I’m not going to spend time going through loads of statistics confirming that nearly every man, woman, and child at every age in every country and continent is online, buying stuff, finding jobs, partners, and hopefully our books.   What I would like to put in front of you briefly is the idea of our customer’s EVOLVING EXPERIENCE EXPECTATION.

Some would argue that, and I include myself in this camp, that the Experience is the product.  When someone buys a book or a new perfume or cologne, they will judge that product on the experience that it create. Did the book empower me, did the perfume or cologne get me a date?  Did it make me feel better about myself?

The experience of music and the evolution of the music business is always held up as the harbinger for the book business.  And I think this analogy has reached a fevered pitch with the release of Amazon’s Kindle seven months ago.

Some of you probably saw this picture of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, in the Economist a few weeks ago with the heading “YOU’RE ALL DOOMED”.  Many have recognized that Amazon seems to be following a similar “digitize, divide and conquer” strategy masterminded by the maestro himself, Steve Jobs.

I don’t think many of us would question that Jobs and the iPod have revolutionized the music business,   BUT is it right then to assume that Bezos and his new toy will have the similar impact on the book business?  Last week , analysts in the US predicted that by 2012 global ebook sales at amazon will reach $2.5 billion. An astounding number considering amazon’s overall revenue in 2007 was $10.7 billion. How did they get there, with the music comparison of course.

If we look at some key points in history for both the music and book business in the context of the customer’s EVOLVING EXPERIENCE EXPECTATION, which I mentioned before. I think it starts to become clear that this comparison doesn’t really hold water.

A long time ago, when you wanted to experience music, you had limited options. You had to be in the presence of those creating the music, so your mobility was limited.  Unless you were royalty, or whoever was paying the orchestra, your choice of music was limited.  So, improving the mobility of music and the choices that were made available were huge factors in music’s widespread adoption.

Along came the phonograph and suddenly music could be mass produced and distributed, widening its market.
Now, personally, I think the real breakthrough moment in music, that paved the way for Apple, was the dawn of the boom box.

Clearly, this is when music became an accessory for fashion (have you ever seen a better matched bandana and boombox?) The point is, when music went mobile, it fit more readily into people’s experiences.

Then the race was on to make it more portable, stylish, all changing experience expectation. Now, when we think of a comparable breakthrough moment for the reading experience, many wonder if it happened 7 months ago with the release of the Kindle,  but I would argue it really happened just under 700 years ago with our friend, Mr. Movable Type, Gutenberg, himself.

Think about it. Since then, the experience of reading has changed very little. They come in all shapes and sizes. Mobility isn’t much of a problem. And as those traditionalists always say, I like books because you can curl up with them in bed, or read them in the bath.

So, I guess the point I’m trying to make is, unlike the music business the relationship customers have with the printed book is still quite strong and have been meeting the experience expectation for hundreds of years. And I don’t say this because I’m overly sentimental traditionalist.  But I do think it’s an important time to remind ourselves that the printed book still provides an excellent user experience.  And this is a real strength that only enhances our position in a digital age.

So, having read Christine thoughts, what do you think?  Are books still the ultimate experience when it comes to reading, or can what we think of as a book be so much more?  How will the book customer’s experience expectation evolve in the coming years?  Are we indeed doomed?