So we now know were many of the Sony readers have gone – not to consumers, but to large publishers to give to their own staff.
Well practicing what you preach is always to be applauded and in many ways the more familiar those producing content are with the digital opportunities, then the more they will develop with them in mind. This exercise in digital adoption is a great step forward.
The question one must ask however is why the Sony reader? Its proprietary format is a questionable lame duck, PDF is PDF and although ePub is supported we doubt that the majority of manuscripts are in this format. Perhaps it’s the best of the bunch today and therefore why not and we suspect a handsome deal was struck.
The editorial and production process demands transforming from the old analogue one to a digital one but this will take time and if this is the first step on that journey then it must be welcome. However, we do not believe that the Sony alone is the answer in this area and changing the analogue process is both the big opportunity and challenge.
