EReaders

Business, not pleasure: Ebooks are only eking out a niche existence 2007/4/2 By Dirk Averesch MAINZ, Germany, As the last millennium came to a close, many experts were beside themselves with predictions of the golden future that lay ahead for ebooks. Yet most publishing houses were ultimately unable to bring themselves to sell the rights for electronic books, particularly for their best sellers and fine literature. In response, the first reading devices began disappearing from the market -- not a great loss, as they were generally bulky and heavy, with bad displays and poor battery lives. This led to the current situation, whereby most texts available in digital form are non- fiction or technical books. But now a new generation of displays designed to resemble paper -- known as electronic paper -- are hitting the market and could potentially encourage the broad masses to plonk themselves on the couch with an electronic page turner. Ebooks are often sold as protected PDF files for reading on a PC or laptop. Regulations on reproducing them vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In Germany, for example, six copies are generally permissible. Yet there are also dozens of other formats, including the widely distributed Mobipocket (PCR) and eReader (PDB). Unlike the rigid PDF format, they allow for flexible pagination and hence are better suited for palmtop computers and Smartphones with smaller displays.