How to give away e-readers

At the aforementioned (in the last post) Cyberpress forum on e-readers, JV Rufino of the Philippine Daily Inquirer said that (paraphrasing) the price point at which e-readers become attractive is US$100.

Try “free”. At least to the millions in the public schools. Subsidized by content providers — i.e., e-book publishers or e-bookstores.

And we can come up with a system where neither the content providers nor the hardware (i.e., e-reader) vendors need to put out any cash. The e-book publishers can sell e-textbooks to the Department of Education (DepEd), and include e-readers, preloaded with the e-textbooks, in the quotation. The sale of the e-textbooks will cover the price of the e-readers.

Advantages:

• e-books weighing less than one kilogram (in some cases, much less) can replace several kilograms of paper books. e-readers are capable of storing approximately 1,500 e-books.
• environmentalists will be happy about the reduced strain on the forests.
• it’s easy to update e-books over-the-air, e.g., to correct errors or to adjust to new developments.
• students can use e-readers outside the school environment, e.g., by buying other titles not necessarily related to school.
• publishers will benefit from shorter production cycles and reduced costs.

In regard to the last point, publishers can then pass on the savings to DepEd.

DepEd — or, more precisely, the content providers — will incur the biggest expense in the first year of implementation, when it has to get the e-readers to students at all year levels. In subsequent years, DepEd need only procure e-readers for new entrants into the public school system, and perhaps replace the few defective units. Furthermore, publishers will push new content each year. In the context of education, this would mean that students get the e-textbooks appropriate for their year level.

In order to make this system attractive to the DepEd, we should at least give them options on how to distribute the e-textbooks. While e-readers may be 3G-capable, this is not necessarily the most efficient option to get the content to the individual students. Furthermore, 3G is not available in all areas. It may be easier on the cellular networks if DepEd transmits the content to regional offices, and thence to the schools in the region, and finally to the students, through WiFi. In this regard, DepEd will need to gear up for the distribution of content. The cellular carriers can do the needed initial setup, for free even, since they will get their revenue from the data traffic.

Another attraction to DepEd is that they don’t need to make radical changes to the bidding procedure. All that’s needed is a change from paper to electronic books. If necessary, an independent consulting group may help them identify which portions of the book procurement system need adjustment.

This early, we can identify at least two digital-ready content providers: Diwa Learning Systems, Inc., and Vibal Foundation; and at least one e-reader manufacturer: RedFox.

Delivering e-reader content in the Philippines

I just came from the Cyberpress forum “E-readers: the new medium?” In summary:

• Vibal Foundation has already published a number of titles, which are available from the Amazon store for the Kindle.
• Diwa Foundation has been publishing a digital version of Bato Balani on the Web, to some 700,000 subscribers.
• E-readers may eventually supplant paper-and-ink, but the two are likely to co-exist for some time.
• Filipino computer manufacturer RedFox is due to unveil a line of e-readers, dubbed the WizLib, in three form factors: 5”, 6”, and 9.7”. There was a 6” e-reader at the forum, and it looked as if it would fit in my pocket. Tried it, and it did. More on these and other devices from RedFox in the future.

One factor that may slow the adoption of e-reader technology in the Philippines is the delivery mechanism: e-books get into e-readers via 3G or WiFi connections, both of which are scarce outside of urban centers. This got me to wondering if the e-books can be delivered over the 2.xG network instead. However, instead of uploading the content to each individual e-reader, maybe the carriers can send it to a single device (say, a computer of modest specs), then that computer will transmit the content to the e-readers in the area via WiFi. If necessary, the owners will get within 100 meters of the computer and wait as it sends the content to their e-readers. This system may be most useful for a school. Instead of a pile of heavy, printed books, students would carry e-readers. Then, the DepEd would send books electronically, using Globe and Smart’s networks.

Details left as an exercise for the reader.