THE idea of an electronic book was immediately appealing to me when I first heard about it in the 90s.
The first ebook I read was Bram Stoker's Dracula (terrible piece of classic literature - don't bother) that was included free with an application called Microsoft Reader on one of HP's first iPaq devices.
Microsoft had the right idea, submitting ebooks to the fringes of the technology industry (but the world was not ready for it yet), until Sony got the ball rolling proper with its first ebook readers in the mid-noughties.
The breakthrough Sony introduced to the market was e-ink - a technology that allows for static pages of text to be displayed on a screen without flickering in a way that closely emulates reading printed paper pages. The Sony device enjoyed uptake in the east, but western markets still weren't sure.
And then Amazon changed everything with its Kindle device, bringing books into the 21st century. The combination of e-ink technology, wireless delivery and the inclusion of newspaper and magazine subscriptions finally convinced the world that it needed to consume books on something besides dead trees and ebooks took a giant leap toward the mainstream.
All in
The success of the Kindle prompted America's leading book retailer Barnes and Noble to develop its own ebook reader device in the form of the Nook, giving Amazon the one Kindle feature it traditionally lacked - competition.
Sony, the company that usually introduces good technology ideas to the world and then mucks up its own strategy for them, has fallen behind and is trying to claw its way into the ebook market with a new range of ebook reader devices.
And perhaps most intriguing of all is a rumour-ridden device that Apple is expected to launch in 2010. Publishers around the world have claimed to be in talks with Apple, although they won't give details. New York Times editor Bill Keller apparently let slip with the name "Apple Slate" at an internal meeting, setting the gossip sphere alight with speculation.
One rumour sees Apple releasing a tablet computer which is a cross between an iPhone and Kindle, with a hybrid touch and e-ink screen that can statically display colour images. This would make ebooks viable for the likes of graphic novels for the first time.
Microsoft Reader is also still around and it remains to be seen what the Redmond giant's take will be on the new market. One would expect Microsoft to hang around in the background, wait for leaders to emerge in the market and then emulate them, which is what it has done with gaming, search and other products.
On the phone
According to a recent survey of iPhone owners, ebook applications like Stanza and Amazon's Kindle app are selling like hotcakes, making the iPhone a popular ebook device even though it lacks the golden e-ink ingredient that has made the Kindle so popular.
I am busy reading Richard Dawkins's new bestseller The Greatest Show on Earth, using a combination of the Amazon Kindle and my iPhone and honestly don't miss the e-ink when switching from the larger device to my phone. It's something more people would take to if they just tried it once.
I purchased the book in my lounge using the wireless connection on the Kindle. I have also subscribed to the New York Times that is delivered wirelessly every day, allowing me to read it in Johannesburg before most of New York does. Why the Kindle rocks is self-explanatory and it represents the beginning of a market that is going to explode next year.
At the moment, ebook technology in the broader sense is still limited by market expectation created by hundreds of years of consuming publications in paper form - the tactile experience is hard-wired into our brains.
Change is afoot, however, and 2010 will be the year in which considerably fewer trees die in favour of books that float to us on the air and satisfy our insatiable appetite for everything to be supplied on demand.
- Fin24.com