Academic literature on the topic 'Free E-book Make money online'

AbstractCustomers are more and more deciding to use various types of services via Internet. They make very often different types of purchases. E-commerce is becoming more and more popular and developed. Unfortunately, according to customers, online shopping is not free from problems. Customers are afraid that the ordered goods will not be sent to them, will not meet their expectations, or will be destroyed during transport. An important aspect is also the payment method for this type of shopping. Customers often prefer to pay more to use the option of payment on delivery to avoid losing money if the ordered goods do not be delivered to them. The purpose of the paper is to analyze the safety of services offered via Internet. In the research the customers of different e-shops expressed their opinion on problems that may affect the safety of the offered services. Thanks to the research, it was possible to identify risk areas in accordance with the opinion of customers.

The article deals with the main problems of criminal characteristics of electronic money and payments as instruments of crime. The article reveals the economic and legal nature of electronic money (e-money). The features of e-money and its relation to electronic payments are identified. It is proved that intensive development of the IT sector results in an increasing replacement of cash by cashless methods of payment, and e-money is required for making payments online. E-money is previously created in all cases where they are stored on an electronic device and are used as means of payment, therefore they significantly reduce the level of abuse against property. Criminals in the real estate leasing sector use it as a tool when they commit cybercrime - a new place that has been transformed into a powerful source using for crime. Particular attention in this article is paid to the criminal characteristics of electronic money as an instrument of crime. Electronic money has been updated to account for a significant number of offending characters, while these crimes operate in free currency from a non-supported market and move to electronic services, they are used, and may be joined by warehouse resources, which require a criminal law level. It also indicates that e-money is being received by its billing service, and then can be exploited by attackers to trick owners who have already participated in their work. Through this process, using e-money and electronic payment is almost legal and covers the concept of legality. It is disclosed that the main complexity in detecting malicious tools creates electronic money, which makes it difficult to track the traces of such crime, which uses its delays in cyber space. The author also reveals an accurate view of electronic money resources, such as what is more likely to be abused, which is an additional element of criminal execution qualification.

A Review of: Carroll, A. J., Corlett-Rivera, K., Hackman, T., & Zou, J. (2016). E-book perceptions and use in STEM and non-STEM disciplines: A comparative follow-up study. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 16(1), 131-162. https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2016.0002 Abstract Objective – To compile a set of usability and collection development suggestions and to examine a possible statistical correlation between visiting the physical library, online resource use, and e-book use. Design – Online questionnaire survey. Setting – Major public research university in Maryland, United States of America. Subjects – 47,209 faculty, students, and staff. Methods – This survey is a follow-up to a similar 2012 study at the same institution. Survey respondents completed 14 multiple-choice and up to 8 open-ended questions about academic e-book discovery, perception, and usage patterns for both STEM and non-STEM respondents using the Qualtrics online research platform. Seven of eight open-ended questions were conditional (i.e., dependent on answers to multiple-choice questions), thus the number of questions answered by respondents could vary. The survey was available from October 1 to November 22, 2014, and promoted across a variety of communication channels (email, library website, social media, print flyers and handouts). Incentives for completing the survey included one iPad Mini and eight U.S. $25 Amazon gift cards. Main Results – 1,911 (820 STEM and 1,091 non-STEM) self-selected students, faculty, and staff from a total campus population of 47,209 faculty, students, and staff (4.2% response rate) participated in the survey, excluding 277 additional responses representing library personnel (70) and individuals not affiliated with the institution (207). 64% of respondents indicated more e-book use than three years before, with only 21.9% of respondents noting they never use e-books for academic purposes compared to 31% in 2012. 32.5% of respondents noted daily or weekly use of e-books for scholarly pursuits, with undergraduates reporting the most frequent use: 38.6% daily/weekly use versus 37.2% for graduate students, 16.2% for faculty, and 14.2% for staff. 