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The ebook or electronic book is also named e-book or eco-book. It is the digital equal to the traditional printed book. The contents are read on personal computers or by the use of hardware devices called ebook readers.
The first thinking was triggered off by Michael Hart in the 1970`s. He reasoned that the greatest value of a computer should be not merely computing but also storing material, retrieving it and searching for knowledge kept in libraries. The birth of the ebook era started with the copy of Declaration of Independence. From these humble beginnings kicked off Project Gutenberg. Today there are 20,000 free texts and more than 100,000 books available. Each month 3,000,000 ebooks are downloaded – undoubtedly impressive figures in the history of ebooks. When it made its debut in the web the material was easily shared and stored. Quickly the idea picked up and large scale dissemination began to take place.
At first ebooks covered special areas and were meant to be documents to be shared by those in the field. The subject varied from technical manuals to manufacturing techniques. Soon stuff appeared meant only for adults. The market was thus fractured and led rise to ideas of making it more universal and reachable.
Many formats of ebooks appeared and spread supported by branded software. But the market became more fragmented with multiple readers using multiple formats. Ebook failed to become a mainstream product. A dual movement developed. There were ebook publishers who distributed old and rare books while new writers and publishers struck out on their own offering online books creating new readers and clients. Catalogues became available on the net and the message of ebooks began to spread to the public.
Soon it was romance stories that captured the popularity zone. It sometimes meant `guilty pleasure` for the general public. Such types of works could be easily located and bought online from the confines and privacy of one`s own home. It was also easy to read such stuff without others knowing about the guilty tastes. The world did not quite know about the success of such `romantic books`.
But human civilization has a tendency to separate the grain from the chaff and soon big strides began to be taken in the diffusion of knowledge through ebooks. It has led to the spawning of new publishing houses and manufacturers of electronics. More ebook hardware readers are being released in the market that will be easy for the public pockets and convenience. They will apply for portable computers, smart-phones and even game consoles.
Slowly the public are seeing people reading ebooks on laptops or on portable hand-held computers in eateries and coffee parlours. On the mobile phone one can read them in installments by downloading the same. In Japan the sales have jumped astronomically. Now one can find the type of books one wants – the choice of ebooks is widening. Daring new authors are entering the hallowed zone of books and reading.
Those aiming to publish ebooks have many options as regards file format. There are heated debates about which format is the best. For works like dictionaries, references and the like ebooks are ideal for easy searches and cross references can be made. On an average 500 ebooks can be stored in one CD. They never run out of print and authors can continue to earn royalties. Some of them can be read not only in dim light but also in total darkness because of some internal device. The ebook is easy to hold and does not require use of both hands. Reproduction costs are negligible.

The eBook or electronic book is also named e-book or eco-book. It is the digital equal to the traditional printed book. The contents are read on personal computers or by the use of hardware devices called eBook readers.

The first thinking was triggered off by Michael Hart in the 1970`s. He reasoned that the greatest value of a computer should be not merely computing but also storing material, retrieving it and searching for knowledge kept in libraries. The birth of the eBook era started with the copy of Declaration of Independence. From these humble beginnings kicked off Project Gutenberg. Today there are 20,000 free texts and more than 100,000 books available. Each month 3,000,000 eBooks are downloaded – undoubtedly impressive figures in the history of eBooks. When it made its debut in the web the material was easily shared and stored. Quickly the idea picked up and large scale dissemination began to take place.At first eBooks covered special areas and were meant to be documents to be shared by those in the field. The subject varied from technical manuals to manufacturing techniques. Soon stuff appeared meant only for adults. The market was thus fractured and led rise to ideas of making it more universal and reachable.

Many formats of eBooks appeared and spread supported by branded software. But the market became more fragmented with multiple readers using multiple formats. EBooks failed to become a mainstream product. A dual movement developed. There were eBook publishers who distributed old and rare books while new writers and publishers struck out on their own offering online books creating new readers and clients. Catalogues became available on the net and the message of eBooks began to spread to the public.

