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E-Books
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B ooks have metamorphosed in

many ways since the Stone Age.
Humans first recorded their lives
and day-to-day observations on cave walls, then
moved on to stone tablets and papyrus. Afterwards
came carved symbols and penned words—monks
holed up in monasteries inscribed whole volumes by
hand. Some time later, print books were born, and
electronic books in various formats.
Since their inception, books continually evolved to
become more portable and usable. Technology has
allowed manuscripts to be published and preserved
in more than one format.
Gutenberg’s printer changed the way the game
was played. Books were mass produced, allowing the
repository of human knowledge to expand and be
less subject to harm. Numerous copies of books were
produced, letting ordinary people gain access to them,
instead of just scholars. Acquiring reading skills and at-
tending school became basic needs, instead of luxuries
most people couldn’t afford.
Even if the rare books found in a library were lost
forever should the building burn to the ground, their
content would not be lost, because there would be
several copies of them somewhere else. While the cop-
ies would no longer have the prestige and historical
value of a rare first edition with marginal notes by a forward—they are now available in digital formats,
critic, for example, the author’s thoughts would survive and may be read on computers and hand-held devices.
to be read again by the next generation. Instead of being spread throughout various libraries,
The evolution of the Internet and the invention copies of books are now available as files in memory
of smaller computer processors and memory cards cards and virtual spaces, in what is also termed the
have allowed books to once again take another step “cloud.” They are sold in online stores, and can be sent

over wireless Internet connections to portable readers
and devices.
With the many changes in the way books are sold
and read, the question remains: What will be the future
of the book? Is this—the electronic format—the best
way to go?
3
Before we decide, however, we have to know what
an e-book is, how it has redefined reading, and how
it has transcended existing publishing methods and
changed business models across the globe.
4

The Next Frontier

of Reading
Beam me a book, Scotty!

F or centuries, a book has been known as a collection

of pages bearing text and images, bound together
between wood, cloth or paper covers—an object that
one can touch, smell and hold in one’s hands. Yet the
form of the book has evolved; today, there are books
made without paper, whose pages scroll on a screen.
Called electronic books or e-books, these are texts
in digital form which can be downloaded from the
Internet and read on a computer or a special read-
ing device. Though the book’s physical elements are
rendered intangible in this format, an e-book, as a
container and transmitter of ideas, remains essentially
the same as its print counterpart—with a few marked
differences.
The e-book has been around for decades in several
formats, mainly to preserve existing texts. It was dur-
ing the heyday of palmtop computers, called personal
digital assistants (PDAs), that publishers and technol-
ogy companies jumped onto the bandwagon, setting
up online bookstores and developing new e-book
formats for display on desktop computers, PDAs and
other handheld devices.
However, the technology available during the 1990s
and early 2000s made it difficult to read e-books.
Computers were too bulky to lug around, and existing
device screens strained the eyes. Even dedicated e-
readers were hampered by hard-to-read text, volatile
storage and short battery lives. Thus, while e-books
never died out, they were left in the background as the
e-reading device went into decline. It had sporadic re-
vitalizations courtesy of companies like Sony and iRex,
but never really took off again until the advent of E Ink
technology, and the birth of the Kindle.

