Reading into the device market…
The e-book market is still hazy at best, and the influx of e-book readers is not helping publishers and readers. To get a better sense of how many e-book readers are out there, I did a Google News search. There are close to 1500 articles from the start of this year – an indicator of the flurry of activity that the device space has seen. (In all fairness, a significant proportion of them might be from Apple and the iPad). I am amazed at how many e-book readers are already out there or are due for launch. Many gadget companies have already started looking at this space and are accordingly launching their products. I have listed a few of the e-book readers that I have come across. (Do let me know if I missed any)
Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, Barnes and N0ble Nook, Apple iPad, Plastic Logic, InfiMedia Pi, Asus, Lenovo, Acer, Samsung, Neonode, BeBook, Spring Design Alex, Aluratek Libre, Yinlips, Teclast K3, Oppo Enjoy, Hanlin, Cube, iRiver, Interead Cool-er, Elonex, Bookeen Cybook Opus, Onyx BOOX, QuokkaPad, Hanvon, IREX, Copia
[ I have not mentioned the devices in any order - preference, price, etc. Also, as far as possible I have included the official links to these devices. In a few instances, I have not been able to find the right link.]
With atleast 28 companies manufacturing readers (and multiple variants at that), publishers face a daunting task of figuring what their readers will end up using. While most of these devices offer multiple formats, I wonder if content published will appear the same in all devices…
Last 5 posts by Vivek
- Technology in publishing: What next? - February 23rd, 2011
- Why is the outsourcing of publishing services still taboo? - January 12th, 2011
- Device specific formats are horrible to support, and I hope they die! - November 15th, 2010
- E-book prices set to drop - October 12th, 2010
- Survey: The Current State of Digital Content - September 29th, 2010
