Innovation Adoption

The Digital BookBy: John Richbourg

(Storyboard Work in Progress)

The Digital Book

• Also known as the electronic book , or E-book, this innovation is the digital form of a text or image-based publication and readable on computers or other digital devices.

Innovation of the Digital Book

• Books have been accepted forms of information since The first use of Gutenberg’s press in 1440.

Knowledge

• Flash forward to 1930 with the introduction of the first paperback book to the American public.

Persuasion

• In 1971, Michael Hart used $100,000.00 worth of computer time with a Xerox Sigma V mainframe computer. He decided that the storage, retrieval, and searching of what was stored in our libraries would be the greatest contribution of computers. The first "e-book" was created—a copy of the Declaration of Independence. This sparked the beginnings of Project Gutenberg.

Decision and Implementation

• Today Project Gutenberg distributes 20,000 free texts and more than 100,000 titles available through partners. Over 3,000,000 books are downloaded each month to avid readers. The major differences are text format and text readers.

Confirmation

• Current E-readers becoming more popular with the public are the Amazon Kindle the Sony PRS-500 and the Barnes and Noble Nook.

Why an Electronic Book?

• The needs answered by this innovation were partially environmental, academic, and cultural.

• Environmentalists applauded the introduction of digital books as a way to slow tree harvesting for paper.

• Educators saw the E-book as an opportunity to have out-of-date texts replaced with a real-time device that would make learning more relevant to students.

• Cultural needs were answered by giving individuals and groups a means to share information and works of art in real-time.

Research

• The first digital book was developed by Michael Hart as Project Gutenberg in 1971.

• The first e-books were produced for limited audiences focused on special interests.

• Multiple formats and diverse readers fragmented the E-book market.

• In the 1990s, more information was added to electronic libraries for digital books.

• In 1998, Public Libraries began issuing free digital books in lieu of more traditional bound volumes for selected texts.

Development

• Initial target for the digital book was the computer using American public

• Major problems included the varied formats of media and readers, and the reticence of the American public to replace traditional texts with digital copies.

Commercialization

• Numerous manufacturers and marketing companies are now fielding the digital books and readers for consumption by the American public.

• Like anything else, it may be wise for the consumer to wait for the price to decrease while quality and functionality increase in the digital readers currently being marketed.

References

• To be added later