Now, more reliable hardware are available to tempt
even the most hardened supporters of the print book
format. The notion of a few gigabytes’ worth of ex-
pandable storage plus a nifty centimeter-thin device
serve as primary attractions to buyers. But where
would devices be without quality books?
Instant and global
Unlike traditional books, e-books are very portable.
While one can be hampered by storage space or trans-
portation in building a library of printed books, one can
carry thousands of e-books in a single device. E-books
can also be purchased around the clock from virtually
anywhere in the world, without the hassle of waiting
lists, long queues, or limited stock. Some e-books are
equipped with features such as search engines and
hyperlinks to online resources, sparing readers from
manually going through indices or references.
There are also advantages for writers and publish-
ers. Some works never see print or widespread distri-
bution because of considerations like marketability
and shelf space, but digital publishers and bookstores
are not subject to these constraints. They have leeway
to feature a wider variety of work and cater to niche
audiences. Publishers also stand to profit from e-books,
since they can produce any number of titles without
printing, paper or shipping costs, while only needing
to make one copy of each book.
Tricky technology
Yet while e-book technology provides what conven-
tional books cannot, technology is also the reason why
e-books can become difficult to use. E-books come in
different formats, each with their own strengths and
limitations. Some formats better support text with
graphics or tables, while others contain features such
as bookmarks and hyperlinks. Readers must select the
format best suited to their preferences as well as keep
up with ever-evolving technologies.
One must also consider which reading device
to use. Each has its own unique features and reads
different e-book formats. PDF and ePub formats are
compatible with different devices, but other formats
are tailored for specific readers. The MOBI format, for
example, used to be made for the eBookman device; it
is now exclusive to the Amazon Kindle. Also, although
e-books are cheaper than printed ones, devices are
expensive and subject to software malfunction, di-
minishing battery life, and physical damage—while a
printed book can remain intact for decades.
5
Key difference
For many, the key difference between printed and elec-
tronic books is that the latter do not have the aesthetic
appeal or sentimental value of the former; the novelty
and convenience of e-books can never replace the
sensory experience of reading an exquisitely crafted
printed book.
Yet each format is bound to have its own appeal,
and the e-book should not necessarily be viewed as a
replacement of the printed book, but as its extension.
The form might have evolved, but the purpose has
not changed. Whether it conveys the writer’s ideas on
paper or onscreen, a book remains a book.
Crossing the Line:
E-book Publishing
E-book publishing is far from being a guerilla
enterprise, despite the field’s saturation with self- and
digital-only publishers. Old guards are also making
their mark, with international behemoths churning
out digital editions of everything from fiction and
nonfiction to manuals and textbooks.
Some of the world’s biggest publishers of fiction,
nonfiction and children’s books have gone into
e-publishing, such as Random House (www.
randomhouse.com) and HarperCollins (www.
harpercollins.com), which started selling digital
editions of their works in 2002. Penguin (www.
penguingroup.com) also has e-books of its titles.
Science fiction and fantasy publisher Baen,
meanwhile, launched an e-book library in the late
1990s, where select books are available for free. The
Baen Free Library (www.baen.com) also lets readers
get a sneak peek at upcoming books via free chapter
samples, which they can then purchase if they so
desire.
Textbook publishers such as Routledge (www.
routledge.com), Pearson (www.pearson.com), and
Wiley of “For Dummies” fame (as.wiley.com) have
also ventured into e-publishing. The e-format has
compelled them to find new ways to make their books
more fun and interactive in an attempt to take learning
out of the classroom and make it more personal and
personalizable.
In the Philippines, Vibal Foundation’s Vee Press
(www.vibalfoundation.org/books/vee-press), in
addition to preserving the country’s cultural heritage
by creating e-books of historical documents, also
publishes a range of contemporary titles.
6
E -books nowadays, especially those in the standard
EPUB format, are being revised in order to allow
for centralized annotations, media playback, com-
ments, and other interactive learning tools. With these
changes come promises of apps built using the HTML5
standard, the same technology that powers today’s
web applications. These experimental revisions haven’t
reached the commercial e-book market yet, but would
provide a more interactive experience.
Despite these improvements, some readers are
hesitant to switch to electronic formats. But even be-
fore these gadgets were released, desktop and mobile
applications already existed for reading and convert-
ing e-books.
Desktop reading
Electronic book-reading started on the desktop, with
basic formats like text, word processor files, and PDFs.
Nowadays, popular e-book formats like the MOBI or
EPUB formats would require specially-installed soft-
ware to be read or converted to another format.
Calibré
One of the most-used applications for reading e-books
on the desktop is Calibré. It can be downloaded for
free, and serves as an e-book organizer, arranging e-
book libraries the way desktop audio players iTunes
or Winamp organize music and movie files. It boasts
features like a comprehensive e-book reader, library
management, e-book conversion, device syncing, and
RSS feed encoding. Calibré is available for Windows,
Mac OS X, and Linux.
The Software Side
E-book reading applications
Amazon Kindle Applications
To read e-books in AZW format, readers can download
the Kindle for PC and the Kindle Previewer. The Kindle
for PC also allows the purchasing of books via the Kin-
dle Store, and synchronizes purchased books to Kindle
devices. The Kindle Previewer emulates the Kindle
device screen and allows previewing of MOBI or AZW
files the way they would look in a Kindle.
Other e-book readers
Stanza and EPUBReader can also parse ePub books.
Stanza is a lightweight clone of Calibré, while EPUB-
Reader is an add-on to the Firefox Web Browser.
For MOBI, there is the Mobipocket Reader. Initially
released for Palm-based devices, its desktop edition
can sync MOBI e-books to mobile devices, and also
convert HTML, text, or RTF formats to MOBI.
Going mobile
iPhone Applications
Apple recently released its iBooks app for the iPhone,
which is a clone of the original iPad iBooks. It allows its
users to view e-books in EPUB or PDF formats. It also
provides users a graphical interface to connect to the
iBookstore, allowing them to buy and rate e-books.
Aldiko and FBReader for Android
Aldiko pretty much behaves like Apple's iBooks, but
connects to the Feedbooks free e-book service in-
stead of the iBookstore. Aldiko only reads EPUBs and
can only open files saved inside the mobile phone's
memory.
 7

