Computer and Library Learning (Archived)

The first in what will hopefully be a weekly review of ebook news.

Blurring the Line Between Apps and Books

The NYTimes ran an interesting piece this past Sunday on authors that are choosing to package their
books as applications that can be installed on mobile devices, rather than simply as digital text. Packaging books as apps presents authors the opportunity to be more creative in using the capabilities of the various devices. Many children's books are already taking advantage of the graphics capabilities of the iPad.

I'm not sure publishing books as apps is viable in the long term as ebookstores offer tools and a structure tailored to finding and selling books that independent apps wouldn't have access to. On the other hand having independent authors/developers innovating and competing with Amazon and the other major retailers based on something other than catalog size is a good thing.

Magazine And Newspapers Come To The Kobo

Through the Kobo, Indigo's horse in the ebook race, one can now subscribe to magazines and newspapers. Currently the selection is quite small, 27 publications, as compared to 166 at Amazon or Barnes and Nobel's modest 42. I haven't had a chance to take a look at a newspaper on the Kobo but if it's anything like the Kindle it's far from ideal. Unfortunately e-ink devices just aren't designed for the type of nonlinear, semi-graphical reading that best suits newspapers and magazines.

Barnes and Nobel Announces New Colour eReader

The newest edition of the Nook line of e-readers, the Nookcolor, bucks the e-ink trend in favor of a colour LCDtouch screen. The use of a more traditional screen trades the battery life advantage of eink for greater flexibility in the way content can be displayed. Playing on the Nookcolor's strengths, Barnes and Nobel's marketing campaign is focusing heavily on their selection of newspapers and magazine, a traditional weakness of e-ink readers.

My favourite of the new features is the addition of a request option to the standard Nook lending feature. It seems now one Nookcolor owner can pester another into lending them a book. I'm thinking this may be reason enough by itself to buy a Nookcolor. Just to stave off comments, it appears there is no space between the "Nook" and "color".

The Toronto Public Library has a growing selection of eBooks and eAudiobooks available through our website.