Product Pipeline

Megan K. Fox looks at the latest ebook devices and what they mean for librarians

By Megan K. Fox (netConnect) -- netConnect, 4/15/2006

This is a very exciting time for ebook readers—the most promising it has been in years. The standalone PDA seems to be dying, but the prominence of smart phones and similar devices is opening new doors for ebooks. The digital music and iPod phenomena bode well for what could happen with e-text publishing, with content and hardware easier to use just as new open standards are beginning to emerge. Mobile, portable, wireless, handheld, personal—these are the qualities readers want in their electronic devices, and this is what the market is finally delivering, both in all-in-one devices and in dedicated e-readers.

In the late 1990s, it seemed like ebooks and ebook readers were really taking off. Major ebook providers such as NetLibrary entered the game, and a large variety of dedicated ebook devices were available, ranging from simple, rugged, and cheap to elaborate, sophisticated, and pricey. In 2003, production—and support—ended for many dedicated e-readers, including Gemstar’s Rocketbook and Softbook. This, in combination with Barnes & Noble’s decision to stop selling ebooks, seemed to indicate the demise of ebook equipment and put a pall over the entire marketplace.

Understandably, many patrons and librarians felt burned by their early encounters with hardware from companies that went out of business and the apparatus that became useless paperweights when proprietary content was no longer made for them. Fortunately, the ebook resurgence is much more flexible.

Many workable and desirable hardware solutions now exist for taking advantage of electronic texts on the go. Ebooks are being read on ebook readers as well as on almost any other kind of electronic gadget. PodReader is an open source application that facilitates making electronic documents readable on an iPod. These are print books on iPods, not audio ebooks. Gaming devices, such as Sony’s PlayStation Portable (with a relatively large 4" screen) and Nintendo’s Gameboy, are also being used to read ebooks.

Tower of eBabel

Before looking at trends in hardware, we need to acknowledge what the folks at the Teleread blog call the “Tower of eBabel”—describing the frustrating plethora of competing ebook formats currently in play. It is very confusing for patrons, publishers, authors, and, of course, librarians to navigate over 20 different formats in which an ebook may be delivered, be they as ubiquitous as Word, HTML, or PDF, or proprietary options such as Microsoft Reader, Palm’s eReader, Mobipocket, ETI’s eBook, and the Sony-backed BBeB (broad band electronic book) format. Most formats are tied to specific kinds of physical devices. If you buy a Microsoft Reader ebook, you cannot read it on your Palm PDA; if you purchase a DRM (digital rights management)–protected PDF, you will not be able to convert it to BBeB and use it on a new Sony Reader machine.

In an effort to simplify the market, publishers and other stakeholders have tried to introduce more-consistent format standards. In 1999, they developed the Open eBook Forum (now called the International Digital Publishing Forum), which laid the most basic groundwork for an emerging standard but still allowed wide variety of expression for electronic formats. The most promising development is the work done by the nonprofit OpenReader organization, which plans to launch a nonproprietary open format standard, based on XML and CSS, by June 2006. OpenReader is a powerful and well-designed format for digital publications. It will work across most devices, introducing greater flexibility and ease of use into the ebook industry—that is, if it is actually adopted by enough major players to make a difference.

Multifunction devices

Developments in mobile handheld computing have provided a wealth of possibilities for taking ebooks on the road. There are many new multifunction hardware models on the market that are essentially trying to maintain the basic design of a laptop or tablet but condensed as much as possible. In smaller, lighter packages that are generally under two pounds, they run a full operating system such as Windows XP, provide a minikeyboard, and have a 5"–10" screen. Notable subnotebooks include Panasonic’s R3, FlyBook, OQO, Sony Vaio, and Fujitsu Lifebook P1500. These offer Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, audio/video capabilities, screen rotation, and perhaps a slide out thumb keyboard; they also function well as ebook readers. Of course, they come with the expected and unavoidable high price tag—many costing close to $2000.