When publishers are encouraged to publish more books to

cater to clients. Readers thus get a wider variety of
material quite literally at their fingertips, depending
on the store that their device is exclusively tied to, and

Books the availability of free e-books for download on the

internet.
Aside from the Kindle and the iPad, other e-readers

Go Digital on the market include the Alex eReader, Barnes &

Noble Nook, Entourage Edge, Kobo eReader, the Sony
Reader Daily Edition, and the locally-retailed RedFox
WizLib and WizPad. While holding their own in the
market, they are overshadowed by the Kindle and the
E-readers on the market iPad, which, aside from being backed by massive (and
ingenious) public relations machineries and e-book
store collections, are considered by tech experts to
feature the most solid operating systems and best
overall performance.
Nothing compares with the scent of paper, com-
bined with the subtle aroma of ink. However, physical
books don’t last forever. Over time, pages turn yellow,
covers are crumpled and pigments fade. But e-book
readers are here to save the day, or at least that’s what
device manufacturers hope.
E-book readers became more than just a passing
fancy with the invention of E Ink technology. They
became more appealing to readers, because electronic
paper screens were easier to read than conventional
LCD screens. E Ink relies on electronically charged par-
ticles to maintain onscreen images and text, effectively
mimicking the look of ink on paper.
One question tugging at e-reader buyers, though, is
whether to get a reader that does only a single thing
such as displaying e-books, but does it really well, or to
choose another that can serve a variety of purposes,
such as watching videos, not spectacularly, but well
enough.
E-readers offer a variety of functions backed by dif-
ferent software platforms, but all center around giving
users the opportunity to purchase and read hundreds,
even thousands, of e-books at a time.
Foremost in the reader race are the Amazon Kindle
and Apple iPad. The first is made by one of the biggest
book sellers on the Internet, and the other by one of
the most competitive hardware and software develop-
ers in the world. One is an excellent e-book reader, and
the other is marketed to be able to do almost every-
thing except fix the kitchen sink (and install Adobe
Flash in its built-in web browser).
The sales of devices are as important as those of the
books themselves, because as more devices are sold,
8
The Battle
of E-Readers
The Amazon Kindle In 2007, online bookstore Ama-
zon.com decided to launch the Kindle. It managed
what Sony had accomplished with its Reader, but also
allowing users to do what the Reader couldn’t: con-
nect to the Internet via a wireless connection, and
download volumes directly to the device without
having to use a computer.
It is touted to be the best reader on the market
despite being for the most part no-frills, because of its
easy-to-use interface and stable performance. It aims
to give users the ability to read e-books and not much
else, but attempts to do it well. If reviews from maga-
zines such as US-based Laptop is to be believed, it has
certainly achieved its goal, having a pageturn rate that
outstrips its peers.
The best thing about the Kindle and other E Ink
display-equipped machines? Its E Ink display looks
like paper, allowing it to be read easily under different
lighting conditions.
Controlled by a keyboard and a set of buttons, the
latest Kindle model can access the web via a 3G con-
nection in addition to Wi-Fi, and has a new built-in
browser and improved PDF viewer. It’s connected to
the Amazon store, and can access several value-added
services such as library backup and built-in social me-
dia (i.e. Facebook, Twitter) integration. The best things
about it, according to Amazon, are its speedy page-
turn rate and battery life of up to one month. However,
its batteries are not replaceable.
Storage: 4GB internal - approximately 3GB available for user
content, with option to expand
Supported e-book formats: AZW, TXT, MOBI, PRC (other formats
must be converted first, or sent to Amazon for conversion)
Supported audio formats: AAC, AAX, MP3
The Apple iPad The iPad’s greatest strength is that it,
like all Apple products, looks great. It’s so pretty that
whatever e-book you load into it ends up looking
like the greatest volume ever written. Its library looks
like a shelf, its touchscreen interface allows you to flip
pages like a real book complete with sleek effects, and
the device itself looks like something out of a science
fiction film.
Apple’s brilliant marketing strategies also made the
emergence of the iPad seem like the second coming,
thus making it one of the most coveted devices in
recent history.
As an e-book reader, it can only do so well. By vir-
tue of its touchscreen interface, its display is not very
friendly to the eyes. Unlike an E Ink screen, it reflects
light and is backlit, thus making it almost impossible
to use outdoors, particularly in daylight.
It can connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi and 3G
(depending on the model), and is capable of doing
other things, because it is basically a tablet computer
equipped with specialized applications.
Its strength lies in its potential for new media, allow-
ing e-books to become multimedia troves. “Enhanced
e-books,” as Apple likes to term them, let readers view
videos and listen to audio files embedded into them,
as well as view websites via hyperlinked text.
Storage: 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB flash drive, with option to expand
Supported e-book formats: EPUB, via iBooks application (other
formats can be read via separate readers or applications)
Supported audio formats: HE-AAC, AAC, MP3, Apple Lossless,
AIFF, WAV
Other supported media: Video (M4V, MP4, AVI), Images

