MEDIA COMMENTS ABOUT EBOOKS

How do you feel about ebooks and their future role in publishing and education?

Lynette Rowland, Executive Editor Midwest Parenting Publications (Publisher of Indy's Child and Cincinnati Parent Magazines)

Because we are a small publication we have not had the resources to research the e-book/magazine arena but do have it on our radar for possible future use. While a good green alternative, a large percentage of our readers prefer having the magazine accessible at all times. As far as education, we believe that this will have a huge impact not only on cost but also on the environment and the way students learn. While tactile books are preferred, new technology can also encourage better learning habits.

Keir Graff, Senior Editor, Booklist Online, Booklist

How long do you have? Personally, I think they make great sense for school and for reference. I don't want to read galleys or published novels on an e-reader--yet. Hard to say what the public thinks. If e-book prices come down, the Kindle and the Sony reader may help book junkies feed their habits. But real readers are generally not driven solely by price and convenience. They read books for the experience, and often, paper is part of the experience they're looking for.

Joanne Molina, Senior Arts and Culture Editor, Interiors magazine

Not a huge fan.

Elizabeth Devereaux Children's Books Review Editor, Publishers Weekly

Optimistic.

Ms. Gina Stepp, Book Reviews Editor, Vision

If they are well-researched and the author has a credible reason to present him or herself as an expert on the subject, I have no objection to them.

Fran Hawk, Children's Books Contributing Columnist, The Post and Courier, Charleston, SC

I think the Kindle is about to take over the world, but my personal jury is still out on the rest

Ms. Denise Mort, Book Reviews Editor, Great Falls Tribune

Speaking as a book-loving dinosaur, I think e-books don't exist. It would save a lot of money if college textbooks, for example, were available via computer, rather than students having to buy the expensive volumes, but as for general readers, well, as I said, I'm a dinosaur.

Shaley Melchior, Freelance Writer

In my mind, a hard copy wins over an ebook any time. With a hard copy, it's so much easier to keep track of my place and my eyes don't tire so easily. I do use ebooks for various educational courses I take, but I always prefer a hard copy.

Mr. Jim Adams, Book Reviews Editor, The New Hampshire Union Leader

I can see the benefits of e-books from a financial standpoint, but as a reader, I still like the "feel" of a book in my hands.

Laura Miller, Book Reviews Editor, Contexts

I believe they will thrive in some areas (such as reference), and make minimal inroads into areas where reading a print book is much easier (and cheaper). For the kinds of books I mostly deal with -- scholarly books -- ebooks are of limited use. I do not necessarily read such books cover to cover, nor do I read discrete sections once. I need to be able to page back and forth rapidly between sections, between text and footnotes, and return to sections I recall reading in the past. Ebooks are not set up well to do that. I also find that students read print more carefully than electronic text.

Kel Munger, Books Editor, Sacramento News & Review

I'm not interested in e-books.

John Landry, Book Review Editor, Harvard Business Review

I expect they'll be an important alternative to print, but won't replace them in my lifetime.

J.P. Goldman, Editor, The School Administrator magazine

Don't deal with ebooks now.

Judy Colbert, Freelance Writer

Ebooks are a great wave of the current (pun intended).

WaveLength Magazine, Book Reviews Editor

I see no place for them at this stage. If people want a book they want it to be portable. If they want electronic access to information on a certain subject they can get that through search engines. Books have not yet bridged the technologies for the vast majority, and I don't expect this to change soon.

Joe Meyers, Book Reviews Editor Connecticut Post

The jury seems to be out on this question.

Kathleen Robinson, Book Reviews Editor, The Calgary Sun

Hard to imagine personally. I must be old-school. I like to read reclined in my bed or lounging in a chair - and I don’t want a computer anywhere near me. They mean work, not relaxing.

Michelle Mills, Book Reviews Staff Writer, San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Personally I don't care for e-books as I like something I can take anywhere. And they also do not meet our needs here at the paper.

Morley Walker, Book Reviews Editor, Winnipeg Free Press

Ebooks will rule some day. But that future is still not here. Until then, if a book is not published conventionally, I usually don't consider it.

Carolyn See, Book Reviews Contributing Writer, The Washington Post

No one knows yet.

Mary E. Gallagher, SSJ, General Editor of Catholic Library World ( the official organ of
the Catholic Library Association

The wave of the future even though not my personal choice.

Ms. Heather Shaw, Book Reviews Editor, Spirituality & Health magazine

All for it.

Prudy Taylor Board, Book reviewer, Boca Raton News, Florida Weekly, Fort Myers, FL, Florida Weekly -- Naples, FL

They will unquestionably play a role. I'm not convinced they will ever totally supplant the hard copy. There's a tactile pleasure derived from holding and paging through a book.

Florence Waszkelewicz Clowes, Book Review Editor, The Polish American Journal

I think it will be a long time before being accepted by the general public.

Joe Hartlaub, Book Reviews Senior Writer, Bookreporter.com

I am impressed with the Kindle, though it needs some tinkering. I think that eventually e-books and books will co-exist comfortably, perhaps even in my lifetime (I am 57). I think it will happen first in the educational field in response to the high cost of textbooks.

Sue Corbett, Freelance book reviewer, People, Publishers Weekly, Miami Herald

They definitely have a future, I just don't know what it is yet.

Doug Rieder, Book Reviews Editor, Erie Times-News

I own an Amazon Kindle and think it's great, so I think the future of e-books is unlimited.

Dan Webster, Book Reviews Editor, The Spokesman-Review

It's the wave of the future. But it's not there yet.

