Power of Ebooks

E-book reading devices came about when e-books (electronic  books) started to become popular.  The history of this entire fad actually began at a time when people just became aware of the use of cellular phone.  One of the earliest e-book readers was the Dynabook concept. It was created by Alan Kay in the year 1968 and can be now identified with laptops, e-book readers, and tablet PCs.  Alan Kay created the concept with the aim to provide children access to digital media.  Although recent times had been consumed with the concept of electronic reading such as that foretold by the Dynabook, Alan Kay still thinks that his concept was not yet realized.

The original e-book can be dated to the year 1971 when Project Gutenburg started with the creation of an electronic version of the Declaration of Independence. This was a project that was launched to store archives digitally. It was founded by Michael S. Hart and is now considered the world’s oldest digital library.

Fast forwarding to the 1990’s, the majority of early electronic books were created for a select group of people who were interested in the whole convenience that they could bring.  Some of them were the military, corporate leaders, and other high profile cliques. In the later years though, everyone seemed to have gained access to e-books as desktop computers, laptops, and even software like the Adobe Reader came about. In 1998, e-books became available in various university libraries in order to cater the scholastic needs of students and professors. At this time, e-books could not yet be downloaded freely and could only be viewed in computer libraries.  But, in the year 2003, libraries had already allowed downloads of e-books including the electronic version of popular fiction and non-fiction books. With that, e-books continued to gain popularity among the larger public and even became used as an underground profit source as illegal distributors started to sell published and non-published books.

As for more recent years, several companies were able to create and showcase e-book reading devices. Among them are Barnes & Noble’s Nook, Amazon’s Kindle, BeBook Neo, Sony Reader, Alex eReader, Pandigital Novel, and the Kobo eReader.

E-book Readers

E-books along with the respective e-book reading devices have been taking the literary market by storm. In fact, Amazon reported in the year 2010 that for every 100 paperbacks sold, there are 140 e-books sold at the same time. Eventually, e-books officially took over their sales in the later months. It is of no doubt then that the popularity of e-book readers and their supported e-book formats are taking its toll. Below are the most important ebook readers of today.

• Kindle – Amazon is a famous internet presence selling different types of products but, in the year 2007, it started to join the e-book craze with its first generation Kindle reader.  Four years since the release, the Kindle reader now has three generations of e-book readers plus the larger screen Kindle DX. This famous device has been looked up to as the King of all standalone e-book readers amidst the presence of various competitors including the coloured ones. The latest Amazon Kindle called the Kindle 3 is packed with features that are exceptional. It has an all new and high contrast e-Ink screen with a no glare capability making you able to read even under the bright sunlight. It also has darker and crisper fonts plus you can select among 16 shades of gray for better reading experience. The Kindle 3 is also lighter compared to its predecessors and has a crazy batter life of up to one month. With the dawn of 3G and Wi-Fi technologies, Amazon was also able to add such capabilities to the Kindle 3. With dictionary look-up, notes, and highlights, we can say that with the four years that passed, Amazon was able to go with the flow of modern e-book technologies while maintaining the sole purpose of the Kindle device— being an e-book reader.

• Nook – Developed by the famous book retailer Barnes & Noble, this e-book reader is based on the Android platform. Its release was announced in October of 2009 and was finally revealed to the public on November 30, 2009. The Nook also comes with a brilliant e-Ink display that features a 16-level gray text display, great contrast, and no glare capacity. With the device, readers can gain access to over 2 million books, magazines, newspapers and periodicals in just a matter of seconds. With prices that range from $9.99 and below, everything is surely affordable. On the other hand, if you are one reader that just cannot seem to get enough of e-books, you need not to worry as the Nook has an internal memory that can store up to 1,500 books and if you need more space than there already is, all you have to do is insert a memory card. Speaking of storage in the Nook, you may also organize your e-books according to your preference. For example, if you want to store all Paulo Coelho novels in one bookshelf, you may do so in the “My B&N Library” and “My Documents”. Security can be guaranteed with the Nook too so any unauthorized user cannot simply read and download content. There’s more to this Barnes & Noble creation, if you want to check it out, feel free to visit their site.