38% of respondents reporting daily/weekly use were from STEM disciplines; 31.3% were from non-STEM fields. Computers, not e-readers, were the primary devices used for accessing e-books: 72.5% of respondents reported using laptops or desktops to this end versus tablets, 37.9%; mobile phones, 36.7%; Kindles, 25.6%; Nooks, 5.9%; and other e-readers, 3.3%. Top “mixed device access” responses were tablet/mobile phone/computer (98 responses); mobile phone/computer (93 responses); and tablet/computer (81 responses). The top three discovery tools respondents reported using for finding e-books were commercial sites (35.9%), free websites (26.8%), and the library website (26.2%). A weak-positive Spearman’s rho rank correlation of 0.25 provides some evidence that respondents who visit the library often are likely to use online resources and e-books. 35% of respondents reported they use e-books online “most of the time,” and 67% of respondents indicated they print out e-book content for use. Responses to the question “What, if anything, would make you more likely to use e-books for academic purposes?” included easier access via the library website (48% of respondents), better functionality for highlighting/annotating (44%), reduced cost (43.2%), easier downloading (38.5%), more e-books in area of research interest (37.3%), more textbooks (37.2%), and ownership of a dedicated e-reader (35.6%). In 2012, 52% of respondents reported never having downloaded an e-book for offline use. This percentage dropped notably in this study, with only 11.5% of respondents indicating they had never downloaded for later use. Conclusion – While this study indicates both STEM and non-STEM respondents at this institution are increasingly using e-books, preferences for electronic versus print format varied according to content type and type of user (e.g., STEM or non-STEM, undergraduate or graduate, student/faculty/staff). Key recommendations for usability and collection development include: improving discovery and awareness mechanisms, purchasing some content (e.g., references works, style guides) in e-format while ensuring multiple simultaneous use, taking advantage of print plus electronic options to serve users with different format preferences, and encouraging vendors to allow digital rights management free downloading and printing.

Objective – Texas A&M University Libraries have delivered free documents and interlibrary loans for ten years via the Get it for me service. This study explores whether the needs of customers are being met, areas for improvement, acceptable turnaround times, why some resources are never picked up, preferred format and steps to obtaining resources, places searched before submitting a request, and whether users ever purchased resources after obtaining them through Get it for me. Design – Online questionnaire. Setting – Large academic library system located in Texas, United States. Subjects – Researchers used responses from 735 registered users of the Get it for me service (12% undergraduates, 49% graduate students, 21% faculty, 15% staff, 1% distance education, 2% other). Methods – The authors emailed all currently registered users of the Get it for me service (n=23,063) inviting them to participate in a survey. The survey ran for two weeks, with no follow-up emails sent. Main Results – The return rate of 3.18% (n=735/23,063) surpassed the participant goal to achieve a confidence level of 95%, with a confidence interval of 4%. Researchers found that 79% of respondents are satisfied with turnaround time, with 54% of respondents desiring items within three days. Expectations increased with position in the academy. Time is the significant factor in users not retrieving ordered items; items are no longer needed after deadlines pass or other related materials are found. Responses revealed that 55% of users prefer print to e-books, although 70% of participants would accept an e-book version if print is not available. Participants were evenly split between reading documents online and printing them to read offline. About one quarter of respondents bought or suggested that the library purchase an item requested via Get it for me. When participants encountered a problem, 55% of respondents would contact library staff and 45% would check the service FAQ. Of those that contacted staff, there is a 94% satisfaction rate. Overall, 95% of respondents checked the libraries’ online catalogue for availability, 83% looked in e-journal collections, and 74% checked Google or Google Scholar. Get it for me was complimented on its user-friendly interfaces and policies, and the money and time it saves its users. In terms of criticism, users requested better quality scanned documents, longer interlibrary loan times, and a PDF instead of a link when an article is found by staff. Conclusion – The author concludes that the document delivery and interlibrary loan services delivered by Get it for me are meeting the expectations of users, with 99% of respondents reporting that the Get it for me service meets or somewhat meets their needs. Areas that required improvement were identified and strategies put in place to improve service. This questionnaire can be applied to other libraries to assist them in learning about document delivery and interlibrary loan service users and their expectations.

