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.