What Is E-Book Reader? Compare Any Three E-Book Reader Essay Example

main advantages of e-book readers are better readability of their screens especially in bright sunlight and much longer battery life. This is achieved by using electronic paper technology to display content to readers. Commercially sold electronic paper is mostly available in black and white (16 shades of gray) and rarely in color.

Many e-book readers can use the internet through Wi-Fi and sometimes have a relationship to a digital e-book seller, allowing the user to buy and receive digital e-books through this seller.In this way, the books owned by the user are managed in the cloud, and the e-book reader is able to download material from any location. An e-book reader may also download material from a computer or read it from a memory card.

Types of EBook reader

There are dozens of eBook readers available today. We can divide them in two major categories.

a. Black-and-white E-ink models – These eBook readers are capable of offering much longer battery life. Moreover, they employ Pearl E- Ink technology that offers superb ‘paper like’ reading experience in direct sunlight and are available at affordable prices.

b. Color LCD models – These types of eBook readers are much like miniature tablets in function. They include apps, video, music, games, and more.

In short, Color LCD models function as full-blown tablets. Color EBook readers are just like a tablet computers, they are useful for multitasking work, where as E-ink models are useful for reading purpose only.

History of EBook Reader

1945 Memex: One of the first e-book prototypes was the Memex a reading device concept by Vannevar Bush. The Memex was was a combination of microfilm reader and screen.Rather than storing your books as digital files, all books were photographed

to microfilm and was stored on reels within a large desk.

The Memex didn't quite have the same portability of today's ebook readers.

1968 The Dynabook: The DynaBook was invented as a portable reading device for students. The DynaBook had a large keyboard and a grayscale display weighed two pounds and was capable of displaying documents locally stored. Toshiba later picked up the design of the DynaBook and turned the reading device into one of the first Laptops.

1992 Sony Bookman: SONY first entered into the eBook market with theSONY BookMan.

Building off the popularity of the WalkMan brand, SONY built a small device that included a CD-ROM drive, built-in memory and a small keypad. The BookMan was aimed at consumers and could even be considered a forerunner to the ubiquitous PDAs of the late 90's and early 2000's.

1998 The rocket Ebook: The Rocket eBook built by NuvoMedia and the Softbook released by Softbook Press are the earliest devices that closely resemble today's ebook reading devices. The Rocket eBook and the Softbook had some success with wealthy consumers, schools and libraries. 2007 Amazone Kindle: In November of 2007, Amazon released the first generation Kindle.

The lightweight E-ink device sold-out within five and a half hours of it's introduction. The Kindle's success could be attributed to the wealth of titles available from Amazon and the ease in which users could wirelessly purchase and download content.

This is the first Indian branded Ebook reader. Infibeam, like Amazon, also has an online e-book store and claims it has 100,000 books on offer. The first Nook was a device very similar to the Kindle, in that it used a small E-ink black and white display.

2010-11

Apple I pad: In April of 2010, Apple released the first generation iPad tablet computer. The introduction of the iPad was wildly successful, selling more than 15 million units within it's first year.

The trend of EBook reading exclusive devices looks to be similar to the decline of MP3 players and the rise of smart-phones. EBook reading will ultimately be merged together with tablet computing, taking place on one convergent device.  From last two years many Indian brands like Micromax, Karbonn, HCL, have presents their tablets in the market, its also can be used as a EBook reader.

Formats of Ebooks

The most common formats of Ebook are Pub: This is a popular format of eBook created by the International Digital Publishing Forum. This format is supported by most of the newest electronic readers, including Kindle, Sony and more.

• PDF: This format was created by Adobe systems and is popular on the internet due to the variety of systems that can view them. * Plain Text (TXT): Plain text eBooks are a very simple form, taking up little space.
• This format may be included as an extra for your eBook reader.
• AZW: This is the format employed by Amazon to work with their Kindle EBook reader.As such, AZW files are only displayable on a Kindle device, and they can only be bought from the Amazon Kindle store. Amazon has recently announced that users will soon be able to view AZW files on their PC.
• PDB: This format was made popular on Palm handheld devices though is not the standard with current electronic book readers. It’s important not to get confused between the two, as this format will not
  

generally work on your eBook reader unless stated in the specifications.

Benefit of EBook Reader

EBook readers have many benefits, some of them are.:

• Portability: The EBook readers were designed for: portability.

The whole point of an electronic reader is to allow users to take a whole collection of books with them wherever they go.

• Connectivity: True book lovers will love the connectivity features of many of the latest readers, allowing them to logon to eBook stores and purchase books whenever they want.Kindle is famous for its wireless network, though other eBook readers are also following suit.
• Easy to Read: EBook readers are actually surprisingly easy and enjoyable to read.

