Study On The Prospects Of The EBook's Development In China And The Publishing House's Strategy

As a mode of network publishing, more and more attention from the people within the book industry and reader has been paid to the eBook. According to the theory of the medium remedy, the appearance of a new medium is always the remedy for the old one. What aspects the eBook remedies for the paper-based book are as follows. First, eBook fulfills the reader's accessible need for the digital contents in the era of web. Secondly, eBook overcomes the pBook's simple form of expression. Thirdly, eBook's interactivity that can be achieved establishes the technical base for the intercommunication mode. Finally, the wholly new publishing and distributing method get rid of some traditional working segments.America plays the leading role of the network publishing. The publishing practice of the American publishers in the recent years shows that this is a small but growing market. Many major publishers are engaged in the eBook publishing, and are finding ways to put profits into it. The beginnings of success in some digital libraries in China let Chinese publishing industry see the bright prospect at the domestic eBook's market. Chinese publishing houses are paying great attention to the development in the new era, and what measures will they take? Although technology is not the only determinant in the course of deciding the development of the social culture reality, it is the most important one. It is feasible to a certain degree to analyze the Chinese eBook market from the view of the technology development, since eBook's development needs the strong support of the technology. Internet, DRM and the mobile reading device are the three technologies that have the closest ties with the eBook. As the history shows, until the degree of a new technology accepted by society must reach a given scale, the influence of the technology on society can be clear. The 30 years principle of the futurology also shows the technology advances gradually. So, the eBook market should experience the whole progress from startup to growth, and finally to maturity. In view of the practical developing and applying degree of Internet, DRM technology and mobile reading device in China, the eBook market in our country is in primary stage as a whole. In this stage, the publishing houses should not rush into the eBook publishing. The top priority task at present is adjusting cognitive, then preparing the whole things needed to go into this market and having some tries. If there were some good technical change for the mobile reading device, solving the current main problems of the reading medium, then the numbers of the eBook's readers would increase by a big margin, and eBook market would enter the growth stage in which the publishing houses should explore the effective profitable modes actively. If the relative technologies and device were perfected further, especially ePaper was put into effect, then the eBook market would get into the higher development stage in which the publishing houses should devote themselves into the eBook industry and attach importance to the integration in all aspects.