The eBooks of the Future

On Thursday I asked the question "What will the e-book look like in the future?"

On Saturday, Computerworld answered.

In an article titled "What's Wrong With eBooks?" Mike Elgan makes six suggestions for publishers. I'm only going to list the four that are specific to ebooks.

1) We need to be able to buy all three versions of a book (audio, ebook and hardcover p-book) at a price about $10 more than the hardcover instead of forking out more than twice the price of the hardcover to get all three.

2) We need ebooks that can be revised or updated without the customer having to purchase an entire new edition.

3) We need a social networking website for all major books (something I predicted in my Thursday post).

4) We need release dates for ebooks that come ahead of the p-book release dates.

Of course, it is suggestion #4 that will make publishers' heads spin like Regan MacNeil's in The Exorcist.

And Elgan knows this. He ends his article with the following message to publishers:

Publishers, here's the bottom line: The future of your industry is in jeopardy . . . Instead of blocking innovation, jerking around your customers and coming up with new ways to protect your tree-pulp business, it's time for you to embrace the book business . . .

Amen, brother.

To read Elgan's terrific article, including his other two suggestions, go here.