E-books turning over a new leaf (FT)

Electronic books always seem to have a good story to tell but have so far failed to produce a happy ending. So travellers are still hauling hefty paperbacks around on holidays and business trips.

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Netherlands-based Philips spin-off iRex Technologies will also launch an “electronic ink”-based ebook reader this spring, targeting content publishers in the news, education and professional markets who will, it is hoped, use it to distribute content to their customers, says Hans Brons, iRex chief executive.

But the historical problems with reading devices is not the only reason ebook sales have been relatively sluggish, argues the Mr Bogaty of the IPDF. The organisation’s 2006 ebook user survey revealed three significant concerns among customers.

First, they were too expensive. Second, the selection available was too small. Third, and perhaps most important, proprietary file formats and the digital rights management (DRM) technology, used to protect the ebooks from piracy, have created problems. Users are worried about the lack of interoperability between reading systems, the longevity of formats, and lack of flexibility of files once purchased. Microsoft, for example, uses its .lit format, while others include Palm Reader, Gemstar, Mobipocket and Embiid, and Adobe has its PDF format.

The IPDF developed the Open eBook format. Publishers can create ebooks in this format, which would then be easily convertible to the proprietary formats. That helps publishers by reducing the number of formats they have to support, but it doesn’t help consumers. The IPDF is hoping to update the format to be used directly by consumers, says Mr Bogaty.

But poorly handled digital rights management continues to pose a problem. For example, Adobe’s latest e-book publishing system requires users to enter passwords over the internet when they want to read a book. And you need to re-authenticate online. “If you’re not online, you just get a warning telling you that you have so much time left,” says David Stevenson, senior sales engineer at Adobe.