The age of the e-book is upon us.
The introduction of a single, universal format has been hailed by its developers as a milestone in the e-book revolution. Called the Open E-book Publication Structure, it defines the format for content converted from print to electronic form.
With the spec, publishers will be able to offer content in one standard format. Consumers will be able to download digital content from different publishers on any device.
"This represents a good, cooperative effort between large and small companies across different sectors to come together," said Victor McCrary, technical manager for Information Storage and Integrated Systems at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
The major players in the e-book industry support the common standard. They see it as a way to drive the market and forestall divisive competition reminiscent of the VHS vs. Betamax wars.
The Open E-book Authoring Group is working on formalizing its role in promoting the new electronic book specification.
"As we see more standards, interoperability, and availability we will see more consumer acceptance," McCrary said. "I see e-books really starting to take off. Not just with the portable readers, but also with content."
A variety of manufacturers are building the technological tools to support the existing specification.
OEB members NuvoMedia and Softbook are already selling portable readers. Glassbook, Librius, and Everybook also plan to release electronic reading devices or software.
Backed by deals with publishing giants such as R.R. Donnelley, Bertelsmann, and HarperCollins, Microsoft's software-based Reader also will comply with the standard.
With enhancements like Microsoft's Clear Type font technology to improve display resolution and readability, developers are making e-book readers more attractive to consumers.
Recently, an electronic romance novel sold a record-breaking 6,000 copies.
This e-title success may prove to be an exception, however, rather than the rule, said Richard Curtis, president of Richard Curtis & Associates literary agency and co-founder of online publisher and book retailer E-rights.
"Bestsellers are in the 100s, rather than the 1,000s right now," Curtis said.
Despite growing popularity, even supporters acknowledge that e-books won't replace paper books any time soon.
"I don't see e-books supplanting paper-based books," NIST's McCrary said. The challenge is "to make e-books an immersive experience that is at least as good as paper-based books."
E-books have been even slower to gain acceptance among authors and publishers, who may expect better pricing and electronic-rights deals from traditional publishers than they might receive from e-publishers.
"The biggest problem for authors is that they are disenchanted with the traditional publishing but can't yet make any money on the alternative publishing industry," Curtis said.
Some think that the Open E-book Standard does not go far enough in protecting authors' digital rights and securing documents. Until recently, e-book manufacturers did not have a formal organization to address issues such as encryption and electronic rights.
"Digital rights management is incredibly complicated politically and cuts to the core of everybody's business model," said David Ornstein, chief technical officer at NuvoMedia. "The minute you talk about building standards for digital rights management, you must talk about what things the standard allows."
With political tension and conflicting agendas among industry players, it could be years before digital rights are standardized.
"The obstacles are not going to be technology, they will be business," Ornstein said. "It will take a long time for these issues to get resolved."
"I’m not sure whether perfect copy protection is possible," said E-Rights' Curtis. "The emphasis is shifting to policing the network, rather than making e-books impossible to hack."
As standards develop, e-books may become available in both text and audio formats, expanding their reach to an even broader range of users. Future improvements could include lighter, higher resolution readers that feature laptop, palmtop, and e-book capabilities all in one device.
"The process that has gone on in forming cooperative relationships between key people and decision makers to get the industry to grow, rather than focusing on narrow interests has been unbelievable," NuvoMedia's Ornstein said. "A huge number of the major things over the next couple of years are likely to come out of this group of people."