This study aims to explore the strengths and weaknesses of extensive reading using Wattpad platform based on students’ perceptions. Extensive reading allows students to have more variation in their reading materials as they can read authentic texts from various sources that it is actually applied outside the class room for most people consider it as joyful reading. The advancement of technology over the times enables people to do many activities online, including extensive reading activity. Hence, Wattpad is believed to provide enormous free and paid reading materials that can support extensive reading for the students. To achieve the objectives, this study is in the form of case study. The data were collected through in-depth interview with the participants. The participants were two undergraduate students majoring English Education from two different universities in Indonesia. The participants were selected purposively because they were known to have been doing extensive reading activity on Wattpad for a quite long time, specifically for five years. The research findings showed several strengths of using Wattpad for extensive reading such as Wattpad gives students numerous and various sources of reading materials; extensive reading on Wattpad is a fun and enjoyable experience; extensive reading on Wattpad is more practical than using printed-books; extensive reading on Wattpad is money-saving; the reading materials on Wattpad have good quality contents; extensive reading through Wattpad improves students English’s skills unconsciously as well as the reading habit. Meanwhile, there are several weaknesses of extensive reading using Wattpad according to students such as; similarities in the reading materials sometimes make them boring to read; using the platform for a certain long time can potentially cause tired eyes; there are other distractions that can disrupt the extensive reading activity.

Purpose Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are a currently trending e-learning platform that presumably attract thousands of participants because of boundless participation, are open to any person to enroll, are free to begin and are delivered completely online, thus contradicting the spatial limitations of a traditional classroom. This study aims to present the findings of a study among veterinary science students examining their perceptions of MOOCs. In total, 200 participants were randomly selected for the survey, out of which 177 responded, owing to a response rate of 88.7 per cent. Majority of the respondents (93 per cent) opined MOOCs supplement other learning methods and provide lifelong opportunity. A study report established that Coursera is the largest platform by user base (82 per cent), followed by Udemy (70 per cent), and 65 per cent knowledge seekers ranted the enormous propaganda about MOOCs are not because of the technology’s inherent edifying value, but because of the incredible potentials of lower costs. The participants in this survey valued their course and overall MOOC experience pleasing. Design/methodology/approach The aim of the study is to explore veterinary students’ perception of MOOCs featuring in their subject of interest. The questionnaire was written in English because it is the teaching language for undergraduates and postgraduates in most Indian higher education institutes, including the one used as a context for this study. The online questionnaires were electronically mailed to a sample of veterinary students (undergraduate and postgraduate) with a consent form seeking their permission for participation in this study and swearing them the confidentiality of their responses. The e-mail included information about the purpose of the study as well as the URL to the survey site, demographic questions on age, gender and education. This part was followed by an important research question asking if the student had heard about the new open online educational system (MOOCs) provided in websites, including Coursera, Edx, Udacity and FutureLearn, among others. Based on respondents’ answers, they were directed to different sections. Students who knew about MOOCs were asked various mode of getting enrolled in MOOCs. If they were not enrolled in any course, the respondents were asked about the limitations to their use. Enrolled students were questioned on their perspectives and experiences with MOOCs. For students who gained certificates, were enquired for their level of satisfaction, opinions about the integration of MOOCs into the veterinary field and hindrances encountered during accessing the course. Out of a total of 200 students who initially agreed to take part, 177 responses were received, with a response rate of 88.50 per cent, with no cases of missing data. The data were stored automatically in the hosted online survey service into a separate database after the submission of the responses. The descriptive data analyses (such as average) were led using the data analysis tool provided. Findings Even though most MOOCs do not provide academic credit or result in a degree, some of the biggest beneficiaries of MOOCs are students formally enrolled in an academic program, are provided a free mode to obtain additional academic assistance that would not otherwise be available (Parke Muth, 2018)15. Correspondingly, 93 per cent of the students opined MOOCs supplement other learning methods and provide lifelong opportunity. Learning has traditionally cost both money and time. With MOOCs, it now just costs time. In total, 24 per cent of the participants have discoursed free of cost as one of the intentions to choose their course. Almost every respondent (99 per cent) was interested toward online discussion forum, and 91 per cent preferred course materials containing video and audio files were pretty beneficial, while 88 per cent felt teaching through electronic whiteboard was the most advantageous criterion in their course. The study findings indicated that Coursera is the largest platform by user base (82 per cent), followed by Udemy (70 per cent). Research limitations/implications The study considered veterinary science undergraduate (BVSc) and postgraduate (MVSc) students alone, veterinary faculties are not included for the survey. There was comparatively less participation of respondents who enrolled or successfully completed a MOOC, which makes the analysis of limitations and satisfaction less reliable. Hence, the study results cannot be generalized as a comprehensive report of veterinary science scholars’ perceptiveness. Originality/value Animal health involves household pets and their care, in addition to livestock health and protection from diseases like bovine babesiosis, bovine tuberculosis and heartwater. There are numerous MOOCs offering online, contact or blended interventions in veterinary science and animal health that afford professionals quick and easy options to obtain credentials, including courses in pharmacology and toxicology, practice management, veterinary and para-veterinary studies, veterinary tropical diseases, radiology and wildlife management. As it is necessary to gain an understanding of the veterinary students’ level of familiarity and their insight toward the MOOC concept, the study attempts to explore their knowledge through an online survey.