For more affordable alternatives, some users are turning to webpads. Also called Tablet PCs, webpads are designed to offer portable, wireless, high-speed computer access for avid email readers, instant messaging junkies, and web surfers. These are being adapted for ebooks because they are extremely easy to use, turn on instantly, have screens the size of a paperback, and are small enough to be held and manipulated in one hand. The Pepper wireless pad and Nokia’s new 770 mini–Internet tablet both showcase the virtues of a reader that is lightweight, rugged, and portable.

Then, of course, there are personal digital assistants, or PDAs. They are even smaller and lighter than laptops, tablets, or webpads. PDAs are easy to use and understand, small enough to carry at all times, and inexpensive compared with subnotebooks or Tablet PCs. Since patrons already use PDAs for calendars and address books, it is a logical extension to use them as ebook readers. Most Palm-powered devices use the Palm eReader format, and Windows Mobile PocketPCs use Microsoft Reader.

One of the hottest-selling devices on the market right now is the Treo 650, a Palm model that has all the capabilities of a typical PDA and phone in a very small compact package. And, in the next generation, the traditional boundary between Palm and Microsoft devices is blurring: the Treo 700w, the latest in Palm’s phone/PDA hybrid family, actually runs the Windows operating system.

As the popularity of the Treo 700w indicates, the traditional PDA is quickly being outdistanced in the marketplace by what are called integrated, converged, or multifunctional devices. Responding to users’ demands for convergence and a reduction in the number of separate appliances they need to carry, many handhelds now include phones, cameras, MP3 players, global positioning capability, document storage, pictures, web browsing, and more.

Mobile phones are getting a makeover, too. Electronics vendors are adding features beyond calling and text messaging to make “featured” phones or smartphones. These often run the Symbian operating system, and accept Mobipocket, eReader, and Adobe reader software. Nokia’s 9300i smartphone flips open horizontally, allowing for a wide-width screen (5") that works well for reading ebooks. The Nokia 7710 comes with the Mobipocket ebook reader and has a deal with eBooks.com to facilitate content acquisition.

Advances in small-screen mobile technologies are also giving birth to a quite impressive set of multifunction ultrapersonal devices—not just converging two or three functions or creatively hacking one device to serve as another. This new breed of devices is truly meant to provide mobile handheld solutions. These multipurpose devices—with reading ebooks and other electronic documents as just one use—offer compatibility, integration, and convergence. Examples include the OQO and Vulcan Flipstart.

Dedicated to ebooks

There has also been a recent resurgence of hardware devoted to ebook reading. While many people are reading ebooks on their existing electronic tools, a stalwart segment of the population adamantly supports a unique ebook device. They believe a PDA is just too small, a laptop too heavy, an ultrapersonal PC too expensive. While specific ebook appliances may also have a calendar, address book, calculator, or other peripheral applications, they are designed to be ebook readers, or e-readers.

These devices are simpler than minicomputers or shrunken laptops. Because there is generally no complex operating system and less processing, they can be much cheaper ($99–$500), lighter, provide longer battery life, and have no boot-up delay. Designed with the reader in mind, their screen compares in size to a typical paperback or hardback—large enough to be legible but small and light enough to carry and manipulate with one hand. They remember the last page you were on and open right to it when you turn it on. These allow for page turning and font enlarging with the push of a button, instead of the scrolling many machines require. They also have built-in access to dictionaries and encyclopedias, and tools for annotations and bookmarking.

One of the least expensive and best functioning dedicated ebook readers is the ETI-2, the same device as the eBookwise 1150. This classic ebook reader sports the same physical package as the Rocketbook that Gemstar stopped making a few years back, but the software has been greatly updated. It doesn’t try to add in a cheap camera or other bells and whistles that drive the price up and therefore costs only $99. You can easily enlarge the text size, mark pages, highlight passages, make notes, search for keywords, and hyperlink to other parts of the book. The rechargeable lithium battery lasts for 15 hours of reading, and the internal memory holds 15–20 books. The ETI-2 can display premium content from eBookwise.com, including best sellers from major publishers. In addition, it can display .txt, Microsoft Word documents (.doc), HTML, and the old Rocket eBook Editions (.rb). While still relatively small (about the size of a paperback book, weighing in at around a pound), it is much larger than a PDA, which makes reading faster and simpler, with fewer page flips or less scrolling. While the screen is not in color, and therefore not as crisp and clear as most PDAs, the extra size allows much more text on the screen at one time. Other traditional e-readers that are still around include the Hiebook and the Cybook from Bookeen.

