Digital publishing has undergone no less than a meteoric rise. The electronic book has gone from niche to mainstream. Amazon introduced the Kindle in 2007, with the company currently selling more e-books, than print books. Between November of 2010 and May of 2011, the number of people in the United States who owned an e-reader doubled from about 6% of the population to 12% of the population.
In my opinion, the best thing going in digital publishing is not the books, but the technology. The crispness of Apple’s new retina display technology not withstanding, dedicated e-readers from Amazon (Kindle) and Barnes & Noble (Nook), have embraced sophisticated electronic ink technology, which doesn’t rely on back lighting, and has a resolution twice as good as your typical laptop. This offers the reader an enjoyable reading experience, without the eyestrain.
And of course the portability factor is paramount, I am sure everyone who is a serious reader deals with which books to bring, because you can never just have one. An e-reader easily handles thousands of titles. Equally important, coming from someone who is annoyed at daily charging of his i-phone, dedicated e-readers have phenomenal battery life, easily lasting a couple of weeks per charge. You can even find solar solutions to ensure that battery almost never dies.
The ease with which you can buy new titles, by simply downloading them through wi-fi or 3 g directly in your device, an even previewing what ever you want at your leisure this is simply amazing! Not to mention you can easily leave reviews and read a work’s comments prior to committing to a purchase. Finally, so many titles are available for free. Embrace the brave new world !