The use of libraries’modern cloud technologies in information and communication activity is analyzed. It is considered the problems of cloud technologies implementation in libraries documentation and information circulation. of Advantages and disadvantages of cloud service’simplementation are revealed. Authors outlined transition prospects in the future to the cloud network and cloud technologies’use in library activity. Cloud service providers allow us to lease computing power and disk space online. Clouds are physically located in data centers - buildings that house powerful computers that are connected by a single network. Such unified computers also contain the virtual servers that are required for cloud services to work. It has been found that for libraries as social institutions that are unable to acquire and administer their own data warehouses, the use of cloud technologies is a unique opportunity to improve their work. The use of cloud technology in libraries helps to save money on acquiring a fleet of computers and licensed software. Book collections are successfully stored in large amounts on "clouds", which significantly unloads the work of local library networks, an automated library information system and its own server. Cloud services include those that are used to learn how to work with web services and standard documents. In particular, the Microsoft 365 cloud platform provides the opportunity to practice known office applications through a web browser. It includes e-mail and calendars, standard Office applications. Security is achieved through One Drive backup and two-factor authentication with face or fingerprint recognition or PIN to further protect files. Given the complexity of using security tools in cloud repositories, digital literacy plays an important role in effective communication for library users and their employees. It is resoluted that cloud services giveto library staff additional opportunities for organizing management activities. This includes, in particular, multimedia web resource services use (photo services - Picasa, Panoramio; video services – Youtubevideo, geoservices - Google maps; workflow - Slideshare, Google Docs, SkyDrive, etc.), which are free to usefor any user so we can freelystore and use image, audio and video resources. These systems can be used in management practice not only as a source of accumulation of multimedia educational web resources, but also as a system of storing library video, photo and audio archives, as well as improving the processes of information service for readers in libraries.

The pandemic of COVID-19 has afflicted every individual and has initiated a cascade of directly or indirectly involved events in precipitating mental health issues. The human species is a wanderer and hunter-gatherer by nature, and physical social distancing and nationwide lockdown have confined an individual to physical isolation. The present review article was conceived to address psychosocial and other issues and their aetiology related to the current pandemic of COVID-19. The elderly age group has most suffered the wrath of SARS-CoV-2, and social isolation as a preventive measure may further induce mental health issues. Animal model studies have demonstrated an inappropriate interacting endogenous neurotransmitter milieu of dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, and opioids, induced by social isolation that could probably lead to observable phenomena of deviant psychosocial behavior. Conflicting and manipulated information related to COVID-19 on social media has also been recognized as a global threat. Psychological stress during the current pandemic in frontline health care workers, migrant workers, children, and adolescents is also a serious concern. Mental health issues in the current situation could also be induced by being quarantined, uncertainty in business, jobs, economy, hampered academic activities, increased screen time on social media, and domestic violence incidences. The gravity of mental health issues associated with the pandemic of COVID-19 should be identified at the earliest. Mental health organization dedicated to current and future pandemics should be established along with Government policies addressing psychological issues to prevent and treat mental health issues need to be developed. References World Health Organization (WHO) Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard. 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Recent developments have accelerated to move in India towards a Cashless economy. The Jan Dhan Yojana (Jan Dhan Government Scheme) announced in 2014 is providing for the cost free creation of a bank account for every Indian family. Each bank account is also accompanied by a Rupay Debit card for withdrawing money deposited in the account. The currency demonetization at the end of the year 2016, with the removal of certain denomination of bank notes. The additional initiatives and service offerings are also now encouraging the use of cashless transaction via, online banking, payment cards, e-wallets, direct carrier billing and crypto currency. A study said, as India changes to a large scale economy, cyber dangers are in a new high with the amount of these incidents happening in banking methods rising in the previous five decades. The research demonstrated that demonetization has provided an impetus into e-wallet providers and cellular wallets have seen a huge growth in downloads. Additionally, cyber- risks will only grow as India will be seeing a change towards a strong economy. The kinds of cyber security events like Phishing, scanning, site intrusions and defacements, virus code and denial of service attacksmay keep growing. The joint research by Assocham and PWC stated on ATM card hackstruck on the Indian banks in October this past year, impacting approximately 3.2 million debits. The cyber strikes on Indian sites have increased almost five times before four decades.