• Sony Reader- The famous brand and company didn’t just make one but was able to produce a line of e-book readers consisting of nine varieties. However, out of the nine, only three now remain in the market. The first is the pocket edition (PRS-350). It is the smallest among the three with dimensions of 145 x 104.3 x 8.5mm and a weight of 155 grams. It has a 5-inch wide screen that is very easy to put and slip on your pockets and purses. It cannot only read PDF formatted e-books but also supports Word and EPUB files. Like the Kindle and Nook, the screen of this Sony Reader is created by e-Ink with a superb anti-glare and superior contrast features. The battery life of this e-book reader is up to two weeks. The available colours are pink and silver. The second e-book reader from Sony is called the touch edition (PRS-650). This is quite bigger than the pocket edition with the dimensions of 168 x 118.8 x 9.6mm and weight of 215 grams. It basically has the same features with the pocket edition. The only real difference is the size and the screen of 6 inches. It is available in three colours: black, silver, and red. The last on the line is the largest of the three called the daily edition (PRS-950). Its dimensions are 199.9 x 128 x 9.6mm and a weight of 272 grams. It has a 7.1 inches screen which is still powered by e-Ink. Compared to the previous two, this has a 3G, Wi-Fi, and web browser. To know more about the in depth features of the Sony Readers, feel free to visit their site or any outlet in your area.

• BeBook Neo- Aside from the top three e-book readers which have been mentioned already, the BeBook Neo is also an e-book reader that was able to gain the attention of the public. Its key features are Wi-Fi capability, 2.5 times faster browsing compared to other e-book readers, the WACOM touchpanel technology that provides a fast and even more natural reading, sketching system allowing you to doodle on your e-books, a long battery life of up to 7000 page turns, and a wide support for e-book formats like EPUB*, PDF*, TXT, HTML, RTF, MOBI (Non DRM only), CHM, PDB, JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF (*including Adobe DRM, compatible with Adobe Digital Editions). Another great thing about the BeBook Neo is its MP3 listening capability. Talk about reading and listening at the same time!

Other than these four e-book readers, other companies and brands like the Alex eReader, Pandigital Nove, and Kobo eREader are available for purchase in the market today. Get to know them by browsing through the internet or visiting shops in your locale.

Are E-book Readers Necessary?

If you are the type of person who likes to go follow the popular trends of technology, you may easily jump to the idea of buying an e-book reader.  But, there is actually more to the trend.  Above all, electronic reading emanates from the inner need to expand horizons through the use of books. The electronic reading devices just took the idea up a notch and made it easier for every avid reader to gain access in the latest book releases.

Of course, the presence of these devices also allows readers to go back in time and read through their favourite classics. So, whether you are inclined to reading Tolstoy or love Coelho and Deepak Chopra more, e-book readers are totally useful, portable, and very convenient.

How to Select an E-book Reader

Knowing its great popularity as of today, ebook readers are certainly taking over the trend of other gadgets and gizmos. However, it seems as though selecting the right reader is harder than actually purchasing a phone. With a wide array of brands and models that seem to have very similar features, oftentimes aspiring  owners have a hard time in picking one that would satisfy them.

How would you actually know that a certain e-book reader is right for you? Well, the key to that is knowing the significant features that an e-book reader must have.

1. Practically, one must possess an exceptional screen that can provide you a great reading experience. Well, most e-book readers have the e-Ink pearl display. The technology allows readers to read through e-books easily because it mimics ink on paper thus allowing e-book owners to also read under the bright sunlight. E-Ink technology also what makes e-book readers usually lightweight. In fact, e-Ink powered screens are 27% lighter than those tablets with LCD displays and not to mention LCD screens also cause more eye strains. Such displays are also durable and long lasting.  With typical reading, your devices that are powered by e-Ink can last up to more than 10 years.  However, the most remarkable thing about the e-Ink screen is its being environment friendly. When e-book readers would successfully take over paperbacks and other books, imagine the millions of trees that are to be saved. With the trees to be saved, we would also eliminate millions of tons of greenhouse gases.
2. Aside from the screen, one important feature that an e-book reader must have is an adequate battery life. With the e-book readers available now, the Kindle is one that is able to showcase the most impressive battery life yet.  As you may know, its battery-life is up to one month when the Wi-Fi and 3G are constantly turned off and can last up to three weeks when they are intermittently turned on.
3. The design is also important. Try to look for an e-book reader that is designed to perfection.  While the Kindle still continues to pack its e-book readers with buttons, some are actually taking advantage with touchscreen technology now like Barnes & Noble and Sony among others.  Also, it is important for an e-book reader to allow access to over hundreds and thousands of e-books.  That’s basically the whole point of having an e-book reader, right? Most of the e-book readers now like the Kindle and Barnes & Noble are open to over millions of book titles, magazines, and newspapers.

