by
Steve Lazarowitz
July 2000
SATURN RISING
The e-book argument has been played out over and over again on list after list.
"E-books are the way of the future. Madison Avenue publishing has become a game and a lot of really vital work will never make it into print. E-books are going to bring a lot of fresh perspective to the publishing world."
"I don't think so. People are used to buying and reading books. They love the feel of paper. And most people will not sit and read anything longer than a short story on a computer."
"But many will. The computer generation is growing up. We're USED TO sitting at the computer for hours. Many children will do something on a computer that they'd never do with a pen and paper. This is going to be the last generation of people that prefer paper to electronic text. And let's not forget the portable e-reading devices like the Rocket E-book Reader and the Softbook."
"Very few people are going to spend $200 or more just to read books. People can't afford it. Face it, there are a few techno-gadget people that love that stuff, but it's too heavy and too expensive and it will never catch on."
And so on. I've heard both sides of the argument so many times, from so many different people that every time it comes up, I just roll my eyes.
When CDs first came out, there were a lot of naysayers who said CD Players were just too expensive and CDs will never replace vinyl. Well, it's not that long ago that there were no CDs and now it's the format of choice for the general public. Vinyl, it seems, has gone the way of the dinosaur.
Of course, CD players did have to come down in price for that to happen. The CDs didn't. CDs are still more expensive than albums used to be. And once someone manages to make an inexpensive DVD Player that can record as well as play, the VCR will be the next technological casualty.
Which brings us back to e-books, and the topic of this article, hand held e-book readers. This year, in California at ReBA (Rocket e-book Addicts Convention) a bit of the future was revealed and it was called Saturn.
Saturn is next portable hand held reading device. This new e-reader will not only read Rocket formatted e-books and HTML files, but will also support OEB (open e-book standard) which, if Microsoft is to be believed, will be the way of the future.
The Saturn will come with 64 megs of ram, compared to the Rocket e-Book Pro's 16 megs. This will be necessary however, since the Saturn will play MP3s as well! Fortunately, the Saturn will also take Smart Media Cards; tiny removable memory cards that are used today in many miniature electronic devices, particularly digital cameras.
This new e-book reader will also be lighter than the Rocket. It is due out by Christmas 2000, but that's not the real story.
The Saturn is expected to sell for $99. Far cheaper than CD players were for many years. With the popularity of MP3s driving sales, there are going to be a good # of people that have Saturns, which means a good number of people that will already own an e-book reader.
You will no longer be forced to read an e-book on your computer monitor or have to buy a dedicated device just for e-books.
This is only the beginning. There are technologies in the works that most people have never even guessed. Electronic Ink is one. Imagine buying a magazine that rearranges the electronic ink almost at will. When you're done with the January issue, instead of tossing the magazine, you download into that same e-magazine, the February issue. The "electronic ink" will rearrange itself on the paper thin pages to give you new text. Science fiction? Not at all. Prototypes have already been produced.
In fact, there are companies working on e-book readers that exist in a pair of sunglasses, so you can lie back and read your favorite book, without having to use your hands at all.
Of course, future e-books will probably contain sound and color and as memory chips grow smaller and smaller, there's no reason why you can't get a text and audio version of your favorite book in the same purchase.
Even after reading this article, there will still be naysayers and to them, I have only one thing to say.
Wanna buy a used turntable?
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