The move from analog distribution to online digital delivery is common in the contemporary mediascape. Music is in the midst of an ipod driven paradigm shift (Levy), television and movie delivery is being reconfigured (Johnson), and newspaper and magazines are confronting the reality of the world wide web and what it means for business models and ideas of journalism (Beecher). In the midst of this change, the book publishing industry remains defiant. While embracing digital production technologies, the vast majority of book content is still delivered in material form, printed and shipped the old-fashioned way—despite the efforts of many technology companies over the last decade. Even the latest efforts from corporate giants such as Sony and Amazon (who appear to have solved many of the technical hurdles of electronic reading devices) have had little visible impact. The idea of electronic books, or e-books, remains the domain of geeky early adopters (“Have”). The reasons for this are manifold, but, arguably, a broader uptake of e-books has not occurred because cultural change is much more difficult than technological change and book readers have yet to be persuaded to change their cultural habits. Electronic reading devices have been around for as long as there have been computers with screens, but serious attempts to replicate the portability, readability, and convenience of a printed book have only been with us for a decade or so. The late 1990s saw the release of a number of e-book devices. In quick succession, the likes of the Rocket e-Book, the SoftBook and the Franklin eBookman all failed to catch on. Despite this lack of market penetration, software companies began to explore the possibilities—Microsoft’s Reader software competed with a similar product from Adobe, some publishers became content providers, and a niche market of consumers began reading e-books on personal digital assistants (PDAs). That niche was sufficient for e-reading communities and shopfronts to appear, with a reasonable range of titles becoming available for purchase to feed demand that was very much driven by early adopters. But the e-book market was and remains small. For most people, books are still regarded as printed paper objects, purchased from a bookstore, borrowed from a library, or bought online from companies like Amazon.com. More recently, the introduction of e-ink technologies (EPDs) (DeJean), which allow for screens with far more book-like resolution and contrast, has provided the impetus for a new generation of e-book devices. In combination with an expanded range of titles (and deals with major publishing houses to include current best-sellers), there has been renewed interest in the idea of e-books. Those who have used the current generation of e-ink devices are generally positive about the experience. Except for some sluggishness in “turning” pages, the screens appear crisp, clear and are not as tiring to read as older displays. There are a number of devices that have embraced the new screen technologies (mobileread) but most attention has been paid to three devices in particular—mainly because their manufacturers have tried to create an ecosystem that provides content for their reading devices in much the same way that Apple’s itunes store provides content for ipods. The Sony Portable Reader (Sonystyle) was the first electronic ink device to be produced by a mainstream consumers electronics company. Sony ties the Reader to its Connect store, which allows the purchase of book titles via a computer; titles are then downloaded to the Reader in the same way that an mp3 player is loaded with music. Sony’s most prominent competition in the marketplace is Amazon’s Kindle, which does not require users to have a computer. Instead, its key feature is a constant wireless connection to Amazon’s growing library of Kindle titles. This works in conjunction with US cellphone provider Sprint to allow the purchase of books via wireless downloads wherever the Sprint network exists. The system, which Amazon calls “whispernet,” is invisible to readers and the cost is incorporated into the price of books, so Kindle users never see a bill from Sprint (“Frequently”). Both the Sony Reader and the Amazon Kindle are available only in limited markets; Kindle’s reliance on a cellphone network means that its adoption internationally is dependent on Amazon establishing a relationship with a cellphone provider in each country of release. And because both devices are linked to e-bookstores, territorial rights issues with book publishers (who trade publishing rights for particular global territories in a colonial-era mode of operation that seems to ignore the reality of global information mobility (Thompson 74–77)) contribute to the restricted availability of both the Sony and Amazon products. The other mainstream device is the iRex Iliad, which is not constrained to a particular online bookstore and thus is available internationally. Its bookstore ecosystems are local relationships—with Dymocks in Australia, Borders in the UK, and other booksellers across Europe (iRex). All three devices use EPDs and share similar specifications for the actual reading of e-books. Some might argue that the lack of a search function in the Sony and the ability to write on pages in the Iliad are quite substantive differences, but overall the devices are distinguished by their availability and the