E-book woes
Makes me sad that digital book reading technology would cost Indians far more than book lovers in the western world. A slew of new technology tools being launched in the west will be priced far more in India, a country whose tech-savvyness and love for books match any western nation. Add to that the higher cost of acquiring a book online.
But first the details, and then a little more crib.
Among many such devices, Google Inc. is hoping to launch a new online service that will let readers buy electronic versions of books and read them on gadgets -- cell phones, laptops and possibly e-book devices. Google Editions will make millions of printed books available online, abiding by all copyright laws.
Google faces competition from Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle e-book reader and Sony Corp.'s new Reader Pocket Edition. Kindle weighs less than 300 grams and gets you a book to read within a minute. Sony's eBook Store includes more than 100,000 books, as well as a million free public-domain books available from Google. The Kindle Store currently has more than 330,000 available titles, according to an Associated Press report.
Indian bibliophiles will have to wait a while to be able to afford these 'lighter than the lightest paperback' devices. Or hope that someone kindles a flame here to develop an indigenous e-book reader! The latter sounds more like it, what with a country abounding in world-class software experts. Or maybe, we have an indigenous version already that has escaped my keen eye.
Comments
There is one more coming from Barnes and Nobles which is supposed to give Kindle a tough competition - Nook. I guess the problem with indigenous e-book would be the proprietary E-Ink/display tech..though one can ask whether the $100 laptop tech. can be adapted for a low-cost E-reader for India.
Posted by: Rita | October 25, 2009 05:41 PM