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<p>SINCE THE ADVENT of the e-book, traditional book publishers have been on shaky ground, with some industry commentators prematurely writing obituaries. While the e-book is still at an infant stage - especially in developing countries - a recent pilot project by the Shuttleworth Foundation about mobile literature reveals some new trends likely to have a profound effect on the industry as new media gain popularity. </p>
<p>The project - called m4Lit (mobiles for literacy) - sets out to explore whether South African teens would read a story on their cellphones. An interactive m-novel, called Kontax - about the entertaining adventures of a teenage graffiti crew - attracted a surprising number of young people who showed interest in reading lengthy stories on their cellphones. Around 63 000 subscribers signed up to read the story, including 28 000 teenagers aged between 11 and 18. It estimated 7 200 teens read the whole story - quite a substantial figure. </p>
<p>While the study was geared at measuring reading interest in teenagers, m4Lit team leader Steve Vosloo says the project has given insight into how book publishers could take advantage of the emerging trend in new media. "What we've found is that people will read longer texts if they find the content interesting and affordable," says Vosloo. "We certainly think there's huge potential for mobile books to grow in South Africa. We don't see it as something that will replace books, but publishers, for example, could use mobile media as a teaser for their books. </p>
<p>The project - called m4Lit (mobiles for literacy) - sets out to explore whether South African teens would read a story on their cellphones. An interactive m-novel, called Kontax - about the entertaining adventures of a teenage graffiti crew - attracted a surprising number of young people who showed interest in reading lengthy stories on their cellphones. Around 63 000 subscribers signed up to read the story, including 28 000 teenagers aged between 11 and 18. It estimated 7 200 teens read the whole story - quite a substantial figure. </p>
<p>While the study was geared at measuring reading interest in teenagers, m4Lit team leader Steve Vosloo says the project has given insight into how book publishers could take advantage of the emerging trend in new media. "What we've found is that people will read longer texts if they find the content interesting and affordable," says Vosloo. "We certainly think there's huge potential for mobile books to grow in South Africa. We don't see it as something that will replace books, but publishers, for example, could use mobile media as a teaser for their books. </p>
