E-Books: Ready to Take Off Again?

In 2006, there is renewed interest and optimism surrounding the future of e-books. There are several reasons why.

Portable devices are getting lighter and the quality better. The text on some of the new devices including The Sony Reader are as sharp as in print. There is a greater selection of digital books as well which ultimately increases the salability of e-books and their devices.

In a BusinessWeek Online article from February 2006 a literary agent argued that the future of e-books is here, now.

Every other form of media has gone digital – music, newspapers, movies…we’re the only industry that hasn’t lived up to the pace of technology. A revolution is around the corner.

Major players in the digital world have the potential to dramatically influence the e-book’s future. Google’s digitization project of millions of books (copyrighted or not) is helping to build a “digital warehouse” for recreational reading and research. HarperCollins Publisher is going to create a digital store of all of its publication (25,000 or more titles) that will be sold over the Internet.

In 2006, Amazon will be offering a digital version of every book it offers in print. These are huge indicators that the success of e-books is indeed, already beginning.