Sony Reader Sony’s early models pre-
date the Kindle and other devices cur-
rently on the market, but the company is
releasing the Reader Daily Edition, a sleek
device equipped with a touch screen and
stylus. In recent interviews, Sony execu-
tives said they refuse to get into a price war with other
e-reader makers, and instead will focus on providing
quality devices. Whether this ploy will help Sony win
the reader wars remains to be seen.
Storage: Up to 32GB, expandable
Supported e-book formats: EPUB, PDF, TXT, RTF, DOC (Needs MS
Word installed in user’s computer)
Supported audio formats: MP3, AAC
he supported media: Images
Other
WizPad/WizLib Philippine company
RedFox is marketing the WizLib, an elec-
tronic paper display-equipped reader,
aand the WizPad, a touch screen tablet
computer. The WizLib is an e-reader
co
capa
pable of viewing various text-based
files,
s, and
a is also WiFi ready. The WizPad,
meanw nwhile, is a tablet which can run a
variety of operating systems: Meego1,
vari
Chrome
ome or Wind
Windows 7.
Storage:: Depe
Depends on model; expandable
Supported e-book formats: PDF
Supported audio formats: WizLib - None; WizPad - HE-AAC, AAC,
MP3, Apple Lossless, AIFF, WAV
Other supported media: WizLib - Images; WizPad - Video (M4V,
MP4, AVI), images
enTourage eDGe The enTourage
eDGe is a dualbook—a combo
reader/tablet with two displays. Un-
like the Nook and eReader, however,
its touchscreen LCD and electronic
paper displays are separate from
one another, are the same size, and are hinged to one
another so the device can be folded and used a variety
of ways. The e-paper display is Wacom-enabled, so a
stylus can be used to write notes onscreen.
Storage: 4GB, expandable
Supported e-book formats: EPUB, PDF
Supported audio formats: MP3, WAV, 3GPP, MP4, AAC, OGG, M4A
Other supported media: Video (3GP, MP4, Adobe Flash Lite, AVI,
MOV, WMV), images
9
Barnes & Noble Nook k The Nook is
bookseller Barnes & Noble’s attempt
at dislodging Amazon’s Kindle from
booklovers’ shelves. Equipped with
two screens—an electronic paper
display (EPD) controlled with an LCD
touchscreen—it tries to expand on
the Kindle’s current capabilities. How-
ever, Amazon patented the dual-display interface. They
haven’t sued anyone over the patent yet, but only time
will tell.
Storage: 2GB, with the option to expand
Supported e-book formats: EPUB, PDB
Supported audio formats: MP3
Other supported media: PDF, images
Alex eReader A two-display reader
overcoming the limitation of a black and
white E-Ink display by having a full-color
touch screen below it, just like the Nook.
It was due to this similarity that Spring
Design slapped an injunction against
Barnes & Noble, for allegedly stealing
trade secrets. Equipped with an Android
system, it has the capability to run Android apps, and
also syncs operations between the electronic paper
screen and the color LCD, switching displays if needed.
Storage: 2GB, with option to expand
Supported e-book formats: EPUB
Supported audio formats: MP3, M4A, AMR, MIDI, WAV, OGG Vorbis
Other supported media: PDF, HTML, images
Kobo eReader The Kobo eReader is
sold by Kobo Books, an e-book retailer
backed by several book and technol-
ogy companies. Relatively new to the
market, the device promises to “make
the perfect book even better,” as it has
been “designed with book lovers in
mind.” One of its main selling points? A quilted back
that Kobo vows would make holding the eReader
more comfortable than if the whole device were made
of metal, and bluetooth connectivity.
