It's all very well Google putting books online but what about the poor readers? Would you want to print one out? Of course not. Would you want to read it on a laptop or PC screen? I certainly wouldn't.
Anchoring myself to the desk to read a book or watching the battery life on my laptop ebb away are not my idea of fun. And PDAs are just too darned small to enjoy reading Acrobat books.
So what's the answer? An electronic book reader, of course. If you can find one. The word on the street is that they have been either awful to use or impossible to buy outside of Japan.
Sony launched one on its home market and tied it to 60-day rentals of electronic books. It was called the LIBRIé and, perhaps because of the business model, it stayed in Japan.
However, in January this year, Sony announced that it would be shipping an improved version, called the Sony Reader to the American market in March. Well, it's not actually appeared in the shops yet, but Sony's website describes it in some detail. Apparently shipments are due 'in the fall', which must mean soon.
The Reader looks good. It uses E-Ink's electronic ink which means that backlighting isn't needed and it can be viewed in the same lighting conditions as a book. The screen measures six inches (diagonally). The battery lasts for thousands of page turns. Up to 7,500 actually, but it depends what else you're doing. It has a built in MP3 player and, unlike its Japanese predecessor, it comes with software to convert PDFs, web pages and JPEGs to its native BBeB format. (That stands for BroadBand eBook - the format used in the LIBRIé to protect authors' digital rights. But that's another story.)
If you want to be tipped off, when it's available (in America) you can leave your email address here.
And, if you don't like Sony, keep an eye out for other E-ink licencees.
Why wait? iRex ( http://www.irextechnologies.com/ ) is already selling the iLiad, a device that uses eInk to display PDF, text, HTML, JPEG/PNG/BMP, and other formats without the digital restrictions of BeBB. Also has a touch sensitive screen, wifi, and can read MMC, CF, and USB cards. It's pretty sweet!
ReplyDeleteI didn't mention it because I thought it was selling into specific markets and also because I understood the price to be around double that of the Sony. When it materialises.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm wrong on either of these assertions, feel free to post a correction. Thanks.
Sony's forthcoming Reader is a disaster for those of us who care about e-book standards. I hope that the publishing world will catch on. See my recent article in Publishers Weekly, "Razing The Tower Of e-Babel." In a related vein, take a look at an entry in the TeleRead Web log, quoting a romance-novel reader who would rather spend time on books than on format conversions. For that matter, the Sony Reader can't even read DRMed PDF--no small flaw, considering that large publishers love to copy-protect their wares. Why be a captive of the Sony format? URLs are below.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile I agree with Matt McClintock, the man behind the excellent manybooks.net. The iLiad is well worth checking out despite the higher price--because it can read many more formats than the hobbled Sony.
Thanks, and the very best of luck with your interesting new blog!
David Rothman
Co-founder, The OpenReader Consortium
davidrothman@openreader.org | 703-370-6540 (U.S.)
Publishers Weekly article:
http://publishersweekly.com/article/CA6365961.html?text=rothman
TeleBlog entry:
http://www.teleread.org/blog/?p=5316
OpenReader:
http://www.openreader.org
I meant to mention the iLiad too, having had the opportunity for an extended play with one last month.
ReplyDeleteWhilst it could do with being a bit faster, I would certainly be interested to try one out for an extended period in real-world usage (books on trains and planes, and endless piles of reports in meetings, mainly!)
A bit more info, for those who don't know what we're wittering about, is available in Peter van de Graaf's presentation from the event, at http://www.ticer.nl/06carte/publicat/03Graaf.ppt.