Amazon.com recently released an electronic book reader, the "Kindle." The concept of the E-book has tempted consumer electronic makers for years. The benefits of the E-book are substantial: a limitless library of downloadable books, all the advantages of HTML including hyperlinks, bookmarks, version control, commentary options, etc.

The manufacturers' efforts have stumbled repeatedly as their products were unable to match the plain old book in price, visual clarity, weight, size, and ease of use. The interesting thing about the E-book failures are how they expose the overlooked strengths of paper books. In the case of the Kindle, this blogger notes his wife's disappointment in losing a sense of place from holding a book.

When we hold and read a book, we receive many types of feedback. The reader can tell how far into the book they are and essentially how much of the story remains. I assume the Kindle interface identifies current page number and pages left, however, I doubt these cues match the subconscious feeling one gets from holding a book and feeling that there are fewer pages left than those that have been read.

When confronted with anecdotes of new technologies not matching the older technologies they intend to replace, I sometimes wonder whether a younger user of the product would have different feelings on the matter. For example, my father and many from his generation strongly prefer to read their news in a newspaper rather than on the screen. I strongly prefer to read my news from the screen. I prefer speaking on the phone while younger friends prefer SMS'ing. Certainly preferences change based on past experiences and powerful new features may be unable to tempt people away from comfortable, old technologies.

Labels: user experience