There has been substantial evolution of the hardware used to read ebooks since the initial readers came out and were then abandoned. Traditional LCDs (liquid crystal displays) are common on laptops, PDAs, and cell phones. They are heavy, fragile, and need a backlight to be legible.

E-Ink and other developers have created Cholesteric LCD (ChLCD) displays that provide flexible thin displays. E-Ink uses tiny black-and-white microcapsules floating in liquid oil that are oppositely charged—pigments rise or fall in the fluid depending on an electrical charge. These displays are bi-stable, which means once they are charged, they retain the image until charged again. You only need power to change the image, i.e., turn the page. This leads to much longer battery life. This also means that the screen isn’t constantly redrawing itself, causing a flicker that contributes to eye strain and fatigue. These screens are reflective rather than emissive—they reflect natural surrounding light just like paper—so they can be read easily in bright light and don’t provide typical computer screen glare. The reflective ChLCDs currently offer four greyscale and resolution of about 170 dpi—comparable to typical newsprint. A similar full-color model is anticipated in about two to four years.

One hotly anticipated device that uses E-Ink technology is Sony’s Reader. Rebuilding on its flopped Librie from last year (Product Pipeline, netConnect, Summer 2005, p. 17), the Reader will sell for $349 later this spring. One reason the Librie failed was the crippling DRM; Sony set content to expire and be unreadable after just 60 days. To help make this launch more successful, Sony will also be providing an iTunes-esque online store for easy purchase and download of content. The Reader accepts many more formats then the Librie model—although it still relies on translating them to the propriety BBeB format. And it’s powerful: approximately 7500 page turns can occur on a battery charge, and some 80 books can be stored on internal memory. Each proprietary book can be loaded onto up to six devices—but you cannot yet “lend” a copy to others. In order to keep it the size of a thin paperback and less than nine ounces, there is no search capability—but you can search the desktop version of BBeB. In addition, syncing software will automatically convert RSS feeds into the BBeB format for the device, truly making this your e-document, not just e-reader, device.

Another soon-to-be-launched dedicated reader that uses E-Ink is iRex’s Iliad ER 100. As opposed to the Sony Reader, it includes a touchscreen, built in Wi-Fi, Ethernet jack, support for HTML, and, as of now, claims to support all PDFs. It is heavier and bigger but that enables it to have a larger screen. Jinke Electronics will also begin distributing E-Ink dedicated e-readers this spring, the V8 and V2. The Jinke geniuses have built in native support for Excel, PowerPoint, and many other common or open formats.

Other technical and business developments hold great promise for e-readers. While the Simputer from the Indian company Amida does not look much different than current PDAs, it’s got some great innovations. For example, the handheld responds to gestures—a user can turn the pages of an ebook with the flick of a wrist! The simulation of page turning in the Hiero Interactive Digital Flip Books is also being heralded as likely to make ebook reading much more palatable for the general public. Other developments include Sharp’s prototype ebook reader with a 1mm color screen; however, the technology isn’t expected to be ready for market until 2007. One driving force may be the One Laptop Per Child initiative, spearheaded by Nicholas Negroponte of the MIT Media Lab. This project is focused on providing cheap computing to undeveloped countries, a move that will likely expand the market.

In an interesting ploy to build the ebook reader base, the Filament Book Club gives away an ebook reader free as part of its membership. Another novel business model that could influence ebook equipment is the Gizmondo multifunctional gaming device—buy it for just over $400, or only $200 if you agree to receive up to three uninterrupted commercials a day on it.