Fortune magazine recently published a pretty interesting article on ereaders and the current state of the publishing industry. The author does a nice job of breaking down the basics in lay terms, explaining the history of electronic ink and ereaders and how the technology differs from computer screens. He also summarizes the business trends that have put the industry in the place it is in now. It’s sort of an ereader 101.
You can read the entire article here. Most interesting is the rather coy discussion of the coming generation of ereaders. A lot of the potential of these gadgets has yet be be approached, let alone reached, so it’s exciting to see that this technology is not as much of an afterthought for the publishers as it sometimes appears to be. It’s encouraging, but while a few more players will help encourage competition and growth, let’s just hope things don’t become quite as fragmented as the fellow from Hearst seems to imply.
[@ CNNMoney.com]
