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'Tree-books' Will Outlast 'E-books', Says Clickshare CEO But James
B. Shaffer Tells NIST's E-books Gathering That The Bigger Opportunity Is
Exploiting Interactivity
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 26, 2000--With all the buzz about downloading
the latest bestselling novel to an electronic tablet, you'd think that a
gathering of "e-book" publishers would be full of frothy
forecasts about market growth. James B. Shaffer isn't so sure, and told the
assemblage here today that the future of e-books is limited.
E-books may fail in the marketplace, Shaffer said, because "books" by
definition are static. And, aside from a novel way of presenting their content,
books adapted to the new media offer little advantage over the current way of
delivering written material to the reader." E-books are a misnomer, he
says. Instead, the devices should be given a new name, and should be viewed by
publishers as part of an entirely new business, "dynamic reader
services."
"Traditional books," which Shaffer described as "made up of
flattened dead trees... still have a long life ahead of them."
Even so, the future holds great promise for content providers who exploit the
interactivity of the Internet and the myriad manifestations of computers, from
destkops to portables to palm-top devices and the newer glass-plus-electronics.
"That's what's new: the ability to send information in two
directions," Shaffer told his audience at the E-Book 2000 Conference,
sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Shaffer
said that a new medium is on the horizon: different from newspapers, books,
radio and television.
"What the medium should be called is beyond me, but what it provides is
dynamic reader services. "We have a great opportunity to make the next leap
forward in the way we package and market information. However, if we let all the
limitations of flattened-out dead trees carry over to the production and
marketing of content, whether it's informational, educational, or
entertainment-related, then I think we will be very disappointed. I think the
e-book has a very limited future."
As soon as publishers enable readers to "liberate themselves from
tree-books," dynamic reader services will thrive, Shaffer said. "We're
talking revolution here. A new industry. Not an old one adapted. We need to
liberate our marketing vision beyond tree books to a dynamic business, a service
business, a business focused on readers and what they do with information."
For a cookbook or a typical novel, traditional media like printed books will
continue to thrive. "But today, we see authors in chatrooms and on call-in
television shows. Why not hyperlink to their gebsites right from their product?
The e-book is a baby step in that direction, but we need giant leaps in order
for this market to grow. And grow it will," Shaffer said.
Shaffer explained Clickshare's mission as facilitating one-click sharing of
digital content and users among content owners and other infomediaries.
"What we do, that no one else does, is enable 'behind-the-scenes'
wholesale/retail and other value-added relationships in digital content
marketing," said Shaffer.
The Clickshare service includes payment aggregation, audience measurement,
site-access control, personalization and privacy-protected demographic
management. It provides portals and other proprietors with built-in customer
bases, such as ISPs, wireless carriers, banks, and affinity groups with a way to
strengthen and monetize their bond with customers. Clickshare offers consumers a
way to have an account at one web site, yet buy content from many other websites
-- without having to pass around a credit card number, fill out forms or give up
personal information.
Clickshare has alliances with Advanced Publishing Technology, Red Hat Software
Inc., Hagadone Newspapers, Comtex News Corp. and Tristar Technologies
(Proprietary) Ltd. of South Africa. In the last year, Clickshare has tested the
sale of information provided by The Associated Press, PR Newswire, Business
Wire, Xinhua, Itar-Tass, M2 Communications, U.S. Newswire, and The Sports
Network. Clickshare has also demonstrated the sale of digital content over
cellular phones.
NOTE to Editors: James Shaffer is available for interviews at the e-books
conference until 4pm Tuesday, Sept. 26: booth #15, 1-800-340-0436. Transcript
available on request.
CONTACT:
Clickshare
Ed Bride
413-442-7718
Bride@clickshare.com
or
Clickshare
William Densmore
413-458-8001
Densmore@clickshare.com
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