accessibility of book titles. Those who have used the devices extensively are generally positive about the experience. Amazon’s Customer Reviews are full of positive comments, and the sense from many commentators is that the systems are a viable replacement for old-fashioned printed books (Marr). Despite the good reviews—which suggest that the technology is actually now good enough to compete with printed books—the e-book devices have failed to catch on. Amazon has been hesitant to state actual sales figures, leaving it to so-called analysts to guess with the most optimistic suggesting that only 30 to 50,000 have sold since launch in late 2007 (Sridharan). By comparison, a mid-list book title (in the US) would expect to sell a similar number of copies. The sales data for the Sony Portable Reader (which has been on the market for nearly two years) and the iRex iliad are also elusive (Slocum), suggesting that they have not meaningfully changed the landscape. Tellingly, despite the new devices, the e-book industry is still tiny. Although it is growing, the latest American data show that the e-book market has wholesale revenues of around $10 million per quarter (or around $40 million per year), which is dwarfed by the $35 billion in revenues regularly earned annually in the US printed book industry ("Book"). It’s clear that despite the technological advances, e-books have yet to cross the chasm from early adopter to mainstream usage (see IPDF). The reason for this is complex; there are issues of marketing and distribution that need to be considered, as well as continuing arguments about screen technologies, appropriate publishing models, and digital rights management. It is beyond the scope of this article to do justice to those issues. Suffice to say, the book industry is affected by the same debates over content that plague other media industries (Vershbow). But, arguably, the key reason for the minimal market impact is straightforward—technological change is relatively easy, but cultural change is much more difficult. The current generation of e-book devices might be technically very close to being a viable replacement for print on paper (and the next generation of devices will no doubt be even better), but there are bigger cultural hurdles to be overcome. For most people, the social practice of reading books (du Gay et al 10) is inextricably tied with printed objects and a print culture that is not yet commonly associated with “technology” (perhaps because books, as machines for reading (Young 160), have become an invisible technology (Norman 246)). E. Annie Proulx’s dismissive suggestion that “nobody is going to sit down and read a novel on a twitchy little screen. Ever” (1994) is commonly echoed when book buyers consider the digital alternative. Those thoughts only scratch the surface of a deeply embedded cultural practice. The centuries since Gutenberg’s printing press and the vast social and cultural changes that followed positioned print culture as the dominant cultural mode until relatively recently (Eisenstein; Ong). The emerging electronic media forms of the twentieth century displaced that dominance with many arguing that the print age was moved aside by first radio and television and now computers and the Internet (McLuhan; Postman). Indeed, there is a subtext in that line of thought, one that situates electronic media forms (particularly screen-based ones) as the antithesis of print and book culture. Current e-book reading devices attempt to minimise the need for cultural change by trying to replicate a print culture within an e-print culture. For the most part, they are designed to appeal to book readers as a replacement for printed books. But it will take more than a perfect electronic facsimile of print on paper to persuade readers to disengage with a print culture that incorporates bookshops, bookclubs, writing in the margins, touching and smelling the pages and covers, admiring the typesetting, showing off their bookshelves, and visibly identifying with their collections. The frequently made technical arguments (about flashing screens and reading in the bath (Randolph)) do not address the broader apprehension about a cultural experience that many readers do not wish to leave behind. It is in that context that booklovers appear particularly resistant to any shift from print to a screen-based format. One only has to engage in a discussion about e-books (or lurk on an online forum where one is happening) to appreciate how deeply embedded print culture is (Hepworth)—book readers have a historical attachment to the printed object and it is this embedded cultural resistance that is the biggest barrier for e-books to overcome. Although e-book devices in no way resemble television, print culture is still deeply suspicious of any screen-based media and arguments are often made that the book as a physical object is critical because “different types of media function differently, and even if the content is similar the form matters quite a lot” (Weber). Of course, many in the newspaper industry would argue that long-standing cultural habits can change very rapidly and the migration of eyeballs from newsprint to the Internet is a cautionary tale (see Auckland). That specific format shift saw cultural change driven by increased convenience and a perception of decreased cost. For those already connected to the Internet, reading newspapers online