E-reader Devices

E-books, what are they? An e-book is an electronic digital book, it is fiction, non-fiction, poetry - anything that could be published in the traditional manner but is available electronically (we'll say digital, because that's how they are actually produced). Some E-books are only available digitally. Some books are available in both the digital and traditional paper format. I would venture to say that half the books on best-seller lists from any newspaper or magazine are also available digitally.

Are all E-books created equal? No. Some can be read on the computer you are using now. Others require a special reader in order to read them. These readers serve several purposes. They are portable, have easy to read high-resolution screens, lengthy battery life and a large selection of titles to choose from. At present there are several popular models available to the public and some have (in my opinion) hefty price tags, but like everything else electronic in the last decade, expect the price to drop drastically.

The Rocket eBook, when first introduced retailed for $499. As of today, the price is $199 and falling. The first reader discussed here is the Rocket eBook. This device allows you to read books downloaded from an on-line bookstore, such as BarnesandNoble.com, Indigo.com, Amazon.com, Powells.com or NuvoMedia.com. This is but a small listing of where they are available. The book will not be readable on your computer. It will have to be loaded into the Rocket eBook because it is encrypted and only the Rocket eBook can decode it. You cannot print out the book nor load it into a friend's Rocket eBook. This protects against copyright infringement. But if you lose your Rocket eBook or delete a book from it, you can download another copy for free. So you have a digital library sitting somewhere in cyberspace waiting for you to use. The minimum requirements for download are:

IBM compatible, 486 or higher Windows 95/98 or NT 4.0 16MB RAM 10MB available disk space a 9 pin serial port internet access and browser.

The Rocket eBook weighs 22 ounces (627 grams). I can hold about 4000 pages and with a memory expansion, up to 160,000 pages! It's battery life is around 40 hours without the backlight on. The backlight allows the person reading the book to do so in total darkness (which is great for those of us who read in bed but have partners who want to sleep). The life expectancy of the battery is around 5 years. I comes with a built-in charging unit and a charging cradle. When travelling, only the wall adapter is required to re-charge the battery and it is dual voltage (110 and 220 volts). The screen is approximately 4.5 inches by 3 inches (11.43 cms X 7.62cms) and the text can be rotated in any one of four 90 degree orientations. Right now it is only available in a black and white format but colour will soon follow.

Buttons on the reader allow you to "turn" pages just like a paper book (no scrolling). You can make margin notes using the stylus, enlarge the type size and search the entire book for key words.

The next reader is the SoftBook. It is a self-contained reader and downloading device and comes with a protective leather cover. It has all the features of the Rocket eBook, like page turning, annotating and searching. You purchase the reader and a monthly service plan. You purchase and store your books on line and dial into SoftBooks servers from any phone and download your books any time you wish. You don't need a PC but you can download documents from your PC if you wish to take them with you for any reason. The SoftBook can store 1500 pages and is expandable to 150,000. It has a brightly backlit screen (8.5inches by 11 inches) which displays text, charts, and graphics.

There are thousands of titles available, right now, mostly technical or professional. Recently it was announced that many of the world's most popular magazines and newspapers have been made available for downloading to the SoftBook, such as Time, Fortune, and The New York Times. The reader can use "key word" or "key phrase" searches, highlight, underline, or write and save hand-written notes on the machine. The cost of the unit is $299 plus the monthly service charge. This price includes free downloads of a library of classics worth $400 according to SoftBook. Like the RocketBook it uses the Open E-book standard which is a form of HTML coding which makes for easy on-screen reading. With Christmas approaching, I'll try to cover more e-readers next week.