Additional features are necessary for an e-book reader too. Sometimes, you might want to take a break from reading which is why it is a big plus if your e-book reader has a few games or at least an MP3 player.  Try to look for one that will serve you right.  When buying an e-book reader, also consider the price. As of the moment, the Amazon Kindle still is the cheapest among all the bigger brands. When buying an e-book reader, be sure to consider the abovementioned factors!

Improvements in Ebook Readers

There is only one constant thing in this world and we call it change. With e-book reading devices, of course change will also take place in them in the months and years to come.  With available technologies like touchscreens, colored screens and the like, we can be sure that sooner or later the Kindle, Sony Reader, and other e-book readers will improve a lot.

As you may know, most e-book readers do not showcase a color screen yet. But, the technology is in fact already available and Amazon and other e-book readers did not succumb to it yet.  In the year 2010, a Chinese e-book reader called Hanvon, debuted the world’s first colored e-Ink display.

What is great about the new e-Ink screen is that although it is already in colour, it does not eat up too much of the battery life.  Like the usual e-Ink screen, the new screen does not emit light and so, one can always read for long hours without having his or her eyes strained.  However, for night reading, readers would also need light for them to be able to go on with their reading.

With this latest enhancement, who knows? We might soon see and get hold of a Kindle and other readers in full colour. In relation to this, rumours about seeing a Kindle and Sony Reader in full colour have circulated for several months now. However, both brands just seem to be so secretive about the issue thus, no confirmations or denials were yet expressed. Well even if the rumours were true, we have no choice but to sit back and relax and wait until the improvements come about. One thing is certain though, e-book readers will surely advance in time.  And, we do know that ebook readers in 2011 are likely to change quite a lot.

Issues

You may have heard several predictions about the e-book readers in the not so distant future. For most analysts, they have expressed a certain amount of confidence that in the coming years, e-books and their corresponding e-book readers would totally replace printed books. While most publishers and businesses in this kind of industry are all nervous and panicky about the e-book trend, they shouldn’t be actually. If you come to think of it, e-books would in fact do them good if they just know the right strategy.

Sure enough, there would come a time that some authors would have their books first published in e-books instead of paperbacks. Publishers can take advantage by yes, publishing the e-books. When the reviews and sales are good, they can decide then to create printed copies. If not, then they can obviously choose not to make printed copies. Using this strategy would pre-filter success rates of printed books so there would be no amount of money wasted on the tedious process of editing, copywriting, and design among others on the part of the publisher. If every publisher thinks this way, then of course, they would not feel threatened in any way.

While the e-book reader makers are enjoying the profit and popularity that they are currently thriving on, some analysts think that with the presence of the far more advanced tablets, they would eventually come to an end and probably quite soon. Although it is true that tablets are more advanced, e-book readers are rather impossible to take down for now. People love the affordable price that they come with.  Also, the simplicity of e-book readers is one thing that attracts its patrons. What puts purpose built reading devices a notch higher than tablets is that they are more ergonomic.  Plus, they don’t tend to strain your eyes even if you stay up all night reading unlike tablets that have LCD screens.  Another advantage of e-book readers is that they are very durable and have been tested to last longer than the highly sensitive tablets. With these, how can they say that e-book readers will soon be doomed?

Looking back at a time when no one even had the idea of what an e-book was, we can say that our lives were pretty simple. Whenever we want to read a book, all we did was to go to a bookstore or library. But now, we can say that life is even easier with e-books and e-book readers. We don’t even have to go to bookstores or libraries anymore. All we got to do is to execute a few clicks here and there then, voila, the book we want would already be at our fingertips. And for me, this is something big; innovative in fact. Having e-book readers is probably one of the best changes of our time.