Ex #20. Taking a peek at e-books

Once again we have an exercise that we can get our teeth into. I started off of course thinking that I already had a fair idea of what an e-book actually is. It was as well that I started off with "What is an e-book." It was at this point I found out that what I thought I knew was sketchy to say the least. It was fascinating to learn about the pitfalls and advantages of the differing formats and how they can help or hinder your acccess to various sources. It is a pity that various Publishers have made use of this to lock you into one particular file type or hardware reader and in doing so have retarded the spread of e-books.

Next I looked at "Project Gutenberg" seeing as I was aware of that one. Here I tapped in "Gaskell, Elisabeth" and found that her output had been far more prolific than I realised. I have long regarded her as one of the finest of the 19th Century's Authors and "Cranford" has long been one of my favourite reads, I never tire of it as it couples a delightful portrayal of life in a 19th Cent Provincial English town with a quiet humour and English Prose at it's best. In many ways she is far more modern than many of her peers. I will be checking up on many more of her works to read and perhaps I may have to resort to the concept of an e-book to fulfill that wish.

Now it was time for me to be off to Librvox and a source of "free" audiobooks. What a wonderful concept and first of all I clicked on the Box that said "Listen" and entered "Cranford" and there it was, chapter by chapter. I then delved deeper and saw that when I clicked "Read" I could actually volunteer to read a chapter of a book via my own Computer. Ummm! now there is something to consider...... I do think that I would enjoy participating in that.

The next stop for me was Amazon and the amazing Kindle. The cost $359 (presumably US$) will be a bit of a hindrance at first, though like all things the price will come down in time, but I was fascinated by it. I can see myself embracing this Technology at a later date, but then I am never in the vanguard of anything new. Wouldn't it be a wonderful space saver though as opposed to book shelves. Surely a repository for all my favourite reads. A question! Are our new "Playaways" nothing more than a primitive precursor of a "Kindle?"

But now for my summary. At the start of the exercise I thought it was just an interesting subject to explore, but by the time I came to submit my Post I was enthused. This is certainly something that Libraries should make use of if they aren't already. I may not have explored all of the resources recommended, but I certainly spent time in those I did explore . How fast the pace of Progress will make e-books more commonplace I cannot tell you, but one thing is for sure, it will be faster than I can anticipate. Anything that brings the World of Books into the home has my blessing. I am all for it........