Electronic books and publishing

Electronic books, or e-books, are an electronic (or digital) equivalent of a conventional printed book. The term has occasionally been used to refer to either an individual work in a digital format, or a hardware device used to read books in digital format, more specifically called an e-book device or e-book reader. E-books are an emerging and rapidly changing technology, that can branch to include other formats, such as online magazines or digital books designed to be listened to as audio books. Electronic publishing includes the digital publication of ebooks and electronic articles, and the development of digital libraries and catalogues.

The growth of electronic books

Once the preserve of those seeking literary diversion on long car journeys, audiobooks are now in demand from the iPod generation. There are over 8 million MP3 players in Britain, and the under-40s now account for most sales of audiobooks. Book downloading websites are being created to meet the growing appetite for digital audiobooks and already offer more than 5,000 downloadable titles.

Sony now produce the Sony Reader, a device capable of storing hundreds of books in electronic form and displaying them with the same clarity as real ink and paper. To accompany the Reader, Sony has created an online book store, Connect, selling 10,000 electronic books from six leading publishers.

ICUE, a large-scale initiative, offers books to read on mobile phones. The project launched in December 2005 and has 10 children's publishers on board, including Egmont Press, Macmillan Children's Books, HarperCollins and A&C Black. Obtaining books is relatively straightforward. Users can download ICUE onto their phones for free by texting 64888, and can then browse the 500 or so titles in the WAP-based bookstore. The books, which cost about £4.50 each, are charged to their mobile bills. The books are read one word at a time.

In November 2007, Amazon launched the Kindle, which weighs 10oz and can hold up to 200 books at a time. Amazon claim to have combated the original problems of screen glare and size of the device which faced earlier attempts at portable readers. It costs around £200 and allows users to download books, newspapers and blogs through a free wireless connection, without the need for a computer or having to find a wireless hot-spot. Users are limited to shopping for books on Amazon (from a choice of around 90,000) where they can buy new releases for around £2.50, downloading of a whole book takes around 1 minute. Downloading the first chapter of most books is free. Users can also subscribe to publications for a monthly fee.