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Ebook Platforms - Publish Your Own Ebook

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If you have ever considered publishing your own Ebook, now is the time and its easier than ever before thanks to Amazon and the new Kindle platform. As a publisher or author you can make it available as an eBook on Amazon.com simply and easily. Digital Text Platform is a fast and easy self-publishing tool that lets you upload and format your books for sale in the Kindle Store. E-books are becoming more and more popular.

Fortunately, technology is doing all it can to keep up. Because of the many demands on electronic devices, platform options are abundant. Eight types of devices exist that support e-books: iPods, gaming devices, multifunction hardware models, webpads/tablets, personal digital assistants (PDA), mobile phones, multipurpose devices, and devices specifically dedicated to e-books.

Amazon vs. Sony

The Amazon Kindle will support any e-reading that is compatible regardless of the author - it is just being used additionally to “publish” and sell books on Amazon that have not gone through the traditional process of becoming published. Muddying the waters, if you will… Unless you are aware of this practice, you could easily purchase an ebook that has been haphazardly constructed and that has no credibility… (not that all published books are credible )….

Evidently, Kindle is not the only reading device offering in the publishing industry. Sony, too, offers a device, PRS-505 e-reader as an alternative to the Kindle. Distribution centers are at the center of this competitive battle. Amazon appears to be somewhat short-sighted with the Kindle by only offering direct sales of the Kindle. It is an Amazon-only product. Sony, however, seems to be widening their market by offering their product to more than one platform or distributor. While the Kindle appears to be dominant in quality and capability as compared to the Sony e-reader, Sony has the upper hand on marketing to the masses. Amazon vs. Sony. This should be interesting!

http://toc.oreilly.com/2008/09/kindle-vs-sony-reader-battle-o.html

Ebook Platforms

Below is a breakdown of the different platforms and their offerings and compatibilities:

iPod:
PodReader - Open source application allowing electronic documents to be readable on an iPod (Printbooks, not e-books)

Gaming Devices:
PlayStation Portable: read e-books, play games
Nintendo Gameboy: read e-books, play games

Multifunction Hardware Models:
Subnotebooks: under two pounds, run complete operating system such as Windows XP, have keyboard, 5″-10″ screen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, audio/video, screen rotation, thumb keyboard. Usually expensive.

• Panasonic R3
• FlyBook
• OQO
• Sony Vaio
• Fujitsu Lifebook P1500

Webpads (Tablet PC): great for e-mail, instant messaging, Web surfing. Offer portable, wireless, high-speed access. Easy-to-use, turn on instantly, can manage with one hand.

• The Pepper
• Nokia 770

PDAs: smaller and lighter than laptops, tablets or webpads. Easy to use and understand, easily carried around, relatively inexpensive. Uses Palm eReader or Microsoft Reader. Starting to include phones, cameras, MP3 players, GPS, storage of documents, pictures, web browsing.

• Treo 650
• Palm
• Microsoft PocketPC

Mobile Phones: Run on Symbian operating system, accept Mobipocket, eReader and Adobe reader applications.

• Nokia 9300i
• Nokia 7710

Multipurpose Devices: Complete handheld solutions. Offer compatibility, integration and convergence.

• OQO
• Vulcan Flipstart

Dedicated to e-books: simpler than mini-computers, less processing, cheaper, lighter, longer battery life, no boot-up delay. Screen size of paperback, large enough to be legible, easy to carry, remembers last page, offers page turning and enlarging, dictionaries, encyclopedias, tools for annotation and bookmarking. Holds 15-20 books. Can display .txt, MS Word, HTML, Rocket e-book Editions.

• ETI-2
• Hiebook
• Cybook

Reference
Fox, M. K. (2006, Spring). Product pipeline. Library Journal, 18

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