After Ereaders: Getting Down to Content

Though hardware dominated the CES news, the real shift may come from two new software platforms

Josh Hadro -- Library Journal, 01/12/2010

• Blio to offer “multi-modal presentation” of content
• Copia highlights text-based social networking
• As ebook stores proliferate, EFF urges caution over privacy and content rights

Many of the stories from the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas feature a potentially overwhelming number of ereading devices coming in 2010. The New York Times called it "A Deluge of Devices for Reading and Surfing," while Gawker put it more bluntly, writing "There Are Officially Too Damn Many Ebook Readers."

[For more details on ereaders, see Publishers Weekly's coverage (1, 2) on device debuts at CES.]

That may be good news, but here's the better news: there are so many ereaders that perhaps we can finally get over them.

With a robust market of ereaders at a diverse range of prices, people actually might start buying these devices in market-shaping numbers. Once that happens, readers will start demanding more access to content—including library materials—in ways that are actually convenient to them.

So, instead of getting bogged down by the details of screen-size and file formats, publishers and librarians could finally get down to work hammering out one or more platforms that give readers flexibility.

Two of the most arresting demonstrations at CES—of the Copia and Blio ebook platforms—didn't feature ereader devices as their primary hook. Rather, they aimed at something broader, treating the idea of content on a device as just one small part of a larger reading and related content experience.

In both cases, the companies’ plans challenge some traditional publishing and library models, though both promise—with details yet unavailable—to participate in library lending.

Blio: melding reading with other content
Blio stood out as a free software tool amidst a sea of hardware at CES. It’s the brainchild of K-NFB Reading Technology, a partnership between futurist Ray Kurzweil and the National Federation of the Blind, in conjunction with Baker & Taylor.

The idea: meld the reading experience with other modes of accessing content, including audio, video, and web content. For materials from publishers with linked text and audio rights—and, yes, how many would participate remains an open question—users will be able to toggle between the two, or a mix of both, resizing and reflowing the text to suit their needs. (For titles without associated audio content, the software features a robust text-to-speech feature.)

Children's materials can similarly feature multi-voiced narrations tied to full-color page images, while student textbooks can feature embedded quizzes and chapter reviews.

Moreover, as software, Blio isn't tied to one device: part of the appeal is to sync content from one device to another, not unlike the way materials from Amazon.com can be synced between a Kindle device and the Kindle for iPhone app.

Blio will debut in February as a Windows-based desktop application, followed by apps for the iPhone and Android. An operating system-agnostic web portal is expected in about three months, opening the software up to Mac and Linux users. Users will be able to share works among up to five devices. (Textbooks will be limited to three devices, according to publisher requirements.)

Company officials promise the Blio Bookstore will carry 220,000 titles from major publishers including Simon & Schuster, Random House, Harper Collins, and Elsevier. That total is more than half the size of Amazon's Kindle lineup; also, users would gain access to more than a million public domain works.

Changing the idea of content
This entails two important departures from prevailing assumptions in publishing and library circles. First, alternative formats will be part of a single work, and second, content would not be married to a single device or content carrier.

For works published via the Blio platform, other versions like audiobooks or large print will become facets of one publication rather than formats for consumers and libraries to purchase separately. And, instead of purchasing content linked to one device, content will be portable to anything that will run the Blio software.

Of course, Blio is not the first to tout the idea of multi-device support, or embedding web snippets and other content into primarily text-based products. What may set it apart, however, is a focus on the idea that these do not merely add value, but are instead central to engaging with a text.

Kurzweil is adamant that such flexibility is required to offer equitable access to content, and that "multi-modal presentation helps comprehension" in a way unparalleled by any standalone format. (Kurzweil in fact wrote a series of prescient columns for Library Journal in 1992 and 1993, outlining many of the things he hopes to achieve with the Blio platform.) Indeed, if Blio finds success, it will likely be the result of this focus on multi-modal access, and the portability of content that necessarily entails.

Copia's social book network
Copia similarly starts out one step removed from ereading devices: It's a social reading network centered around thecopia.com—slated to go live in February—as much as it's a retail outlet and ebook library.

The company, part of DMC Worldwide, also will release its own passel of maritime-named (e.g., Ocean, Tidal) e-ink readers in June (or by April in the online store), priced between $199 to $299. But, rather than selling to individual consumers who choose one particular device and marketplace, Copia aims to capitalize on a network people using the platform to extend their existing online relationships.

According to the company's demonstration, the Copia web site will hook directly into users' existing social networks via Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and will offer a variety of social reading features like those found on LibraryThing and GoodReads, such as like recommendations and popularly held titles. But the platform also will take that important step beyond bibliographic metadata, giving access to materials on the content level.

Here, users who opt for more relaxed privacy settings will be able to join groups based on shared interests and shared reading lists, and will further be able to share excerpts (as allowed by the publishers), highlights, and annotations of content they've purchased or downloaded among their network contacts.

Currently, they'll share all these features only through the Copia web portal or the Copia-made devices, but the company says it has plans to open the platform to other ereader manufacturers. This could then bolster yet another marketplace alternative to Sony and Amazon.

Library lending?
For now, however, both Copia and Blio are closed systems; while they will work on multiple devices, they’ll remain exclusive ecosystems. What's more, neither company had any explicit details available about plans for library lending, though both said further information would be forthcoming. Copia reps mentioned discussions with digital providers like OverDrive, while Blio reps insisted that their own plans for lending would roll out "probably in summer."

In the case of content platforms, it's clear that content is taking precedence over format. However, because both function as decentralized networks, this also means potentially yet another step away from outright content ownership and toward license-based access limited to the lifetime of the product.

Potential tension
As new ebook products lure customers, some features, will require readers to accept privacy restrictions they may not be aware of. This is not an uncommon features of the online world, but one that will challenge librarians who hold privacy sacrosanct to step up their role as readers' advocates.

One of the least flashy CES exhibitors, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), offers the "E-Book Buyer's Guide to Privacy," which, while not yet updated to reflect the ereader explosion at CES, raises questions about the monitoring of reading habits along with the tracking of searches and purchases.

If CES is any indicator, 2010 will be the year to not only advocate for ebook producers to take note of the library market, but also for library values.