background preloader

Ereaders

Facebook Twitter

Schools Test E-Reader Devices With Dyslexic Students. Kindle in Australia: Which Books Are Available? | Kindle Alternatives. Apple is rumoured to be releasing a tablet PC that functions as an e-reader early next year and Microsoft created a prototype tablet (or booklet, since it has two screens) called Courier, judging from a video that was leaked online. In the meantime, ASUS unveiled a dual-screen colour e-reader at CeBIT earlier this year; Sony signed a deal with Marvel Comics (and is in talks with other comic publishers) to let PSP users read electronic comic books by the end of this year, with other content, including novels, expected next year; and Nintendo released a collection of classic book titles for its DS hand-held console. iPhone, Blackberry and other mobile users can already download e-readers to work on their phones.

The display technology these e-readers use is an important consideration. While the Kindle and its ilk use E Ink, a technology that recreates the look of ink on a page (see graphic), multi-function devices such as the PSP are sticking to LCD screens. School Libraries Struggle with E-Book Loans. Digital Tools Paul Stainthorp Just as many predicted, sales figures show that more people are opting to buy e-books rather than printed copies. Sales of e-books rose 167% in June, reports Publishers Weekly, with sales totaling $473.8 million for the first half of the year.

But sales of print books — both paperbacks and hardcovers — continues to decline. It isn’t just publishers that are scrambling to adjust their business models to the growing demand for e-books; so too are libraries having to reconsider how they will provide content for their patrons. Even though there’s keen interest on the part of library patrons to check out e-books, making a move to digital loans is not going to be easy.

What might be good news for consumers — your whole library on your cellphone, for example — might be terrible news for libraries. There are lots of considerations libraries must make: which e-reader(s) will they adopt? Related.