Soon it was romance stories that captured the popularity zone. It sometimes meant `guilty pleasure` for the general public. Such types of works could be easily located and bought online from the confines and privacy of one`s own home. It was also easy to read such stuff without others knowing about the guilty tastes. The world did not quite know about the success of such `romantic books`.

But human civilization has a tendency to separate the grain from the chaff and soon big strides began to be taken in the diffusion of knowledge through eBooks. It has led to the spawning of new publishing houses and manufacturers of electronics. More eBook hardware readers are being released in the market that will be easy for the public pockets and convenience. They will apply for portable computers, smart-phones and even game consoles.

Slowly the public are seeing people reading eBooks on laptops or on portable hand-held computers in eateries and coffee parlors. On the mobile phone one can read them in installments by downloading the same. In Japan the sales have jumped astronomically. Now one can find the type of books one wants – the choice of eBooks is widening. Daring new authors are entering the hallowed zone of books and reading.

Those aiming to publish eBooks have many options as regards file format. There are heated debates about which format is the best. For works like dictionaries, references and the like eBooks are ideal for easy searches and cross references can be made. On an average 500 eBooks can be stored in one CD. They never run out of print and authors can continue to earn royalties. Some of them can be read not only in dim light but also in total darkness because of some internal device. The eBook is easy to hold and does not require use of both hands. Reproduction costs are negligible.

The Ebook or electronic book is also named Ebook or eco-book. It is the digital equal to the traditional printed book. The contents are read on personal computers or by the use of hardware devices called Ebook readers.

The first thinking was triggered off by Michael Hart in the 1970`s. He reasoned that the greatest importance of a computer should be not merely computing but also storing material, retrieving it and searching for knowledge kept in libraries. The birth of the Ebook era started with the copy of Declaration of Independence. From these humble beginnings kicked off Project Gutenberg. Today there are 20,000 free texts and more than 100,000 books available. Each month 3,000,000 Ebooks are downloaded – definitely impressive figures in the history of Ebooks. When it made its debut in the web the material was simply shared and stored. Quickly the idea picked up and large scale dissemination began to take place.At first Ebooks covered particular areas and were meant to be documents to be shared by those in the field. The subject varied from technical manuals to manufacturing techniques. Soon stuff appeared meant only for adults. The market was thus fractured and led rise to ideas of making it more worldwide and reachable.

Lots of formats of Ebooks appeared and spread supported by branded software. But the market became more fragmented with multiple readers using multiple formats. Ebook failed to become a mainstream product. A dual movement developed. There were Ebook publishers who distributed old and rare books while new writers and publishers struck out on their own offering online books creating fresh readers and clients. Catalogues became available on the net and the message of Ebooks began to spread to the public.

Soon it was romance stories that captured the popularity zone. It sometimes meant `guilty pleasure` for the general public. Such types of works could be easily located and bought online from the confines and privacy of one`s own home. It was also easy to read such stuff without others knowing about the guilty tastes. The world did not quite know about the success of such `romantic books`.

But human civilization has a tendency to separate the grain from the chaff and soon big strides began to be taken in the diffusion of knowledge through Ebooks. It has led to the spawning of new publishing houses and manufacturers of electronics. Further Ebook hardware readers are being released in the market that will be simple for the public pockets and convenience. They will apply for portable computers, smart-phones and even game consoles.

Slowly the public are seeing people reading Ebooks on laptops or on portable hand-held computers in eateries and coffee parlours. On the mobile phone one can read them in installments by downloading the same. In Japan the sales have jumped astronomically. Now one can find the type of books one wants – the choice of Ebooks is widening. Daring new authors are entering the hallowed zone of books and reading.