Storage: Up to 1GB, expandable
Supported e-book formats: EPUB, PDF, Adobe DRM
Supported audio formats: None
Other supported media: None
10
From Pigment
to Pixels
The birth of the e-book
T he creation of the digital e-book format, which
paved the way for the invention of portable e-
book readers, all started with an idea, and a drive to
preserve what may be lost in the annals of time.
In 1971, Michael S. Hart, a freshman at the University
of Illinois, was given an account to use the Xerox Sigma
V mainframe at the university’s Materials Research Lab.
Deciding it was a boon not to be squandered, and
convinced that the greatest value of a computer is
not merely computing but also storing, searching for,
and retrieving material, he proceeded to key in on his
computer The U.S. Declaration of Independence from a
faux parchment copy he had brought with him to the
lab. Thus, the first e-text was born.
Soon after, Hart founded Project Gutenberg (guten-
berg.org), a renowned volunteer effort that aims
to digitize and archive important cultural works to
“encourage the creation and distribution of e-books.”
It took some time for technology to catch up with
Project Gutenberg’s goals. It was slow going at first –
the project’s second digitized text, the U.S. Bill of Rights,
didn’t materialize until 1972, and it wasn’t until 1989
that Project Gutenberg reached its tenth book.
In the 1990s, the mainstream availability of the
Internet made storing, retrieving and transferring files
much easier. Around this time, other digital library
efforts started cropping up and forming partnerships
with Project Gutenberg.
In 1993, while studying at Carnegie Mellon Univer-
sity, John Mark Ockerbloom founded The Online Books
Page (onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu). With more or
less the same vision and mission as Project Gutenberg,
the project aims to provide a list of books that are
freely readable over the Internet, thereby facilitating
access to them.
Publishers eventually picked up on the idea and
decided to take advantage of the web as a marketing
tool. In 1994, the National Academy Press was the first
publisher in the US to post the full text of a number of
books on the Internet. The Massachusetts Institute of
Technology followed suit in 1995.
After making texts available online, publishers
reported a profit surge with their print books, as the
e-books presumably boosted sales of their print coun-
terparts.
Digital publishing began to gain popularity by 1997.
Publishers who swore by it said that not only did it cut
costs, but it also accelerated the publishing process.
The emergence and popularity of digital publishing,
they said, did not mean that print media was going
to become obsolete and unnecessary. Electronic and
physical books maintained a complementary relation-
ship, as many people wanted to have a print copy of
books for archiving purposes.
By the 2000s, e-books were being sold by the hun-
dreds on websites and e-bookstores such as Amazon.
com and Barnes & Noble. Other emerging online
bookstores such as Palm eBooks Store, Mobipocket
and Numilog exclusively sold e-books. By this time,
books began to be published in print and electronic
formats simultaneously.
In 2004, Sony launched its first e-book reader which
used electronic ink technology (E Ink), greatly improv-
ing from the first e-readers which used backlit displays.
E Ink allowed displays to look almost exactly like paper,
making devices easier on readers’ eyes.
 11