represented zero marginal cost, and the range of online offerings dwarfed that of the local newsagency. The advantage of immediacy and multimedia elements, and the possibility of immediate feedback, appeared sufficient to drive many away from print towards online newspapers.For a similar shift in the e-book realm, there must be similar incentives for readers. At the moment, the only advantages on offer are weightlessness (which only appeals to frequent travellers) and convenience via constant access to a heavenly library of titles (Young 150). Amazon’s Kindle bookshop can be accessed 24/7 from anywhere there is a Sprint network coverage (Nelson). However, even this advantage is not so clear-cut—there is a meagre range of available electronic titles compared to printed offerings. For example, Amazon claims 130,000 titles are currently available for Kindle and Sony has 50,000 for its Reader, figures that are dwarfed by Amazon’s own printed book range. Importantly, there is little apparent cost advantage to e-books. The price of electronic reading devices is significant, amounting to a few hundred dollars to which must be added the cost of e-books. The actual cost of those titles is also not as attractive as it might be. In an age where much digital content often appears to be free, consumers demand a significant price advantage for purchasing online. Although some e-book titles are priced more affordably than their printed counterparts, the cost of many seems strangely high given the lack of a physical object to print and ship. For example, Amazon Kindle titles might be cheaper than the print version, but the actual difference (after discounting) is not an order of magnitude, but of degree. For example, Randy Pausch’s bestselling The Last Lecture is available for $12.07 as a paperback or $9.99 as a Kindle edition (“Last”). For casual readers, the numbers make no sense—when the price of the reading device is included, the actual cost is prohibitive for those who only buy a few titles a year. At the moment, e-books only make sense for heavy readers for whom the additional cost of the reading device will be amortised over a large number of books in a reasonably short time. (A recent article in the Wall Street Journal suggested that the break-even point for the Kindle was the purchase of 61 books (Arends).) Unfortunately for the e-book industry, not is only is that particular market relatively small, it is the one least likely to shift from the embedded habits of print culture. Arguably, should e-books eventually offer a significant cost benefit for consumers, uptake would be more dramatic. However, in his study of cellphone cultures, Gerard Goggin argues against purely fiscal motivations, suggesting that cultural change is driven by other factors—in his example, new ways of communicating, connecting, and engaging (205–211). The few market segments where electronic books have succeeded are informative. For example, the market for printed encyclopedias has essentially disappeared. Most have reinvented themselves as CD-ROMs or DVD-ROMs and are sold for a fraction of the price. Although cost is undoubtedly a factor in their market success, added features such as multimedia, searchability, and immediacy via associated websites are compelling reasons driving the purchase of electronic encyclopedias over the printed versions. The contrast with the aforementioned e-book devices is apparent with encyclopedias moving away from their historical role in print culture. Electronic encyclopedias don’t try to replicate the older print forms. Rather they represent a dramatic shift of book content into an interactive audio-visual domain. They have experimented with new formats and reconfigured content for the new media forms—the publishers in question simply left print culture behind and embraced a newly emerging computer or multimedia culture. This step into another realm of social practices also happened in the academic realm, which is now deeply embedded in computer-based delivery of research and pedagogy. Not only are scholarly journals moving online (Thompson 320–325), but so too are scholarly books. For example, at the Macquarie University Library, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of electronic books in the collection. The library purchased 895 e-books in 2005 and 68,000 in 2007. During the same period, the number of printed books purchased remained relatively stable with about 16,000 bought annually (Macquarie University Library). The reasons for the dramatic increase in e-book purchases are manifold and not primarily driven by cost considerations. Not only does the library have limited space for physical storage, but Macquarie (like most other Universities) emphasises its e-learning environment. In that context, a single e-book allows multiple, geographically dispersed, simultaneous access, which better suits the flexibility demanded of the current generation of students. Significantly, these e-books require no electronic reading device beyond a standard computer with an internet connection. Users simply search for their required reading online and read it via their web browser—the library is operating in a pedagogical culture that assumes that staff and students have ready access to the necessary resources and are happy to read large amounts of text on a screen. Again, gestures towards print culture are minimal, and the e-books in question