Thanks to a technology known as e-Ink, light is reflected from the screen in the same way as it’s reflected from paper.

• Benefits to Publishers, Authors and Readers: Due to the way in which eBook readers can make books available to a mass audience, they benefit publishers, authors and readers alike. They make it easy to self-publish your own work, and save publishers huge costs by avoiding printing & binding.
• Searching Ability: When reading an eBook on your digital device, it’s far easier to search than with a physical book.

If you need to find a particular word or phrase you can do so in seconds.

Take Advantage of Free eBooks: There are many fiction works, published prior available in the public domain - and you can get eBook versions of these books completely free. I found a very good video

that describe the benefits of EBook Readers.

Drawbacks of EBook Reader

While there are a number of benefits to using handheld eBook readers, everything comes with its downside too.

Here are a few disadvantages of EBook readers.

Powered by Electricity: One of the first obvious drawbacks of the eBook reader is that they need electricity to work. You will need to check the battery life of any reader you buy to see whether it suits you, especially if you travel a lot.

Cost and Availability of the eBooks

When it comes to buying eBooks, many people expect them to be far cheaper than physical books due to the fact that there are fewer materials involved. Another major drawback is that the title you are looking for may not be available in eBook form.

It’s Not the Same As Reading A Real Book: There’s no getting around the fact that reading a book has a certain feel that handheld eBook readers can’t quite match. E-Ink is far better than reading a computer screen, but still not the same as paper

EBook Readers Are Not More Eco Friendly: Some people argue that, though eBooks save on paper, they are not more eco friendly due to the electricity, plastic and other factors that go into making handheld eBook readers.

Cost Factor: There’s no escaping the fact that handheld eBook readers are oing to cost you a lot more than a book - however, this cost will be made up for over time the more you use it.

Can’t Share eBooks: Lastly, many book lovers get joy from sharing their books with others, and selling them on, or giving them away, when they are done reading. This isn’t possible

with eBooks, and you’ll each need to buy your own copy, which could work out more expensive depending on your book reading habits.

Evaluation of EBook Reader

There are dozens of EBook readers available in the market. So how you select the best EBook reader? Some criteria to evaluate EBook reader.

• What Formats Can Your Reader Handle? A good eBook reader can read the latest file formats of books. Now latest eBook readers comes with flexibility of file formats Models such as the Kindle and Sony EBook reader allow users to read standard eBook formats (ePub) as well as other digital documents, including PDF files.
• Input Device: Next, you’ll want to consider the input device that the EBook reader uses. For example, the Kindle makes use of a keyboard and buttons, where as the Sony eReader and Barnes & Noble Nook make use of touch screens.

Some readers also make use of a stylus, making input simple.

• Ability to Add Notes: The ability to annotate eBooks is a feature that’s particularly useful for a number of people: students who are studying the latest textbooks, businessmen who need to jot down ideas on the go, Check that your eBook reader has features for annotation.
• The Reading Experience: the best eBook reader means one that can match the real reading experience as closely as possible. Making use of the latest e-Ink technology for a screen that does not put any strain on the eyes.

Physical Features: If you have any requirements regarding display, and want a reader that is easy to read, you should also check technical specifications to ensure there are functions included that allow you to change font, size

and display settings.

• Added Extra Features: Lastly, each make of eBook reader will have extra features to try and entice you to buy the product. For example, some readers may have organizational features, some have the ability to listen to MP3s, and they may also have different modes of connectivity.

Comparison of EBook reader

There are numbers of EBook readers available in the market. We have selected three EBook readers to compare the features.

The market share of Kindle is more than 50% of total market. Then Barnes and Nobel’s Nook is on the second rank. Apple I pad is also getting lead day by day. Sony and other brands are still under 10%.

Conclusion

The scenario of EBook readers is now changing rapidly. The Apple, Samsung and other Smartphone companies launching their products as smart phone cum tablet with EBook reader. Now its more difficult to choose a device for EBook reader. Before select the reader you should have to decide whether you want to read only books on your device or you want to do many more things with reading.

References

1. Sue, M. P. (2008). Take a look at today's vibrant ebook market.EContent, 31(2), 32-37.
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3. Infibeam launches eBook reader "pi".(2010, Jan 27).
4. Medianama. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com/docview/610466427? accountid=143332
5. Friedman, J. (2010, Nov 08). Ebook reader: An introduction. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles. com/? EBook-Reader:-An-Introduction;amp;id=5307959
6. http://www. jiscdigitalmedia. ac. uk/crossmedia/advice/introduction-to-e-books
7. Hill, S.(2012, Oct 03). How to pick the right e-reader. Retrieved from http://www. digitaltrends. com/mobile/ereader-comparison/
8. http://compareebookreaders. com/
9. http://www.electronicbookreaders. ws/eBook-readers-intro. php Thank you