Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
navigation awkward. Navigation problems will fix themselves; the
'have to go out of my way to use it' factor will not.
Not all pleasure reading is extended reading. While it may indeed
be uncomfortable to read for a two-hour stretch from an
electronic screen, reading for 15 minutes is not. And as the iPhone
and its quickly multiplying touch-screen imitators continue to
take over the market, two things are quickly becoming
increasingly possible: first, one can have a book (or two or three)
tucked inconspicuously into one's pocket at all times; second, one
can take it out and begin reading at any moment, and put it away
again as soon as something else demands one's attention.
2
What currently exist in the e-book market, then, are two comple-
mentary but potentially powerful hardware tools: one (the Kindle) that
allows the user to download very large numbers of books and read them
comfortably for extended periods; another (the iPhone and its imitators)
that allows the user to carry a few books around at all times and read
them comfortably during brief and unanticipated moments of
opportunity. Between the two, it is difficult to imagine that the e-book
market is not at a major turning point - though it should be noted that
prognosticators have been heralding the 'tipping point' for e-books for
a very long time.
The future of the journal
While the journal seems likely to persist as a branding device, it is not
likely to do so in its traditional format - 'format', in this case, referring
to the standard volume/issue bundling of journal content rather than to
physical manifestation. Up until now, e-journals have followed very
closely the traditional volume/issue format that prevailed during the
print era. But the traditional, three-layer format of journal publishing
- articles compiled into issues compiled into volumes - has never been
a rational one (as discussed above). It was forced upon us by the tyranny
of ink on paper, which made it necessary for publishers to realize
economies of scale as best they could. This meant constantly waiting:
waiting for writers to finish writing, for editors to finish editing, for
reviewers to finish reviewing, and then for enough finished articles to
pile up that it was finally cost-effective to print, bind and mail the