exist in a completely different distributed electronic environment. Another interesting example is that of mobile phone novels, or “keitai” fiction, popular in Japan. These novels typically consist of a few hundred pages, each of which contains about 500 Japanese characters. They are downloaded to (and read on) cellphones for about ten dollars apiece and can sell in the millions of copies (Katayama). There are many reasons why the keitai novel has achieved such popularity compared to the e-book approaches pursued in the West. The relatively low cost of wireless data in Japan, and the ubiquity of the cellphone are probably factors. But the presence of keitai culture—a set of cultural practices surrounding the mobile phone—suggests that the mobile novel springs not from a print culture, but from somewhere else. Indeed, keitai novels are written (often on the phones themselves) in a manner that lends itself to the constraints of highly portable devices with small screens, and provides new modes of engagement and communication. Their editors attribute the success of keitai novels to how well they fit into the lifestyle of their target demographic, and how they act as community nodes around which readers and writers interact (Hani). Although some will instinctively suggest that long-form narratives are doomed with such an approach, it is worthwhile remembering that, a decade ago, few considered reading long articles using a web browser and the appropriate response to computer-based media was to rewrite material to suit the screen (Nielsen). However, without really noticing the change, the Web became mainstream and users began reading everything on their computers, including much longer pieces of text. Apart from the examples cited, the wider book trade has largely approached e-books by trying to replicate print culture, albeit with an electronic reading device. Until there is a significant cost and convenience benefit for readers, this approach is unlikely to be widely successful. As indicated above, those segments of the market where e-books have succeeded are those whose social practices are driven by different cultural motivations. It may well be that the full-frontal approach attempted to date is doomed to failure, and e-books would achieve more widespread adoption if the book trade took a different approach. The Amazon Kindle has not yet persuaded bookloving readers to abandon print for screen in sufficient numbers to mark a seachange. Indeed, it is unlikely that any device positioned specifically as a book replacement will succeed. Instead of seeking to make an e-book culture a replacement for print culture, effectively placing the reading of books in a silo separated from other day-to-day activities, it might be better to situate e-books within a mobility culture, as part of the burgeoning range of social activities revolving around a connected, convergent mobile device. Reading should be understood as an activity that doesn’t begin with a particular device, but is done with whatever device is at hand. In much the same way that other media producers make content available for a number of platforms, book publishers should explore the potential of the new mobile devices. Over 45 million smartphones were sold globally in the first three months of 2008 (“Gartner”)—somewhat more than the estimated shipments of e-book reading devices. As well as allowing a range of communications possibilities, these convergent devices are emerging as key elements in the new digital mediascape—one that allows users access to a broad range of media products via a single pocket-sized device. Each of those smartphones makes a perfectly adequate e-book reading device, and it might be useful to pursue a strategy that embeds book reading as one of the key possibilities of this growing mobility culture. The casual gaming market serves as an interesting example. While hardcore gamers cling to their games PCs and consoles, a burgeoning alternative games market has emerged, with a different demographic purchasing less technically challenging games for more informal gaming encounters. This market has slowly shifted to convergent mobile devices, exemplified by Sega’s success in selling 300,000 copies of Super Monkey Ball within 20 days of its release for Apple’s iphone (“Super”). Casual gamers do not necessarily go on to become hardcore games, but they are gamers nonetheless—and today’s casual games (like the aforementioned Super Monkey Ball) are yesterday’s hardcore games of choice. It might be the same for reading. The availability of e-books on mobile platforms may not result in more people embracing longer-form literature. But it will increase the number of people actually reading, and, just as casual gaming has attracted a female demographic (Wallace 8), the instant availability of appropriate reading material might sway some of those men who appear to be reluctant readers (McEwan). Rather than focus on printed books, and book-like reading devices, the industry should re-position e-books as an easily accessible content choice in a digitally converged media environment. This is more a cultural shift than a technological one—for publishers and readers alike. Situating e-books in such a way may alienate a segment of the bookloving community, but such readers are unlikely to respond to anything other than print on paper. 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