In 2004, multinational corporation Google took an The Evolution

interest in digital books. The project Google Print was
launched in 2004 with the aim of boosting the sales
of Digital Reading
of publishers; Google enabled Internet users to view
excerpts from books. However, due to legal problems, The first e-book is 1971
created. The U.S.
it was suspended in 2005. Operations resumed in 2006,
Declaration of 1974 The Internet is born.
but the legal problems continued until 2009, when the Independence becomes
US Court granted preliminary approval of an amended eText#1 of Project
settlement defining Google’s usage of copyrighted Gutenberg, the first
works, and how authors and publishers will be com- digital library, launched
pensated for the company’s placement of digitized by Michael Hart.
copies of the said works in its database.
The term “copyleft” 1984
In September 2006, Vibal Foundation launched its is coined by Richard
full-featured digital library and research portal, Filipini- Stallman, who launched 1993 The first website listing
ana.net. Pursuant to the goal of VFI Executive Director the GNU project for free e-books is created:
Gaspar A. Vibal and Filipino-Hispano historian Jaime the free distribution of the Online Books Page,
Marco of launching a free knowledge-sharing initia- works. founded by John Mark
Ockerbloom.
tive in the country, Filipiniana.net serves as an online Helsinki City Library in 1994
repository of books and documents on – and related Finland is the first library
to – Philippine history, geography, culture, government, to put up a website 1995 The first online
and society. while the National bookstore—Amazon—is
The next year, Amazon launched the Kindle, trig- Academy Press (NAP) put up by Jeff Bezos.
in the US becomes
gering an e-reader race between device manufactur-
the world’s first digital
ers and e-book retailers. The competition became publisher.
more fevered when technology behemoth Apple
launched the iPad, a tablet computer equipped with Palm Pilot, the first PDA, 1996
an e-reader application, in 2010. Soon, technology is launched, and people
circles were awash with the possibilities for e-book begin using it to read 1998 The first e-book readers
digital copies of books. are launched.
enhancement—for e-books to become applications
in themselves, allowing for a fusion of sources, and a Creative Commons is 2001
multimedia experience. launched by Lawrence
The e-reader race has since gotten heated. Retailers Lessing. 2003 E-books begin to be sold
have dropped prices to try and entice buyers. Booksell- worldwide as publishers
ers have also joined the frenzy, coming up with “limited open up to selling digital
versions of their printed
offers” slashing e-book rates by up to 80 percent. books.
The consequence of failure in the e-market is
high—iRex Technologies filed for bankruptcy in June Sony launches its first 2004
2010 and closed its doors in September. Its DR800 had e-book reader which
suffered poor sales, bringing the firm to its knees. used electronic ink (E 2005 Google launches Google
Ink) technology. Print, which is later
Meanwhile, Amazon is taking a firm hold on e-read-
changed to Google
er technologies. It patented the dual screen E Ink/LCD Books.
interface in July, in effect placing Nook maker Barnes Amazon launches 2007
& Noble and Alex eReader developer Spring Design at Kindle.
risk of a lawsuit. 2010 Apple launches iPad.
With the invention of advanced e-readers and the
introduction of new formats, e-books have come a
long way since 1971. The pace at which e-books de-
veloped in the last decade was so frenzied that we
can only guess what’s in store for the e-book—and
e-readers—in the future.
12
T echnological advancements, especially disruptive
technologies, change the way we do things. Fire,
for example, led to many innovations, some of them
paradoxical. It became a weapon, and also paved the
way for modern medical miracles.
The invention of the wheel, meanwhile, allowed for
the refinement of agricultural methods, which in turn
led to a multitude of other innovations and cultural
transformations. Trade was elevated to an art form.
The development of the Internet and online se-
curity protocols, meanwhile, paved the way for the
creation of a web economy. A variety of goods are now
traded online, allowing people to shop from the com-
forts of their own homes, and making shipping and
delivery necessary only when enough orders come
in. In some cases, delivery is instantaneous, as with
the purchase of e-books and their direct download to
digital readers.
There are several e-book stores and repositories
online. Some are tied to e-readers, while others offer
books for download to assorted devices, from desktop
computers to smartphones. These sites offer different
types of reading material: novels, anthologies, text-
books, magazines, newspapers, even comics, all in nifty
digital formats.
Most are for sale, but some are available for free,
such as out-of-copyright books, or chapter samples of
new releases. Some of these have print editions for sale
to defer printing costs. However, the latest bestsellers
in e-book format are obtainable for a price, with some
being offered at discounted rates.
Device manufacturers, in order to better cater to
customers, make e-book stores and databases accessi-
Market Economy
Where digital books are sold
ble by default on their e-readers. Some do it in reverse:
upon creating an e-book store, they release devices
hoping that buyers will go primarily to their stores
for content. It’s a matter of want and need—someone
will either buy an e-reader because they want to read
e-books; or they will buy e-books because they want
to try this newfangled technology called an e-reader.
In order to maximize sales, some e-book stores
provide special applications that can be installed in
e-readers. There are applications for smartphones,
Macs and PCs. Even online stores that market their
own devices such as the Kindle (Amazon.com) and
Nook (Barnes & Noble) also give customers alternative
means to purchase e-books on other machines via
special programs.
Apple, being primarily a device manufacturer,
makes access to its store exclusive. Only people using
iTunes, or Apple applications via the iPad, iTouch or
iPhone, can access the iBookstore.
Where to find books for sale:
Amazon.com (www.amazon.com)
In addition to books and e-books sold via the Kindle
store, Amazon.com, the company behind the Kindle,
boasts an array of products, from clothes and power
tools to music and pet supplies.
Barnes & Noble (www.barnesandnoble.com)
Going head-to-head with Amazon is the Barnes &
Noble store, which also sells a wide range of products.
However, B&N primarily sells print books and e-books
for its e-reader, the Nook, along with a smattering of
movies, music, toys and home items.

