them without having to go to the magazine stand. This is real! You schedule when you want to read the mags and your HP printer starts spitting out the pages.

(via gizmodo after a conversation with Dave)

“Our work with Condé Nast creates a new channel for customers to access the content they want from some of their favorite publications,” said Stephen Nigro, senior vice president, Inkjet and Web Solutions, Imaging and Printing Group, HP. “And, when coupled with our scheduled delivery service, allows customers to get the content they want, whenever they want it.”

With scheduled delivery to HP web-connected printers using HP print tools, publishers can reach readers more frequently than with print magazines and more tangibly than via email.

HP Instant Ink delivers Original HP Ink cartridges to the home or office when needed. Users may receive up to 50 percent annual savings on ink cartridge purchases for one low monthly fee. Subscriptions for HP Instant Ink will be available from $5.99 to $10.99 per month depending on the product line, plus all cartridge shipping is included.

This seems to me to be a backwards step - print out magazine content on (probably) sub-standard paper, with (probably) sub-standard ink and bind it together in a (probably) sub-standard binding although on a schedule that I (notionally) choose, with content I (notionally) choose *. A lot of this seems to all be about selling ink, something that seems to be backed up by this HP Instant Ink subscription package.

* - I haven't yet tracked down pricing models from Condé Nast for getting the content, or how configurable that magazine schedule will be.

I'm not sure that the magazine market has really worked out what it's doing yet. A lot of the digital magazines seem to just be about repurposing their print edition rather than offering me something different, something more suited to the availability of the information or the medium on which I'm consuming. I want the editorial quality of a monthly/weekly publication, but with timely extras - a breaking news section which refreshes every time I open my magazine for instance. This shouldn't be difficult to achieve, this is, effectively, what the web sites for such magazines provide (I'm thinking of wired here and how frequently I consume articles from their iphone news app). I'm not sure that home-printing is the solution to this particular itch (is it the solution to any itch?)

In amongst the post I wrote the other day about Books, eBooks and eBook readers I said

Another item that concerns me is the cost of eBooks. I often buy novels from bookshops as part of a 3 for 2 offer or similar. Looking at the iBooks store I was amazed to discover that for one book I was considering, it actually cost more than it would to walk into a bookstore and buy it at full RRP. This doesn't seem right to me somehow. And it doesn't mean that I value the author's work any less, just that there is a lot less delivery costs involved with getting the content to me, and I expect to see the benefit of some of that.

What I hadn't appreciated until jonnynexus retweeted Press Futuist's tweet

Why UK ebooks aren't much cheaper than print in <140 characters. VAT @17.5% on ebooks (not print) outweighs manufacturing savings of c. 12%.

was the VAT aspect.  The HMRC has a lovely page about Zero-rating of books etc which has some rather delightful and comical definitions of what constitutes a zero rated book, for example

These normally consist of text or illustrations, bound in a cover stiffer than their pages. They may be printed in any language or characters (including Braille or shorthand), photocopied, typed or hand-written, so long as they are found in book or booklet form.

but it would appear to be the following paragraph which differentiates the supply of an eBook rather than the book itself

The supply of text by electronic transmission, via the internet, or similar means is also standard-rated. Such supplies are of services, not of goods, and different VAT rules will apply to them (such as those on the place of supply of services – see Notice 741 Place of supply of services.

So, you pay VAT for the service of being able to download the book, rather than the book itself.  The content is still zero-rated (I think!).

Interesting stuff!

I love reading. As an only child books were often my companions. I am the child of an avid reader and a reluctant reader. I'm not sure if it is related or not but the avid reader is also an only child, whilst the reluctant reader was one of 6 children. My mother and I used to devour books and visited the local library together regularly. I mostly read novels or autobiographies, I sometimes read business books and I rarely read technical books, preferring to use google as my index and RSS feeds as my table of contents. I can think of no better way of spending a lazy afternoon than curled up with a good book (your definition of good in this context will probably differ to mine).

I read my first ebooks using a palm os based organiser in 2001 whilst travelling in New Zealand, and I read many more whilst commuting after that. I have since read books using a dedicated ebook device, the Cool-er that Richard had, using it as a way to finish off a very large physical book when heading out to Australia in December and found the experience ok - it didn't take long to forget the media and concentrate on the words. I read some classic Agatha Christie using Stanza on my iPod touch. And I've recently read a short novel on my iPhone as my first iBooks experience (it was ok, but getting push alerts was distracting - need to be able to turn them off easily to allow focus to be maintained). I've read pdf photography magazines on the iPad which again was a pleasant experience, and a pdf photography book on the iPhone using the excellent GoodReader (the larger screen size does seem to make magazines more usable). Next up is using the kindle app on the iPhone (although I'm currently reading a paperback so this will have to wait for a while)

Instapaper on the iPhone/iPod touch works well for me for reading longer articles. It allows me to share the article and to share extracts which is really helpful for highlighting a point for discussion and is something that I've been doing increasingly often recently. I have read more articles via instapaper than I think I have using any other app or service. I've written about my use of instapaper before. If, by any chance, you're reading this and don't use it, then go and try it out.

My remaining Issues, which will all become solvable over time I'm sure, are around the idea of sharing, lending and even being gifted books. I often read a novel and then pass it on to friends, and sometimes these books then end up at charity shops to continue their life with someone new.  My Christmas list always contains novels that I'd like to read.  It'll be interesting to experience how my sharing/lending/being gifted process changes with less physical books, will I buy a physical copy for someone I think will appreciate it?  Is there a good way to have an ebook bought for you?  Another item that concerns me is the cost of eBooks. I often buy novels from bookshops as part of a 3 for 2 offer or similar. Looking at the iBooks store I was amazed to discover that for one book I was considering, it actually cost more than it would to walk into a bookstore and buy it at full RRP. This doesn't seem right to me somehow. And it doesn't mean that I value the author's work any less, just that there is a lot less delivery costs involved with getting the content to me, and I expect to see the benefit of some of that. Ben posted a blog post containing similar musings the other day, and because of it I came across the Calibre eBook management software which allows books to be ported from device to device which takes away some of my concern about being tied in to a certain format.

What excites me about the future of eBooks and eReading in general, is the public sharing of meta data. When reading a business book, I tend to make notes in my notebook. If I can highlight the text and annotate it in-line and then share that information, it becomes useful in different ways - firstly as a condensed version of the book content for my own use, but also as a way to promote discussion about the book with a wider audience. For instance, book clubs could become fluid based on who is reading the same book at the same time and is willing to share their annotations and highlights giving greater insight and different points of view.  James Bridle has started some work on this kind of thing with his open bookmarks project. Another person I've recently seen talk (via the excellent and informative Do Lectures videos) about ebooks and publishing generally is Craig Mod. Both of these people blog, and both of these blogs are in my RSS feed now.

I've added a Kindle to my Christmas list, so hopefully I'll have an ebook reader of my own to read with soon and can start contributing my own bookmarks, annotations and the like and compare it to the use of the various apps on the iPhone. Watch this space.