Electronic books, or e-books, are simply books that are issued in a computer file format instead of printed on paper. They can be read on any personal or laptop computer, a Palm Pilot, a Pocket PC or on any of the hand-held readers that are being manufactured now, including the Rocket e-Book, and the eBookman, a new device available in late 2000.
E-books can be delivered by download or by e-mail file attachment. E-books on cassette or CD ROM are sent by postal mail or sold in bookstores.
Ordering an e-book isn't complicated. Just get on the Internet and go to one of the many e-book publishers' sites. There you will find a complete catalog of their titles, with a synopsis and cover art for each book, along with ordering information and directions.
People read e-books because they're convenient. Desktop computer users can read a book between tasks. With a portable reading device, you can take an e-book almost anywhere. Some of the devices have lighting built into them, allowing you to easily read an e-book in low-light conditions—camping, for example, or at night in an airplane or a car. Plus, you can load several e-books on a single reading device, and have a lot less weight to haul around.
E-books often cost less than print books because the cost to produce them is lower. They're much kinder to the environment, too, since their "pages" don't require trees to be destroyed. People with special reading needs find e-books a boon because it is simple to change the font size and turn any e-book into a large print edition. Also, e-books are less tiring on the hands.
While e-books can look just like their print cousins, they also can have properties unique to computers. An historical e-book could have music from the period playing in the background. Sound effects, animation, and video clips are all possible in an e-book. Live hyperlinks can get you from the middle of your e-book directly to a reference source (such as a dictionary) immediately. No more putting the book down and fumbling for information.
As with any book, e-books have copyrights, ISBN numbers, editors and publishers, and authors who pour their hearts into them. Freed from the marketing restraints of traditional publishing, e-book publishers encourage creativity and risk-taking in their authors' submissions. Even many well-known print authors, such as Stephen King, are jumping on the e-book bandwagon.
E-books will never totally supplant print books, the way movies haven't made live theater obsolete, and television hasn't closed the cinemas. But electronically-formatted books are an exciting new medium that takes full advantage of the latest technological advances of our time.
Here are some Internet sites to "surf" to get an idea of the world of e-books:
http://www.awe-struck.net
http://www.diskuspublishing.com
http://www.dreams-unlimited.com
http://www.hardshell.com
http://www.wordbeams.com
Sources:
Reader's E-Book Primer, by Jamie Engle, eBook Connections, Inc, published by eBC Press, copyright ©2000.
Additional information from "What is An E-Book" by Mary Taffs, copyright ©2000.
Copyright ©2000 by Maureen Mackey.