I’ve heard that young people like print books because it’s a social thing — you can see what other people are reading and show that you are reading the cool books. Perhaps e-book readers need an app that can “talk” to nearby devices if those e-readers contain the same books. I also wonder if some young readers will turn to e-books because of the privacy, if the books they are reading aren’t considered cool. Can you imagine new technology to fulfill the reading/social needs of young people? Or a modern version of hiding your comic book in a textbook (or vice versa)?
Chris Eboch doesn’t even have an e-reader, but she does like her smart phone.
I wonder if teens are more likely to read e-books on their phones. They’re probably not that concerned about eye strain, and their phones are already always with them. More social too.
I can totally imagine apps that let you IM with people with the same ebook on their device, a la, “wait until you see what happens in Chapter 6!” or whatever.
I was thinking more about this and about how Amazon lets you see what other Kindle users have highlighted in the same e-book you’re reading. So I’ve been reading EMMA, and there are some highlights already in the text that other people have apparently made in their own e-book copy of EMMA. It’s not exactly social because you can’t have a conversation about the highlighted text, but maybe it’s a step in that direction.