iBookstore (accessible via iBooks App)
The iBookstore, like the iStore, is accessible using an
Apple application, and is tailored for access by Apple
devices such as the iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone. Using
the iBooks application, users can browse through a
catalog of books from iStore-accredited publishers.
Reader Store (www.ebookstore.sony.com)
The Reader Store is tailored for the Sony Reader. It
doesn’t sell print books, but allows customers to
browse through its catalog of e-books for purchase
and download.
enTourage e-Books Store
(www.entourageedge.com/e-books.html)
The enTourage store caters primarily to users of the
enTourage eDGe. As the device’s target market is the
student population, featured books are usually some-
what relevant to classwork or appeal to the academia,
such as classics, literary award winners, textbooks and
treatises on assorted topics.
Get ‘em for free:
Feedbooks (www.feedbooks.com)
Feedbooks, which says it is the first service to support
the EPUB format, offers free e-books for download. Its
selection contains books that are in the public domain,
or were given away by authors for distribution.
Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org)
The first producer of free e-books, Project Gutenberg ‘s
over 33,000 books are available in EPUB, Kindle (AZW/
MOBI), HTML and simple text formats. It has several
partners, such as Wattpad (www.wattpad.com) and
MobileRead (www.mobileread.com).
Random House Free Library (www.suvudu.com)
Random House-owned Suvudu features free full-
length genre books: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Paranor-
mal, Star Wars, Graphic Novels & Manga, and Gaming.
Books are copyrighted, but given away for free.
BookGlutton (www.bookglutton.com)
BookGlutton offers a unique twist: it makes reading
into a community experience if the reader so desires.
The site allows some books in its database to be read
online or downloaded as an EPUB book for free. How-
ever, other books may only be read or downloaded
for a fee.
13
Why buy e-books?
They’re always available. You can buy them at any
time, and they never get sold out. Also, unlike buyers
of printed books who have to either go to bookstores
to buy their books or wait for the books to be
shipped to them, buyers of e-books get their books
immediately anywhere they are.
They’re environment-friendly. No trees were killed
to make these e-books.
They’re affordable. E-books are cheaper than printed
books because they don’t have printing and overhead
costs.
They’re easily searchable. You don’t need to look
through manual indices anymore.
They’re very portable. You can store thousands of
books in your e-book reader and bring them with you
anywhere.
Why sell e-books?
Save money. It costs less to produce an e-book than it
does to produce a printed book.
Go green. E-book production doesn’t need paper.
No piracy. Each e-book is registered to a reading
device, and publishers can limit the use or transfer
of their e-books through digital rights management
software.
Revision is easy. Since no printing is needed, you only
need to upload the revised version. This means that
you can also publish new editions more frequently.
E-book sales are increasing. Amazon recently
announced that it was selling more e-books than
printed books.
E-books open new markets. They cater to avid
consumers of media—readers who want convenience
and instant access.
E-books let people try before they buy. This increases
the likelihood that they would make a purchase... and
that they might buy the printed copy of the book later.
14
Mine, Yours, Ours
Digital rights for e-books
C opyright lawsuits are no fun. They cost money, and
tie works up in restrictions. Thus, it never hurts to
be aware of the basics of copyright law.
E-books, because they are the products of some-
one’s mind, are intellectual property. Everything
contained in an e-book, just like in print, belongs to
the writer. Permission is needed before a text can be
copied or used. While copyright laws vary from country
to country, e-books and other such properties usually
fall under the copyright law of their country of origin.
Under Philippine law, it is automatic from the mo-
ment of a work’s creation, thus it is essential to ask
for and receive authors’ permissions before copying,
redistributing or otherwise exploiting works. How-
ever, written or artistic works by the government or its
agencies are usually in the public domain and are free
for use by anybody. In the Philippines, a work enters
the public domain fifty years after its creator’s death.
Some authors choose to give away their works for
free, while some release their works entirely into the
public domain and give up control of the way they will
be used. Some let others use their works for free under
certain conditions called “licenses.” The most common
licenses used for e-books are Creative Commons (CC)
licenses.
Creative Commons licenses let creators set condi-
tions on how their works may be used. There are four
conditions which may be combined to form a license:
Attribution (BY) The work must be credited to its
original creator.
Share-Alike (SA) The work must be distributed un-
der the same license.
No Derivative Works (ND) Revisions of the work are
not allowed.
Non-Commercial (NC) The work may not be used for
commercial purposes.
Usually, unless an e-book or other work is public
domain or under a CC license, buyers may not copy or
redistribute it to others, or create a work based on or
derived from it.
Most copyright holders make use of digital rights
management (DRM) technology to restrict the way
their copyrighted works may be used. E-book readers
such as Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iPad, for example,
use DRM technology to ensure that e-books purchased
from their stores can be used only by the purchasers,
and are not copied and redistributed.

