The debate over e-reading versus traditional printed material continues to rage on. Many folks seem to be of the view that reading on a screen just isn’t the same experience as relaxing with a book.

Yet change always comes eventually, and others ask whether the success of the iPad might help cement the status of the e-book market. Sony certainly thinks that the printed word is on the way out, and in five years time, e-books will be more prevalent.

However, the latest research conducted into e-bookery may give folks further pause for thought. Or indeed, pause for reading.

According to the Nielsen Norman Group, people enjoying a book on an e-reader – he tested both the iPad and Kindle 2 – read more slowly than those devouring a traditional book.

Using the iPad they read 6% slower, and with the Kindle, 10% slower. Dr Jakob Nielsen, who wrote up the report, pointed out that “the difference between the two devices was not statistically significant because of the data’s fairly high variability”.

But whichever way you dice it, the study claims that reading from a hardware device is a slightly lengthier process than imbibing the words from a book.

The study participants also rated the satisfaction of the reading experience, where interestingly, the iPad and Kindle sneaked ahead of the printed medium, although there was little in it.

The iPad scored 5.8 out of 7, the Kindle 5.7 and the printed book 5.6. A PC was also included in the e-reading tests, and that was the only medium which came out with a low satisfaction rating of 3.6.

The monitor screen definitely isn’t the place people want to enjoy a good novel on – reading on a PC reminded people of work – but it seems the iPad and Kindle certainly equal the book in terms of satisfaction.

Nielsen concludes: “This study is promising for the future of e-readers and tablet computers. We can expect higher quality screens in the future, as indicated by the recent release of the iPhone 4 with a 326 dpi display. But even the current generation is almost as good as print in formal performance metrics – and actually scores slightly higher in user satisfaction.”

However, the participants still indicated that they felt reading a book was a more relaxing experience than using an electronic device.

There is always likely to be a hardcore audience who won’t switch from the printed page for some time yet, and whether that’s as soon as five years time as Sony is predicting, we’re not so sure.

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Study says people read e-books slower than print

This study on Internet/TV convergence by ComScore makes for interesting reading and highlights how many people watch TV and browse the internet – an opportunity that has been missed to date by most broadcasters.

Read more from the original source:
Convergence

When
it comes to advertising, not all online video viewers are created equal, according
to a new commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Veoh
Networks. Released today, “Watching The Web: How Online Video Engages Audiences”
reveals that while some online video viewers still only “snack” on short clips, there
exists a large audience of young, influential, engaged viewers who watch a great deal
of long-form online video and pay attention to the brand messages delivered to them
in online video environments.

The study found that Engaged Viewers (viewers who watch more than an hour of online
video a week) make up nearly 40% of all online video viewers and watch nearly 75%
of all online video. Of these Engaged Viewers, those who spend the most time consuming
and sharing long-form content:

Are more likely to watch videos all the way through Pay more attention to online video
more than they do TV Interact with and rate the videos they watch more frequently
Are twice as likely to recall in-video ads and post-rolls than non-Engaged Viewers
Agree more readily that advertising is fair and helps pay for their free experience
Consider banner ads and ads that come in between videos (mid-rolls) most effective

Who is the Engaged Online Video Viewer?

For Engaged Viewers, online video viewing is not a fad but rather a growing consumer
habit: 61% of Engaged Viewers expect to spend significantly more time watching online
video in the next year. The study also found that Engaged Viewers are young: while
13- to 24-year-olds make up only 15% of the online population, they represent more
than 35% of Engaged online video viewers. In addition, Engaged Viewers watch an average
of 6 kinds of video content – from animation to TV shows to movie trailers – during
the course of a month.

The study further segmented Engaged Viewers into three sub-groups based on time spent
watching video, types of videos watched, comfort level managing the video viewing
experience, propensity to share videos, and amount of attention paid to online video
compared to TV:

• Watchers, those who spend just over an hour watching video each week but, besides
  showing up to watch, don’t engage the experience deeply by controlling playback or
  sharing videos
• Controllers, those who go one step further; these younger viewers take an active role
  in controlling their video experiences and feel that online video is important to
  their lives
• Connectors, though just 7% of online viewers, consume 20% of all online video and
  do 42% of all online video sharing.

Connectors and Controllers are especially valuable because they not only watch more
online video than others, but they are shaping what others watch through their sharing.

Long Form Video Matters

The most desirable viewers – Connectors and Controllers – watch long-form video more
often than Watchers do, so sites that offer a great deal of long-form video are the
ideal places to reach them. Long-form video sites not only attract these viewers,
but they also foster an environment that secures more viewer attention and engagement
with advertising.

Given that both Connectors and Controllers spend more time on long-form video sites,
they are more apt to feel that advertising is a fair trade off to pay for online video
services. Even more important, Connectors are significantly more likely to notice
brands and feel ads are useful when presented with products they are interested in.

Implications for Advertisers

As online video viewing matures, advertisers can take advantage of the unique opportunity
to reach valuable Engaged Viewers by starting with the following:

1. Think Advertainment, not Advertisement. Engaged video viewers are more open to
enjoying the advertising they watch giving marketers an opportunity to create ads
that are as entertaining as the video clips they are paired with. Make the advertising
a part of this engaging environment by telling compelling stories rather than consistently
repeating the same 30-second spot.

2. Active mindset = greater action. Engaged video viewers are more involved in every
aspect of the viewing experience, including the advertising. In contrast, watchers
who sit down to watch a 1-minute user-generated clip come to the screen with very
different mindsets. Consider having multiple creative units depending on the mindset
d propensity to engage with the medium.

3. Think about all the ad units on the page as a team. All viewers feel advertising
can be annoying. But none of them said it had to be annoying. Engaged viewers respond
to ad formats that don’t intrude unfairly. Their preference for banner ads supports
this. But banner ads can be supported by a comprehensive ad experience that ties display
ads, sponsorships, and in-video ads together into a coherent package.

4. Target it and they will come. As more viewers spend more than an hour a week viewing
online video, it’s time for advertisers and the sites that enable them to start matching
ads to viewers more intelligently. The easiest place to do this is with long-form
content, where the choice of programming – an episode of one’s favorite tv show –
says more about a viewer than a short clip about a dog on a skateboard ever can.

Methodology

Forrester Consulting conducted this study with more than 1,013 people who watch online
video at least an hour each week. These responses were calibrated against Forrester’s
ongoing Consumer Technographics research to ensure response validity. Building on
this insight, a sub-sample of 10 individuals who completed the online survey and gave
explicit permission to be contacted for a follow-up interview were recruited to participate
in 10 one-hour, phone-based in-depth interviews to discuss their experience with online
video more fully. The combination of rigorous quantitative measures and qualitative
insight paint a picture of today’s engaged online video viewer.

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Veoh Study Shows Long-Form Online Video Viewers Are Highly Receptive to Advertising

London-based On Demand Group has been selected by the Hellenic Telecommunication Organisation S.A. (OTE), of Greece, to provide outsourced video-on-demand services.
OTE, Greece’s largest telco, is extending its services with the provision of IPTV to its customers.
The deal, to work with OTE on its video-on-demand service, marks On Demand’s expansion into the Greek market, [...]

Excerpted from:
On Demand in VOD deal with OTE

ABI Research has released new findings which suggests that revenues from digital asset management (DAM) solutions will increase by 300% in the next 5 years.
ABI also conducted research into broadband video markets and conditional access plans, as well as market growth projections for Asia, Europe, and North America.
ABI Research are leaders in market [...]

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300% Rise In Digital Asset Management Revenue