Javy Awan, Book Reviews Editor. Transportation Research News

Ebooks are over hyped.

Daniel Grotta, Freelance Writer

Undecided. I like paper, but then I'm a romantic anachronist. Once there's an affordable, practical e-book reader and a transparent delivery system, we'll see a movement towards e-books in the same way mass paperbacks eventually displaced hardbacks.

David Neff, Book Reviews Editor, Books & Culture: A Christian Review

Until e-book readers get a lot better and come way down in price, they won't get much use.

Deb Taber, Book Reviews Editor, Northwest Horse Source

Personally, I have no problem with ebooks, but for our market, they just won't sell. Until the general reader can solve the issues of onscreen reading eye fatigue, I don't think ebooks will do nearly as well as print.

Dave Williams, Editor, Asbury Park Press

I think they have lots of potential.

Carolyn Kuebler, Managing Editor, New England Review

They're fine, but don't have an interest in the format of a book but rather in its content.

Peter Cannon, Book Reviews Editor, Publishers Weekly

I’m uninterested.

Jon Fear, Editor, Waterloo Region Record, Kitchener, Ontario

If it happens, it happens. Have yet to see a Kinder book or Sony e-book, but would like to.

Ira "Skip" Singer, Business and Technology Journalist, Freelance for GQ, Men's Journal, Ziff-Davis, Washington Post, Advanstar

They are an inevitable fact and are certain to occupy an important space in the future.

John Williamson, Professor, Book Review Editor, SIM News

I don’t like them. Personally, I have trouble getting comfortable reading in front of a computer screen. Nevertheless, the ability to search for key words and such are very handy.

David Cherry, Book Reviews Editor, 21st Century Science & Technology

I prefer hard copies.

Jeanette Larson, Book Reviews Editor, Parent Wise Austin

I think ebooks work for certain kinds of books and will play a huge role in education. In publishing ebooks also means more self-published books.

Julian Suchman, Producer, Sirius Radio

I still prefer hard copy.

Ellen Barcel, Leisure Editor, Times Beacon Record Newspapers

I have mixed feelings. I don't like reading books from a screen, but publication on demand, that is printing out a copy of a book as ordered is another story. That makes unique or unusual books available without a large, expensive print run. It also means that virtually no book will ever go "out of print" again.

Bill Highlander, Editor, Times Media Inc.

Right now I prefer a regular book in my hands.

Ted Newsom, Features Editor, Hustler magazine

It saddens me...like the loss of drive-ins, b/w tv and my virginity...but they're inevitable.

Rich Ott, Business Editor, West Valley View newspaper

I have never read an ebook and I don't plan on reading any either.

Colleen Truelsen, Editor, Valley Community Newspapers, Inc.

I like paper. I browse the internet, don't curl up with it.

Todd Shryock, Managing editor, Smart Business Magazine

I think they are very viable and will continue to grow in popularity.

Blair Robertson, Staff Writer, The Sacramento Bee

I'm a big fan. I have bought 6 or 7 e-books, all of them in very specialized niche categories.

Tim Logan, Business Writer, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Seems like they're the future. That's fine with me, as long as the content stays more or less the same. Print, online or electronic, it's just a medium.

George Mocharko, Editor of Tomorrow's Business Leader, PBL Business Leader, The Professional Edge & Several Advisers' Hotlines.

Personally, I like ebooks, but I do not foresee that they will substitute for printed books for awhile.

Rick Barber, Host, After Midnight with Rick Barber

E-books are useful only for a taste. The real thing is always better.

Eric Taub, Technology Contributing Writer, The New York Times

Iffy; I prefer the printed page; but maybe people 2 generations down, don't.

Rob Sherman, Retired morning drive talk show host, The Rob Sherman Show on WJJG Chicago

Great concept. Fabulous concept that nobody's interested in. The reality is, people want their books on paper. I wish people would get with e-books, but most people want things to be as simple as possible. That's books on paper.

Chris Freeman, Editor, McHenry County Business Journal, Crystal Lake, IL

Lukewarm; it's kinda like reading a story on a Web site. I think the only real benefit is that it saves printing costs, which I'm sure will continue to be an issue for many publishers.

Steve Elliott, Managing Editor, North San Antonio Times, Primetime Newspapers (Owned by the San Antonio Express-News, a Hearst newspaper)

The technology has to be made a WHOLE lot simpler and easier to use. I still like holding a book or newspaper in my hands!

Dave Thatcher, Producer, Tuned in to Connecticut

They are a bit ahead of the curve at this point for us to give too much thought to. We're still dealing with blogs and web-sites.

Scott Tady, Features Editor, Beaver County Times

E- anything has a bright future. But you've still got to prove there's a buzz if you want news coverage.

Susan Blanch, Producer, WCCO radio

Can everyone afford a reader? What would that cost school districts? And at the rate that technology changes, your reader would be obsolete in a few years, and that means school districts would have to spend even more money for an uncertain technology.

Randy Cook, Host, The Morning Drive with Randy Cook

My wife wants a kindle for Xmas. No real opinion on that one yet.

Don Edrington, Freelance Writer, Computer Applications

I think they will continue to acquire an even larger chunk of the world's reading audience as time goes by, assuming kids in the future actually attain something beyond a sixth grade literacy level.

Albert Reinoso, Producer, SIRIUS Satellite Radio

People still like paper. Ebook Appliances will not be standard for another generation.

John Biggs, Technology Contributing Writer, The New York Times

eBooks are the future. The Kindle and devices like it will replace printed text in the next 30 years.

Nick Valery, Technology Columnist, The Economist

e-books are legitimate fare, and will get more so.


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