Pocket PC eBooks Watch - eBook and beyond  
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Birth of the Cool
The Rebirth of E-publishing
E-books bombed a few years ago, but they’re back, and now e-periodicals may be the next big thing
By now there are more than 40,000 titles available in various e-book formats, from over 400 publishers. And in the past few months, several companies have introduced library-lending systems for e-books—for the first time making it possible for a public library to circulate e-books with expiration dates (instead of due dates, as with physical books) so that the same title can be lent over and over.
Beyond that, there was also work with magazines and newspapers that suggested new paths for periodicals beyond the current Web site model.
Microsoft is working on a similar publishing technology, specifically for the Tablet PC; several magazines, including the New Yorker and Forbes, are experimenting with that approach. In both cases, most of the content of the publication is “local”—stored on the user’s reading device—rather than flowing in off the Web. This means that publishers can use their characteristic fonts, for example, and fill the entire screen with content, rather than being hemmed in by the browser.
If implemented with live Internet updates, solutions like the “Kent format” or the Microsoft approach may finally create a balance between graphically sophisticated content optimized for reading and the interactivity we expect from the Web. One thing is certain: by the end of last week’s conference, I had the same sense I did in 1986, when Bill Gates demonstrated “the new papyrus.” The earth is shifting beneath the publishing world and ultimately that process will change the way we deliver our words as fundamentally as did Gutenberg. If we keep trying long enough, sooner or later we’ll get it right.

posted by Jerry permanent link