Those aiming to publish Ebooks have many options as regards file format. There are heated debates about which format is the most excellent. For works like dictionaries, references and the like Ebooks are ideal for easy searches and cross references can be made. On an average 500 Ebooks can be stored in one CD. They never run out of print and authors can continue to earn royalties. Some of them can be read not only in dim light but also in total darkness because of some internal device. The Ebook is easy to hold and does not require use of both hands. Reproduction costs are negligible.

The ebook is a digitally presented format of any printed conventional book which can be read through a personal computer or through a hardware device called a book reader. The inception of such an innovative idea dates back to 1971 when the pioneer Michael Hart, in U.S.A., decided to create through computers storage, retrieval and scanning of texts available in libraries. This resulted in the origin of the first ebook, a copy of the `Declaration of Independence` which later evolved into `Project Gutenberg`. Today it contains over 20,000 free texts and over 100,000 books.

Every month over 3,000,000 books are downloaded. Ultimately this reached mammoth proportions with ebooks flooding the web because of its easy storage on hard drive or disk. Production of ebooks is carried out generally by document scanning or by using robotic book scanners.

Initially the ebooks were confined to specialty topics which were documents, technical manuals or articles on manufacturing techniques with cutting edge hardware. Such ebooks did not create much impact in the market as there was no consensus on packaging, selling or reading. A number of diverse specifications, supported by leading software companies or by independent programmers, proliferated which catered to readers following multiple formats resulted in further fragmentation of the market. At this stage ebook was not a mainstream item.

This, however, did not stop ebook from spreading its domain. It surfaced in the underground markets wherein the ebook publishers distributed those books which were not readily available in the market. Similarly, authors whose books did not find any publishers started offering their books on-line so that viewers were exposed to the literature. Even unauthorized and unofficial catalogues were available in various web sites. And in this manner ebooks began to circulate on-line. Romantic novels were the first successful ebooks as they catered to a large clientele who bought them on-line and enjoyed reading them in privacy.

These incidents caught the attention of major publishers. Around mid June 2001, the acclaimed publishers started delving into this medium and tried to gain from the ebook formats. This led the publishers to establish on-line stores and partnerships with e-reader manufacturers. Today, the electronic hardware manufacturers are also working in tandem with ebook readers to capitalize on the on-line ebook market.

This upsurge of activity by the reputed publishers, electronic companies and independent operators resulted in the development of new selling models. Simultaneously, a more simple and homogeneous format with better reading hardware was created to achieve a global distribution for ebooks. This has unleashed an array of new publishing houses. Today, electronic manufacturers are wooing the ebook readers through new designs while software engineers are developing new reader application for portable electronic gear ranging from hand held computers, smart phones and game consoles.

The twentieth century readers, unaware of the concept of ebook, are now being gradually exposed to this electronic phenomenon. Commuters read ebooks on laptops, hand held computers or on cell phones. Such is the craze of ebooks in Japan that mobile phone novels have evolved where books could be downloaded and read on the cell screen. Sales which were negligible a few years back has crossed 10 billion yens annually (The Economist). At present, consumers can easily access books of their choice ranging from best sellers to new authors or which ever type suiting their reading pattern.

Ebooks reading are advantageous as it is a space saving device of book storage. One CD / DVD can, approximately, store 500 ebooks and are never out of print, which is a common occurrence in conventional books. For researchers such digitized versions are ideal as they display excellent choice of formats enabling speedy cross references. Readers can adjust their reading convenience by adjusting fonts and text sizes and use back lit facility which allows adequate visibility in low light. Unlike traditional books and paperbacks, ebooks need not be hand held, can be reproduced cheaply and are generally inexpensive as it does not consume paper, ink and other resources used in conventional printing.

The basic disadvantage of ebook is that it requires electronic devices for display. The software may not be readily available or free or compatible with the existing computer configuration. Sudden hard disk drive failure or power disruption causes disturbing interruptions. Ebook storage mediums are fragile, the devices are costly and replacement charges could be prohibitive. Finally, and particularly for some publishers, hacking is a perennial danger.