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Derek’s Cybook Gen3 hands-on, 100K-book U.K. digi project, online docs battle, Canadian e-books, Radiohead’s biz model, other links
October 1, 2007 | 6:22 am
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By David Rothman
The good news is that Derek Benner, now checking out a Cybook Gen3, sees a noticeable improvement in screen contrast as a result of the Vizplex E Ink display. What’s more, when he dropped the Cybook several feet, it kept on working. The bad news is that some pixels in the display went AWOL shortly thereafter, perhaps for that reason, according to Bookeen’s Michael Dehan.
On the DRM front—oh how I wish I could write an item without mentioning those ugly initials!—Derek presently can’t read secured Mobipocket even though unsecured Mobi is fine, along with HTML, TXT, and in the future PDF, RTF and unsecured PDB and even FBReader FB2. I’d expect that the Cybook’s Mobi will soon do DRM. And let’s hope that the same will be true of “protected” PDF. Don’t you love DRM?
Other links of interest:
–”More than 100,000 old books previously unavailable to the public will go online thanks to a mass digitisation programme at the British Library,” according to the BBC. (via LISNews).
–Adobe and Microsoft will be competing against Google Docs—in the area of online word-processing services that allow collaborations. Could some of the same online infrastructure or at least concepts be used in connection with interactive e-books?
–In a Sonycentric Financial Post article headlined Are e-books ready to be read?, a Canadian Random House exec laments the shortage of Canadian-written books available in E. That’s true, but meanwhile remember the public domain variety of books available from Gutenberg Canada and Munsey‘s.
–Radiohead fans will be able to decide how much they pay. A precedent for books? Probably not the best, in terms of writerly sustainability. At least a POD book promoted with a free Creative Commons-licensed file will have a fixed price.
–Is a third Internet tablet on the way from Nokia? Apparently, if you go by an FCC filing.
–OCLC’s Loran Dempsey tells how digital content can create interest in the physical variety.
–Needed for e-books: An e-Idiotproof Solution. I’m amused by the Mensa reference. At least two TeleBloggers belong to Mensa; should use of E get you in the group automatically, given the complexities of DRM and eBabel?
Related: MobileRead thread on the new Cybook. Derek notes he isn’t working with the very latest firmware.
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Comments:
i know that radiohead’s model won’t work for every band, but as a long-time fan, i applaud their willingness to rethink the process and try new things. i paid $10 for my copy, and i’ll buy the hardcopy when it comes out, too.
: )
Last week, I had 3 Cybook and 1 Sony PRS-500 right under my eyes. For both speed and contrast there’s an improvement with Vizplex.
Don’t expect protected PDF on the device though. Usually when you want to support Mobipocket or any other DRM file format, you have to sign a contract saying that you’ll only support one DRM format.
For protected PDF, iRiver’s Book2 was the only device that ever mentioned supporting this.
[...] Guild_of_Abundance wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt [...]
“Don’t expect protected PDF on the device though. Usually when you want to support Mobipocket or any other DRM file format, you have to sign a contract saying that you’ll only support one DRM format.”
Wow…that speaks volumes, if true.
FYI – downloadable-bible story on the BBC website.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7023536.stm
I saw over at Contentople, that Radiohead has announced that their pay what you want deal was a one-of. Doesn’t sound like the basis for a sustainable new economy–at least not yet. Still, it was an interesting experiment–and shows one important value of digital media–we can give it away for free when it makes sense to do so.
Here’s a link: http://www.contentinople.com/author.asp?section_id=431&doc_id=152672
Rob Preece
Publisher, http://www.BooksForABuck.com