March 6, 2008
E-Manga’s Second Coming or Still Treading Water?
Posted by Devin
 |
Even though its been almost two years since the Sony E-reader debuted with electronic pages of manga, we’re no closer to discovering if e-manga will come home to roost. In the area of e-readers, the reviews for the Kindle make it seem better for text than graphics. Other platforms such as Cybook (pictured here with an example of manga) don’t have the available content. Frankly e-book readers cost at least $300, and then you have to buy the content. It doesn’t make sense tot he consumer.
On the other hand, the online format keeps growing: CPM, NetComics, and Del Rey along with quite a few other publishers have sample programs, subscriptions, or whole volumes, etc. The list keeps growing. Joining the mix is Infinity Studies this week with manga via PDF.
Cory Doctorow has a another idea: use the mobile we have like iPhones (like this example) and make e-books work on what we have:
Handheld game consoles, phones, and other multipurpose devices have found their way into the hands of people from every walk of life. In some countries, mobile phone penetration is above 100 percent — that is, a significant proportion of the population maintain more than one phone, for example, a work cellular and a home cellular.
Cory also thinks “E-Ink” works, when prices go down will be the way to go. Maybe, but what’s popular online combined with the convergence of mobile & web may be our future, says Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo
As the Internet is freed from the limitations of the desktop, we are taking mobility into a completely new realm of possibility. We are redefining the Internet itself as it increasingly becomes a medium of immediate and personal experiences.
Filed To: Distribution / Retail / Digital / Mobile
RSS Feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL
[…] Kokoro Media looks at e-manga and links to a Cory Doctorow piece that examines the downside of dedicated devices. […]
Pingback by Digital Strips: The Webcomics Podcast — March 10, 2008 @ 6:53 am