E-ink eReaders, and the Last Meter problem.

There’s a lot of talk about reading on smart, mobile wireless devices.

Tablets, smartphones, even smartwatches (not sure how well that’s working out, but whatever). Media and content vendors, digital book retailers and libraries, all eager to show their apps. But little seems to be said and done about e-ink reading devices, beyond the launch of some new Kindle model.

I understand that apps and always-connected, always-on devices are sexy and make great headlines. Guess that’s the reason they talk about them all the time. Which is funny because, you know, those are not the devices most hard-nosed readers read their stuff on. And I think it is time to demand for them the attention they deserve.

E-ink based devices have been around for quite some time now. In contrast with some predictions, new models keep popping out. Higher resolution, higher contrast, integrated light, faster page-turning. But their best feature is something that has not changed since the early models. Their, let’s say, “signature” and, actually, most loved characteristic.

Purpose. Single purpose, in fact.

Yup, designed and optimized for a single task: reading eBooks. Free from the stressful “ping” of notifications and the urge of updating our status. Generally speaking, reading on an e-ink device feels as immersive as a paper book. It is not surprising, thus, that most serious readers are partial towards such device. A recent survey by nimbooks stated that a 18% of individuals read on e-ink, almost even with tablet devices at 20%.

Which makes it the most puzzling, then, to see how content vendors barely talk about eReaders. Android, iOS apps, Cloud-based streaming solutions… yes, sure. E-ink readers? Just some brief mention, as if a problem child they must reluctantly deal with.

Many content vendors treat eReaders as second-class citizens because they are, in fact, “problematic”. There are too many brands and models to manage them comfortably, each behaving in a different way. It’s like the Wild West of reading devices. And content vendors do their best to work around the issue instead of addressing it.

That usually translates into “delegating” the complexities of downloading, DRM-ing and synchronizing. That nasty sh*t sandwich is thus left for us customers to take. Unless you are Amazon and have managed to round up your customers into your bullpen, that is. That is a problem in itself, but it is not surprising some people prefer it to being given the sandwich.

Content vendors love the pretense that having a “download” button is enough. I find hard to believe that they ignore how much that process sucks. But, for some reason, they choose to see it as a non-issue. “Adobe provides the tools to handle that; now go away, shoo!”

Well, ask public libraries. They hate your guts, people. I’ve seen long, 10+ page long, pretty technical docs prepared by libraries. For their users, not for themselves. Users who can be kids or the elderly or just any non-geekish people. Looong docs explaining how to download, fulfill, DRM and sync their just borrowed eBooks. Plain crazy.

Then you have the people who just got some eReader, maybe as a gift, and are giving it a try. Ah, the promise of digital reading. Then, Oh, the confusion, the puzzlement. “This can’t be so difficult, take so many weird steps, can’t it? Has anyone ever calculated how many potential converts to digital are lost, out of frustration?

I find this situation to be the quintessential Last Meter problem. The Last Meter problem happens after overcoming the “big” problems (legal, business and technological). Then you discover that the whole thing crashes when at the last step. In this case, at the delivery of content when dealing with such heterogeneous receptors. At customer’s home, in the meter-long USB cable he uses to transfer the content. The Last Meter indeed. As they say, the Devil is in the details.

We need a fresh new approach to content delivery for e-ink eReaders, and we need it bad.

An approach which puts the reader needs in the center, taking the burden from him. “Delegating” the complexity not to the user, but to an automated process which can take care of it all. A smarter process which can remove friction from a process which, as of now, can only be defined as abrasive.

A process, platform, tool, app, whatever. Something which, with minimal intervention, can replicate what users are asked to do today. Grab the content from the vendor repository. Fulfill the content and apply DRM encryption if required. Send the content to the user digital bookcase, cloud storage, local file folder, etc. Identify and register the device, and transfer the content right upon connection. In the right way as per the device type, model or vendor. Automatic and running in the background, no less.

If you are, as me, an avid reader deep into e-ink eReading devices. If you are, as me, someone into that relevant 18% of customers who happen to be the ones buying the most eBooks. If you are, as me, tired of the hassle brought upon you by the “delegation” of content vendors.

Demand them a solution. ASAP. Now. Be a second-class citizen no more.

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At nimbooks.com we create tools to assist digital publications’ vendors to provide better experiences. We have killer solutions to achieve seamless content delivery and synchronization on e-ink eReaders. And, of course, on Tablets, Smartphones and Computers. But frictionless delivery of their contents is just one of the things we help companies with. Learn more about what we can do to improve delivery, management, analysis and targeting.

We are on a mission to develop innovative solutions for Digital Publications which Readers actually Love to use. Visit us at www.nimbooks.com