Source ft.com
Technology April 21 1999
SUPPLY SIDE: Off the shelf and on the screen
Alan Stewart looks at the prices and specifications of some early contenders in the electronic books market
NuvoMedia's Rocket eBook was the first electronic book reader to go on sale. The device was launched in October at the New York flagship store of Barnes & Noble, the big US bookstore chain, which is selling electronic books from its web site. These are downloaded via a personal computer, connected to the device by a special cradle.
At a price of $500 (£310), and weighing just 20oz, the unit measures 7.5in by 4.8in (standard paperback size) and has a monochrome liquid crystal screen 4.5in by 3in. NuvoMedia claims the Rocket eBook can hold around 10 novels, and has a battery life of 20-25 hours.
The SoftBook is available from SoftBook Press for either a one-off payment of $600 or an initial payment of $300, followed by 24 monthly payments of $20. At 8.5in by 11in (A4 paper size), the reader is larger than NuvoMedia's and heavier, weighing just under 3lb.
Said by SoftBook Press to be capable of storing around 250 novels, the SoftBook has a claimed battery life of only five hours. Its 7.5in by 6in monochrome screen can display graphics as well as text, and the device has its own built-in 33.6 kilobits per second (kbps) modem for connection to the internet.
The professional model of Everybook's Dedicated Reader is scheduled for launch around mid-year at a price of $1,500. For this, however, the purchaser receives a reader with two 9.75in by 11.75in full colour facing screens, which fold together to make the leather-covered device look like a book.
The reader is claimed to hold 80-100 college textbooks (or 1,000 novels) each on removable PC-cards. The unit weighs 3.7lb, and has a 56.6 kbps modem for internet link-up. A slightly smaller college study model is expected in the autumn (priced at $1,000), with a 6in by 9in $500 personal model to follow early next year.
Glassbook intends to bring out its e-book reader "some time this calendar year". The company has taken the lead in setting up an Electronic Book Exchange working group to develop a standard for copyright protection, based on the World Intellectual Property Organisation Copyright Treaty.
Librius intends its Millennium E-Reader to be available around the beginning of July. At 12oz this is the lightest of the readers and, at a price of $199, also the cheapest. Like the SoftBook, the Millennium has a monochrome screen capable of displaying graphics. Librius claims it will hold around 10 novels, with a battery life of about 18 hours.
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