Again and again we've harped against the idea of e-books as islands. They need to be linked together and accessible via powerful full-text searching. And a truly comprehensive library approach like TeleRead would help. Today's commercial e-book libraries are rather limited in scope, but if you want something better, you might as well have one universal library. Without this happening, the e-book industry will grow--but not as fast, considering the potential of the medium for research.Meanwhile, Forbes has carried a fascinating adaptation from The Innovator's Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth, by Clayton M. Christensen and Michael E. Raynor...

Not in many places, at least if you go by today's New York Times. Yes, lawsuits may be filed. But because of a patchwork of laws and already-established consumer habits--and less suit-happy cultures--the recording studios could be in for a tough fight outside the States. Here's the Times' lead:BRUSSELS, Sept. 25--Hang around any schoolyard in Germany or college campus in Indonesia and it becomes clear that the recording industry's problems with the illegal online distribution of music in the United States pale beside the rampant piracy that goes on overseas.From factories in Taiwan and Eastern Europe that churn out...

As best I can determine online, the public library system in Alexandria, VA, won't warn me by email of books about to be overdue. For a good role model, Alexandria can look across the Potomac River to the George Washington University library, which has posted the following on the Web:As a courtesy, the Library will email you a reminder notice 5 to 7 days before the due date and an overdue notice the business day after the due date. Please remember these messages are courtesy reminders.Wouldn't be surprised if some other DC area systems had this capability. If libraries...

As a San Diego Union-Tribune story makes clear, e-bookdom is growing, but meanwhile I keep hearing from readers annoyed by the complexities of DRM and the rest. Just imagine how fast the industry could take off if it conducted business more rationally.The story below is from Margot Milner--in rural France--who luckily is still upbeat about reading books on her "cozy little" PDA despite the software-related horrors she encountered earlier:I, too, wanted to experiment with e-books. Thought I wouldn't like reading that way, but I love it. Cozy little thing in my hand. The cozy little thing I bought was...

eBooks.com now does full-text searching--beating Amazon.com to the punch in a limited but helpful way. The word "Iraq" brought up 381 listings of titles ranging from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Middle East Conflict to The Asianisation of Australia?: Some Facts About the Myths. Right now, unlike the proposed Amazon approach, this one won't display the actual references and simply ranks the titles by the most relevant (The Idiot's Guide in this case). But it's better than nothing and presumably just a first step. It takes advantage of th e-medium (why hasn't this been done before by a large...

Arthur Clarke said prophets might get into more trouble in the long run by underestimating the progress of tech.While Luddites still can't even conceive of viewable e-books, we 21st-century types may soon be able to read colorful books on our shirt sleeves--complete with moving images. From Reuters:Even before the electronic ink has dried on the e-page, a new generation of electronic paper may soon be able to bring a moving image to a foldable screen near you, according to scientists in the Netherlands. Hot on the heels of the invention of a wafer-thin foldable screen that can display static...

Some years ago, John Perry Barlow wondered if it actually might be better in some ways if public domain books were free to schools and libraries but copyrighted books were not. After all, how many modern authors are the equal of the ancient Greeks and Romans? Barlow liked the TeleRead idea but offered his important caveat.Actually the best approach would be a mix of good modern and public domain works, and if you still think that public domain alone is enough, then consider some thoughts from our regular correspondent Lynn Dimick. His wife, a special-ed teacher in Westminister, California,...

James Carville and Mary Matalin, the real lobbyists on HBO's "K Street" show, went after business from the recording industry in this week's episode. What was striking but not surprising was their allegiance to the old copyright models. Keep in mind that the two former White House aides--respectively Democratic and Republican--are real even though the episodes are fictitious.Hey, guys, just for fun, why not see if you can scare up money from the EFF, the ALA and major universities to lobby for the other side? Now that would be a nice plot twist. Would you believe, there are some...

"... am totally convinced that the piracy is tolerated because it keeps users on the Microsoft teat even though the illegal copies generate no income for legitimate publishers. The approach is like fighting a forest fire with a backfire. In this case, the forest fire is Linux. As long as Southeast Asia and China can get Microsoft Office XP for $1, they are not about to switch to Linux anytime soon. Stop the bootlegging, and then economics alone will turn the whole area over to Linux in the blink of an eye." - John Dvorak.The TeleRead take: And with...

From almost the start I envisioned TeleReaders as word-processors and communications devices--not just e-book readers. Still, if prices can be low enough, I'll be open minded. Many people would certainly prefer used Gemstars--with relatively big screens--over PDAs. I myself will sometimes download the same Gutenberg book to my Gemstar 1100 and Dell Axim PDA and switch back and forth for variety's sake (one more argument against the Tower of eBabel and DRM tyranny). Carly is unabashedly pro-Gemstar and not so keen on PDAs for e-book-reading.But not everyone feels the same. Check out No More Devices in ReadYourPalm, one enthusiast's...

"I've learned so many new words (and clarified definitions of words I already knew) just by tapping on the word and having the definition appear. Back in the stone ages when I was reading paper books , I could never be bothered interrupting my reading to consult a paper dictionary as to the meaning of words I didn't understand--too disruptive and I could usually figure out what the word meant in its context." Jenneth.info. The TeleRead take: Wasn't the dictionary feature one of the many glories of the original Rocket eBook? I still enjoy it on my Gemstar 1100...

I'm a big believer in RSS, but Vince Crosbie and others serve a useful purpose with their skepticism. I hardly think that e-mail newsletters will vanish because of the spam problem. - Via Evil Genius Chronicles....