Electronic book technologies: an overview of the present situation

The continued presence of electronic books or e‐books has significantly affected the publishing industry in recent years. The growing popularity of the Web and public acceptance of new e‐book technologies is facilitating their spread. However, initial optimism about the growth of the medium has been tempered by a measured uptake of the medium and the withdrawal of some e‐books products from the market. This paper attempts to update the position with e‐books and provide an overview of e‐book technologies by defining types of e‐books, listing their implementations, their advantages and disadvantages, hardware, software, management software and their future. The paper concludes that the success or failure of e‐books depends not only on acceptance by users but also on the publishing industry's ability to see beyond traditional business models. The e‐book readers are still in early stages of development but the hope is that common industry standards will soon be adopted and the medium will reach its full potential.