E-book readers now in a Canadian Library
A pilot project was started this week in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. Richmond is a suburb of Vancouver on the west coast, one of the largest cities in Canada. The Richmond public library will be the first library in North America to lend out a reading device to its patrons. The library has purchased four SoftBook Readers (R). The complete story is available at
What does this mean to the industry? I think it is terrific. It will finally get e-books into the hands of the unconverted. Richmond is a big, middle-class suburb with thousands of library patrons. The amazing thing about it is that e-books are just about unknown in Canada. There are probably only two e-publishers in Canada, LTDBooks and Editio-Books. That a Canadian library has taken the lead in this area is remarkable. If the readers are promoted well in the library and word gets around, I expect more Canadian libraries will adopt this method of circulating books. It has its obvious advantages. Multiple copies of books need not be bought, they can be licensed (lower cost), no wear & tear on the book, no need for extra shelf space and with the SoftBook Reader (R) you don't even need a computer - you download directly from SoftBook.com on a standard phone line. It won't be long until this "only in Canada" experiment spreads across North America. I'm anxious to talk to someone from Richmond at the Canadian Library Convention this summer in Edmonton. I hope SoftBook will have the smarts to have a presence at the convention.
While we are on the topic of e-readers, beginning this Monday, January 31 and running through February 11, eBookNet will host its premier on-line community event, entitled THE FUTURE OF eBOOKS, with special guest panellists NuvoMedia CEO Martin Eberhard and SoftBook Press CEO Jim Sachs.
Martin and Jim will answer various queries posted by community members. The CEOs will also carry on their own dialogue about the exciting future of the electronic book. This is your chance to talk to two of the eBook industry's pioneers. Ask them whether they think eBooks, Web tablets, MP3 players, pocket-sized PCs, and other information appliances are converging. Will there be a flood of new content for eBooks in 2000? Find out what Martin and Jim think about being on the same team in the wake of Gemstar's acquisition of both companies.
You can participate in this historic event on the eBOOK BASICS message board at http://www.ebooknet.com/cgi-bin/WebX?14@... or
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