Tor Arne Dahl
Norway
tor-arne.dahl@hioa.no
MC Substitute – WG2
Position Paper
In the years between November 2007, when Amazon introduced the Kindle, and 2010, when Apple released the iPad, the dedicated e-reader with an E Ink screen was the major reading device for e-books. The iPad was the first multifunctional tablet with a backlit LCD screen, but competing tablet products (Samsung Galaxy Tab, Amazon Kindle Fire) have followed. Current trends suggest that e-reader sales are slowing down and come close to nothing compared to the market share of tablets. Much of the e-book trade, at least in Norway, focuses on reading apps for tablet. The most successful library e-loaning technology in Norway is an app (eBokBib) that works on iOS and Android tablets, but currently not on e-readers. With this in mind, I think we need more research on tablets as reading devices. How much time do tablet users actually spend on e-book reading during leisure time, compared to the use of the many competing media forms available on the device (like music, film, games, web and social media)? Rather than focusing on detailed measures and metrics of reading on the tablet screen, I am interested in finding out how the tablet functions as a device for concentrated book reading (deep reading). I have no ready design for such a study, but this indicates my research interests related to the topic of WG2.