Digital e-book formats
TXT
The TXT format can store a large amount of information
and consumes very little space. However, it doesn’t
support images, tables or hyperlinks. It can be viewed by
almost any device, as most applications support viewing
ordinary text files.
PDF
The most common e-book format is PDF, a proprietary
format created by Adobe Systems. It preserves the look
and content of the original document including images,
audio files, tables, graphs and hyperlinks. PDF files may
also be password-protected by users.
HTML
The hypertext markup language format (HTML) is used
in web pages. It was conceptualized in the 1980s, and
created in the early 1990s. Its primary function is to link
pages to each other via relevant keywords and to provide a
rich programming background for e-book formats.
Want to know more?
Periodicals
Bradford, K.T. “eReader Evaluation.” Laptop, May 2010.
Halpern, Sue. “The iPad Revolution.” The New York Review of
Books, 10 June 2010.
Wollman, Dana. “Reading, Redefined.” Laptop, May 2010.
Online Publications
Fowler, Geoffrey, and Marie Baca. “The ABCs of E-Reading.” The
Wall Street Journal, 25 August 2010. Accessed 25 August 2010.
http://www.online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703846604
575448093175758872.html.
Lebert, Marie. “A Short History of eBooks.” Diss.,University of
Toronto, 2009. Accessed 16 August 2010. http://www.etudes-
francaises.net/dossiers/ebookEN.pdf.
Lindsay, Scott. “The History of the ebook.” Articlesbase, 22
September 2008. Accessed 16 August 2010. http://www.
articlesbase.com/ebooks-articles/the-history-of-the-
ebook-571780.html.
Sedycias, R. “The History and Popularity of ebooks.” Read An
E-Book Week, n.d. Accessed 16 August 2010. http://www.
ebookweek.com/history.html.
“Franklin sells interest in company, retires shares.” Philadelphia
Business Journal, 31 March 2005. Accessed 6 September
2010. http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/
stories/2005/03/28/daily32.html.
Websites
Adobe Systems Inc. “Adobe: Adobe Acrobat Family-Portable
Document Format.” Last modified 14 July 2009. http://www.
adobe.com/products/acrobat/adobepdf.html.
15
AZW
Proprietary formats include those by Amazon (AZW) and
Mobipocket (MOBI or PRC). Amazon created the AZW
format specially for its Kindle e-reader based on MOBI
or PRC, which were created by Mobipocket, a company
which came into being during the peak of the Palm Pilot
age. The MOBI/PRC formats were created for eBookman
devices by Franklin, while the PRC format was designed
to be read by Palm Pilots. These formats are now also used
by Amazon for the Kindle.
EPUB
The EPUB format is a combination of three different open
text/document formatting standards. It is supported by
a wide variety of e-book readers and maintained by the
International Digital Publishing Forum, a non-profit
organization which counts several e-book developers
and publishers as members. It was developed to be an
“industry-wide standard for e-books” with the potential to
surpass other formats.
Amazon.com Inc. “Amazon Kindle’s Publishing Program.” Accessed
6 September 2010. http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.
html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000234621.
—. “Kindle for PC.” Accessed 6 September 2010. http://www.amazon.
com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_pc_mkt_lnd?docId=1000426311.
Dear Author Blog, The. http://dearauthor.com/
wordpress/2009/01/18/using-calibre-to-interface-with-iphone-
sony-reader-or-cybook-part-2-of-2.
eBook Architects. “eBook Formats.” Last modified 6 June 2010.
http://ebookarchitects.com/conversions/formats.php
Geometer Plus LLC. “FBReader: Electronic Book Formats
(supported and unsupported).” Accessed 6 September 2010. http://
www.fbreader.org/docs/formats.php.
Goyal, Kovid. “Calibre User Manual.” Accessed 6 September 2010.”
http://calibre-ebook.com/user_manual.
International Digital Publishing Forum. “Specifications.” Accessed 23
August 2010. http://www.idpf.org/specs.htm.
Mobipocket. “About Mobipocket.” Accessed 6 September 2010. http://
www.mobipocket.com/en/eBooks/default.asp?Language=EN.
Redfox Technologies. “WizPad.” Accessed 23 August 2010. http://
www.redfox.com.ph/wizpad.html
—. “WizLib.” Accessed 23 August 2010. http://www.redfox.com.ph/
wizlib.html.
Sony Electronics Inc. “Reader Daily Edition.” Accessed 23 August
2010. http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Produ
ctDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productI
d=8198552921666064650#specifications.
Spring Design, Inc. “Alex Feature Overview.” Accessed 23 August
2010. https://www.springdesign.com/us/features/index.action#top.
W3C (MIT, ERCIM, Keio). “History of the World Wide Web
Consortium.” Accessed 23 August 2010. http://www.w3.org/
Consortium/facts#history.
Not all e-books are the same. What sets a Vee Press e-book edition apart?
Vee Press e-book editions are
guaranteed to be fully func-
tional, with internally linked Numbered endnotes
tables of contents, endnotes, Note references are seamlessly linked
to chapter endnotes.
and properly re-formatted
graphics with anchored cap-
tions. Vee Press e-books also
feature hyperlinks to web
resources and are beautifully
designed for shifting e-book
typography. All conversions
from print are fully checked
for dead links, illogical breaks
and lapses, and other elec-
tronic irregularities.
With our instant access to
iBookstore and Amazon Kin-
dle Store, you’re just a few days
away from 24/7 worldwide
distribution.
For more information call
Ela de Leon at +632 4168460
or send an email to books@
vibalfoundation.org.

A Digital Literacy Project

of Vibal Foundation
1253 G. Araneta Ave, Quezon City,
Philippines 1104
www.vibalfoundation.org/books/
vee-press/
Annotations
Each e-book contains
editorial introductions and
annotations, especially for
Clasica Digital Editions.
Hyperlinks
Key words in each
e-book are hyperlinked to
Wikipilipinas, Filipiniana.net
and other web sources to
provide context.