After a long hiatus, online bookseller Amazon is back trying to encourage us to
read in a new way. Its Web site now features this description of its Kindle
reading device: "Availability: In Stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Gift-wrap available." This good news for consumers comes after the first batch
of the devices sold out in just six hours late last year.
This paper explores alternative forms of IBM technical documentation in the form of two case studies-one an eBook and the other a Macromedia Flash-based interactive multimedia presentation. Both projects were co-developed by the writers and graphic designers, with a mandate to create a rich, graphical approach to entice and engage users to read and understand complex technical concepts.
The uproar, including a lawsuit, over the removal of copies of 1984 and Animal Farm from Kindle devices comes as Amazon faces renewed e-book competition. Interesting article in terms of some of the issues discussed in the Thompson reading this week re the digital revolution and the publishing world.
A proposal from the Democratic Leadership Council calls for investigating ways to give electronic reading devices to every student in the United States.
Recently I was on an airplane reading an article in the New York Times when the woman in the seat next to me leaned over and asked what I was holding. I told her it was a Kindle, Amazon's new ebook reader. I showed her how it worked, explained e-ink, walked her through my collection of titles and subscriptions, and showed how I could look up words in the built in Oxford dictionary. Her response; "That is really cool, but I prefer the feel and smell of a real book."
Read The seven ages of magazine readers & other Media Week news online. The seven ages of magazine readers from Media Week. Media Week magazine - news and information from the world of media
"An Apple, Inc. patent application for new forms of multi-touch and secret meetings with publishers are fueling speculation about an Apple tablet computer to "redefine print." An analyst said a touchscreen Apple tablet could be a "killer application" for reading. The emphasis for an Apple tablet could be on interactive magazines and textbooks."
In the 15th century Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing process. This new technology changed the world forever. One specific task was made incredibly easy - the spreading of written words. eBooks take us to the threshold of a possible shift in the way we read books.
As widely expected, Barnes & Noble unveiled its Nook electronic reading device at a splashy news conference on Tuesday to generally positive views from the publishing community, and offered some details about its whispered-about lending capabilities.
Writing and reading - from newspapers to novels, academic reports to gossip magazines - are migrating ever faster to digital screens, like laptops, Kindles and cellphones.