Is it the Readers or the eReaders? Why eBooks Can’t Save the Book Publishing Industry, Yet?

Despite the flourishing ereader/ebook reader market it seems that demand for these devices as well as the ebooks they carry is not that significant enough to bring the publishing industry into new heights. And the problem according to a Wired Epicenter article published via Reuters:

Publishers hoping to halt a slide in sales with new electronic reading devices will struggle to get consumers to embrace them until the technology improves, experts say.

Yes, the Amazon Kindle with its straight gray display and e-ink technology may not be that innovative and readers looking for a “realistic” book reading experience on ereaders such as the Amazon Kindle might just get frustrated with the limiting capabilities of the Kindle.

Barnes and Noble’s Nook seems to be on the right track because it’s introducing full color browsing. But Nook is yet to be shipped to those who pre-ordered it and it would take some time before readers can actually find out whether the ereader surpass expectations. And also whether it’s connectivity with the Barnes & Noble online ebookstore would be as easy as purchasing books from the Kindle Store.

Users are expecting far more advanced capabilities from ebook readers, right? But both the Kindle, Nook and even the Sony PRS Readers don’t quite get what users want. Will the Asus Eee Reader answer their needs? or Perhaps MSI’s own ebook reader which is also scheduled to hit the market in 2010.

Or the problem lies with the ebooks and not the ereaders? Ross Rubin at the NPD group says “content needs to expand beyond bestsellers.”

And I agree to that.  The available collection of ebook titles may not be that comprehensive enough to spark interests among traditional book lovers/readers.

Amazon boasts of more than 350,000 ebooks available for their Kindle ereader while Barnes and Noble claims to have 1 million available ebooks.

But are they publishing the right books for the right readers?

If the ebook industry will work hand-in-hand with the traditional book publishing industry, perhaps that’s the time when the growing ebook industry can finally save the ageing book publishng industry.

Then the development in the ebook reader technology will follow.