A

E-books

E-books, or electronic books, are books stored in digital format that are created, delivered, and read by electronic methods. This means that the book's text may be available on CD-ROM through a computer or encrypted and delivered through a handheld device. The term "e-book" is also used to refer to a dedicated handheld device used to read electronically based text, although these devices should more properly be referred to as e-book readers.

The availability and delivery of the text of books in electronic format is not new. Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.net/) has been providing the text of public domain books free over the Internet since 1971. Computerized texts have several advantages. Compared to a print volume, a computer can store much more text. Computerized text is also much easier to search, and hyperlinks can move the reader easily throughout the text, or from one text to another. Most people, however, continue to prefer reading from a printed page. They dislike scrolling down a screen rather than flipping pages, and they also find reading text on a conventional computer monitor tiring. These preferences have resulted in numerous attempts to try to create an electronic reading experience that mimics that of reading a printed book.

The technology to accomplish this is still in a state of flux. Although everyone involved with e-books agrees that there should be unified standards, these had yet to be developed as of fall 2001. There are two major software developments that hope to become the standard for e-text, one ASCII based and the other PDF (portable document format—Adobe) based.

A recent development is the handheld e-book reader. This is a device created specifically for reading electronic text. Several different versions of these readers have been created, each one about the size of a large paperback book, weighing about the same as a hardcover book. Because they store text digitally, these readers can hold numerous books worth of text. They use touch-screen technology, provide built-in dictionaries, have the capability to highlight text and store notes made by the reader, and also offer keyword searching. Pages can be bookmarked for easy reference, and battery life is more than sufficient for the reading of a complete book. Other options include varying font sizes and adjustable screen backlighting to meet users' needs. Two differing models of these readers were sold—one by Rocket eBooks and another by SoftBooks. Both companies have now merged, and the new company, Gemstar, has licensed RCA to sell two different and upgraded readers. This merger highlighted one of the new technology's drawbacks: until a standard is derived, earlier technologies face becoming obsolete quickly. Another drawback is cost. At this point, readers are seen as expensive toys rather than as an essential part of everyday living. Present readers also need to develop an improved capability for dealing with color, graphics, and multimedia.

Improved dedicated readers are undoubtedly coming in the future. Another possibility being developed rapidly is special reading software for smaller (handheld) computers. Despite the evolving state of the technology, it is clear that e-books are here to stay. The advantages of being able to access books in digital format are too great to ignore. Students will be able to access all their textbooks on one small device. Users of reference books will want the advantages of having a text that never goes out of date. Travelers will enjoy having only one small device to carry, rather than multiple books.

Although e-books are mainly copies of print-based texts as of this writing, they are likely to become more interactive in the future. Hyperlinks for scholars and researchers may be added or multimedia effects may enhance the experience of recreational reading. Multimedia CD-ROMs to help teach children to read already incorporate both text and interactive elements.

E-books are now being offered for sale commercially. The cost of digitally producing a book should be cheaper, as there is less physical overhead. Publishers appear to see the field of digital publishing as one more way they can reach readers. Both publishers and authors have started to experiment with different ways of selling books online. The most well known example of this is Stephen King's novella Riding the Bullet, which was only published electronically. This can be considered the first e-book bestseller as more than 50,000 copies were downloaded. The announcement of several prestigious awards for e-books in 2000 also signals that they have become part of our culture.