Ereader shares reshuffle?

Guy Clapperton

Feb 9th 2010

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US bookseller Barnes and Noble has restocked on its eReader, the Nook. It had stopped selling them over the Christmas period due to stock problems.

Meanwhile Amazon continues to be bullish about its own eReader, the Kindle. Numerous reviews and forecasts suggest that the obvious market-changer, Apple's iPad, has had a mixed reception prior to its launch.

e-ink

Apple's main problem for the naysayers worldwide – and we'll come to UK-speficic in a minute – is the lack of e-ink on its screen.

People who haven't used an eReader will wonder what that is. Basically most commentators and studies suggest that staring at a backlit screen for any length of time is uncomfortable so you wouldn't want to read a book that way.

The Apple screen is pretty clearly backlit. Price is also an issue. If you want an eReader and only an eReader there are cheaper options.

UK problem

The other killer for the new device in the UK is that the website devoted to the iPad doesn't carry any mention of eBooks.

Now, the tablet is supposed to be more than a book reader but it's in this area that a lot of the interest has come from in America. Take it away and you could end up with a pretty lame launch, runs the speculation.

Copyright

There is of course no technical reason the device should be suitable for reading books in one region and not another. This is therefore likely to be contractual – books need copyright clearance in every territory in which they are sold.

This is why if you log on to the Amazon website in America (for example) you can't download books from there, you have to come to the UK site.

For this reason it would be absurd for Apple to mention eBooks before they're cleared to do so contractually.

It has to be said, though, that it's not doing much among the potential market in the UK for the new device – it would be interesting if Apple's launch created a load of interest in the eBook as a medium, only for the company to see someone else waltz off with all the market share.

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