Thursday, August 11, 2011

Handheld eBook Reading Devices

By Owen Jones


Everyone knows about the difficulty with the production of greenhouse gases and the destruction of the rain forests. We all know of the stress that over-crowding puts on the environment and we all know that we are trying to do our bit by recycling. The differences of opinion usually come down to extent. In short, we all know that it is going on, but we do not all agree how serious it has gotten yet.

Fair enough, in my estimation. I am suspicious of anyone who calls himself an expert. That is a word that should be used to describe you, no one that you use to portray yourself. Like the individuals who call themselves entrepreneurs rather than business people because it sounds grander.

Anyway, I digress. One of the things that readers can do is not purchase books, newspapers and magazines. This would alleviate the strain on trees and permit the recycled material that we presently use for books, newspapers and magazines to become used on essential school books. It might even make them a bit cheaper.

Of course, publishers of paperback books, newspapers and magazines are not going to be glad with that proposal and neither are people who work in the industry or readers who like to hold their purchase in their hands. Nevertheless, it appears inevitable that it will come to pass one day.

Indeed, numerous moves have already been taken in that direction. There are dozens of handheld ebook reading devices on the market, the most well-known of which is almost certainly the Amazon Kindle. The Kindle comes in two sizes: the normal 6" model for reading 'regular' books and the 9.7" item for reading technical books, newspapers and magazines. Needless to say, the larger model will also display normal books.

The Kindle and lots of the other similar handheld ebook reading devices will permit the owner to link to an online book store, library or repository and download books, newspapers and magazines for a fee. Having said that, there are hundreds of thousands of books that are out of copyright, which can be downloaded free of charge from Amazon, Google and the Glutenberg Project.

Lots of these handheld ebook reading devices will hold 3,500 books! That is a lot of paper, whichever way you look at it. 3,500 books at your finger tips and in your pocket with millions more where they came from and many more being added to the libraries every day. All downloadable from anywhere where the Internet is available anywhere in the world in a minute or so.

This means that enthusiastic readers or researchers never need wait for the bookshop to open again or have to go into town to look for a bookshop or library. How many trees and gallons of petrol can that save you in your lifetime?

It is already often predicted that universities will start selling course books to their students on such devices within five years and that high schools and colleges will follow suit within ten years. These handheld ebook reading devices are probably not suitable for infants because they are not robust, but private readers are taking them up rapidly.




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