Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 17, 2000)
eBooks—Not Tree Books The digital revolution comes to literature. By Emile Andre In March, 400,000 readers bought Stephen King’s Riding the Bullet the very first day it was available. Doesn’t sound like such a big deal for America’s best-selling author—right? Wrong. All 400,000 of them downloaded the electronic version. Many print publishers are doing elec tronic editions as well as hardcover paper back and audio books. Not every book is available in eBook format yet—but that day is not far off. The eBook phenomenon began in the ’70s, with Project Gutenberg (gutenberg.net) an early effort to make the classics available electronically. Other attempts to make the classics available online include the MIT site dedicated to Shakespeare (http://tech-two.mit.edu/ Shakespeare). When dedicated eBook devices like the Rocket eBook Reader and SoftBook Reader came out in late 1998, it inspired publishers to make thousands of titles available. And with software like ActiveSync and Microsoft Reader, which make eBooks available for handheld devices, eBooks are now widely available for personal digital assistants. One sign that eBooks have made it in a big way is a new prize—$100,000, award ed at the Frankfurt Book Fair for the first time this year for the best book published only in eBook format. Like most of the digital world, eBooks are more widely available for PCs than for Macs. The industry is troubled by a lack of standards as well: with almost a dozen dif ferent file formats, some compatible with some devices, some with others. EBooks range from about $2 to $25. Some eBooks are sold with Softlock, soft ware that lets you preview before you buy. You can download them or buy the CD ROM—downloads usually cost a little less. A little browsing of some eBook links will give you an idea of what’s available online. Check out some of the sites in the box at right to get started. • For more about eBooks go to Steamtunnels.net and search using keyword "eBook." ^ Handhelds and eBooks Use your PDA to read books on the road. Since you can download a book to your hard drive, you can move that file over to your Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) as well. We tried out a few hand held devices to see how well they worked. The Cassiopeia EM 500 ($499) is a snazzy looking box that down loads books using ActiveSync software. It comes with only a couple of fairy tales pre installed, but it's easy to read and use. The screen is large, and adjustable a million ways to Sunday. Best of all, it feels good and looks sharp. II JU.V. 1 11V4 U.V. I J IV/ JfV/Uj two slimmed down versions are the Handspring Visor Deluxe ($249) and the Palm Hie (starts at $129; HotSync soft ware is extra). Most users like the Palm III for the price. As an eBook device, it's just a starter kit. The Visor Deluxe costs a bit more, but has lots more memory. Unfortunately, we did not receive the HP Jornada 545 in time for review. It lists for $499, and uses Microsoft Reader for its eBook downloads, and looks like it's _ loaded with options. Aiming for the top of the market, for the real hardcore eBook users, are the Gemstar eBook ($299-$699)and the Franklin eBookman ($129 $229), both of which will be released this fall. They’re dedicated devices for reading eBooks, and can play MP3s as well (the Gemstar is a relaunch of the old Rocket eBook, which was pulled off the market earlier this year). These will be the Jaguars of the eBook world, with built in dictionaries, loads of titles as part of the original package and enough memory to store 20 books (upgradable to 150). Into eBooks? Make sure one of these babies is on your holiday wish list. • links Sites to get you started with electronic reading. There's a bunch of great sites serving the ebook community. Here’s a few to start with: eBookconnections.com has a basic primer to what eBooks are, and how to find them. This is also the place to find out about new releases, with monthly best seller lists and hot links to other eBook sites. Runningriver.com offers selections from several authors (eBook and traditional). It also carries breaking eBook news and a free newsletter. Justviews.com is a clearinghouse for all eBooks—go here to find out what’s available. The major categories are sci ence fiction, romance and thrillers—the nonfiction books are almost nonex istent. The site does have interviews with authors, bios and lots of new releases. EBookNet.com has lots of titles, and a chat room for folks to compare notes on the various eBook devices (see box above). Also has good advice for newcom ers to the electronic publishing world. ScribeswoHd.com/reviews/ has short reviews of lots of different eBook genres, fiction and non [ f Mmmm fiction alike. Good place to go to see if you really want to Sis buy something. Peanutpress.com is a site dedicated to eBooks for handheld devices. Lots of mag azines, tons of __ newspapers and, of course, eBooks. Many sites offer eBooks for sale. Start here: Cyberread.com, bn.com, ebookshoppe.com, wordwrangler.com, amazon.com and electronicbookseller.com.
