E-readers have had somewhat hesitant popularity to date. There is a clear interest in the developing technology, but steep price tags ($399 for a Sony Reader, $489 for a Kindle DX) have meant that they haven't exactly taken off.

However, increasingly there is no shortage of supply. iRex recently released its iRex DR800SG ($399), where owners can buy books and newspapers using a global wireless network (Kindle users can currently only do so within North America) - and is planning to release a colour version by 2011.

With just over a million e-readers sold worldwide in 2008, improvements in the technology are expected to increase sales: market research firm iSuppli predicts that 5.2 million e-readers will be sold this year with a greater interest outside of North America.
So could e-readers secure the uncertain future of newspapers?

If e-readers do take off, they could solve current problems over free online content. Publishing an 'e-paper' would save a considerable amount on printing costs for newspapers whilst still generating revenue via subscriptions. Mark Ford, president and group publisher at Time Inc. said, "E-reader devices stand to transform how publications reach audiences", keeping the relationship the same, but changing the medium of communication. News Corp chairman, Rupert Murdoch, told the Goldman Sachs' annual media conference that newspapers would "be completely digital within the next two or three years" saying "I do certainly see the day when more people will be buying their newspapers on portable reading panels than on crushed trees."

Whether subscription revenue will be enough is another matter, however, and Murdoch has expressed concerns over the amount publishers received in the revenue split with Amazon's Kindle.

Much of this speculation might be coming too early, as by all accounts e-readers are still out-of-reach for the average consumer. A report carried out by Forrester Research found that most people would not pay more than $100 for an e-reader, with an ideal price of $49 . The cheapest currently on the market is the Sony Reader Pocket Edition which sells for $199.

Despite the financial complaints, the e-reader does present many environmental advantages, and perhaps given our more environmentally conscious modern world, it would help to emphasise these. A report released by the Cleantech Group into 'The environmental impact of Amazon's Kindle' has found that devices such as e-readers could greatly improve the massive carbon emissions generated by publishing companies, stating that: "In 2008, the U.S. book and newspaper industries combined resulted in the harvesting of 125 million trees, not to mention wastewater that was produced or its massive carbon footprint."

The Kindle e-reader offsets its lifetime of carbon emissions after its first year of use. "Any additional years of use result in net carbon savings, equivalent to an average of 168 kg of CO2 per year (the emissions produced in the manufacture and distribution of 22.5 books)," says Emma Ritch, one of the report's authors.

For e-readers to be truly environmentally efficient, however, enough people need to be using them. According to Sarah Rotman Epps, a media analyst with Forrester Research, "Right now, e-books are having effectively no positive impact on the environment," she said, nor will they "unless publishers print fewer books in anticipation of e-book sales."

In theory, e-readers could be a great success for both newspapers and the environment. But it seems that unless prices drop and the techology improves enough to people get on board, the concept of a digital reading tablet could be tossed aside in favour of another mobile device with wider capabilities.

Source: New York Times Cleantech