Quiz 9
iPad
-2010 -Allows the reader to access both Kindle and Nook formats -Enables readers to download proprietary e-books from Apple's Bookstore that cannot be read on other machines -Initially, e-readers were limited to storing and displaying e-books
Cost of E-Reader
-2014: Least expensive Kindle is 69
What is an e-reader?
-A lightweight, handheld device designed specifically for the reading of ebooks and other digital text -Can hold libraries of thousands of books and only weigh half a pound -Offer the ability to download new content any time -Key to the rising commercial success of the e-book
E-Textbook Weaknesses
-Able to highlight -Take notes -Flip through pages
How does e-ink work?
-An e-reader sends an electric charge to each capsule making it appear either black or white -Forms words -Behave like normal paper and require external light to be read
What is an E-Book?
-Digitalized version of a book -Meant to be read on a computer, e-reader, or tablet -Some are exactly like an actual book -Others introduce animation, video, hypertext, and social networking
Forcing of formats
-For convenience and cost -Convenient for a reader to stay with one supplier because if they changed they would have to switch formats
First portable e-reader
-Introduced in the 90s -Sony's Data Discman -Used the compact disc as a method of storing data -Allowed for the reading of books without a bulky hard drive
Tablet vs. E-Reader
-Kindle has dominance over the e-reader market -Tablet has surpassed the e-reader in overall sales -E-reader growth rate is on the decline -Tablets: Keep expanding
Tablet
-Lacks ink display -Reading experience is much more like reading on a computer -Introduced more functionality to a device that has almost all benefits of an e-reader
What is E-Ink?
-Millions of small capsules, each containing black and white particles
Benefits of e-ink
-More like normal paper -External light to be read -Save battery
1980s
-People could read ebooks on their personal computers -Did not become popular
Format of E-Reader
-Plain ASCII text -All readers support PDF files -All but Amazon support EPUB format
Michael Hart
-Project Gutenberg -A digital book library -An attempt to catalogue and make accessible all human knowledge
Michael Hart's Goal
-Provide 99% of the public with access to free of very low-cost versions of books that were already in the public domain -Select texts that would be of interest to the public and make those accessible
Goal of an e-book
-Provide the ability to read books through an onscreen interface rather than on a paper
Wireless Downloads
-Sony Data Discern required CDs -Early e-readers required e-books to be downloaded to a PC and transferred to the e-reader -Now users can download e-books directly to their device
2006
-Sony came out with the Sony Reader -First e-reader to offer e-ink display
In color e-ink
-The black and white capsules appear under a color filter
______ predates the _____ by _____
E-book, e-reader, 20 years
Amazon E-Book Success
-2007: Kindle Reader -First time the e-reader was a popular success -The existence of a company that already sold many books through online interactions -Oprah endorsed -Specialized formatting for different devices -Introduced a proprietary format that can only be read through the correct kind of device or software
Barnes & Noble's Nook
-2009 -Format could not be read on Kindle
