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Presents
WHAT IS AN E-BOOK?
And What Will
WaybillToAdventure.com E-Books Contain?
~ by Leanne C. Boyd
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Paper books are not going away, anywhere in the near future! The touch and
feel of a print book, the smell of new ink when you open the covers —
the book's longevity and history are in our souls.
However, E-Books are stampeding toward
becoming a viable alternative — and are providing growing advantages over
the traditional medium.
THIS small E-Book, for instance, has the power to reach
many more people in its present form. It is FREE, and readers are therefore
free to send it out in E-mail ... to say, 1000 of their friends? Think about it.
The sheer numbers/possibilities are mind-boggling.
Are E-Books here to stay? Ponder these modern day miracles, and what others
had to say in the general scuttlebutt of the day...
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Is there a Future for
E-Books?
(Always Be Accountable For
Your Words :-))
| Lord Kelvin, the most respected
physicist of his day "knew" the telephone was a fraud, because the Laws of
Physics made it impossible to transmit the human voice over a wire.
Indeed, he had no need to examine the instrument at all to be sure Bell
was a charlatan. |
| Samuel Langley, head of the
Smithsonian Institute at the start of the 20th Century, was certain that
manned flight in powered, heavier-than-air machines was "impossible," as
his own failed attempts had shown. A few days later, however, the Wright
Brothers flew at Kittyhawke. |
| " Everything that can be invented
has been invented. " - Charles H. Duell, commissioner, US Office of
Patents, 1899. |
| " The wireless music box has no
imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in
particular? " - David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for
investment in the radio in the 1920s. |
| " I'd certainly never read one. The
only thing they're good for are doorstops. " Alfred Hitchcock about
paperback books. |
| " I think there is a world market
for maybe five computers. " - Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM,
1943. |
| " Computers in the future may weigh
no more than 1.5 tons. " - Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless
march of science, 1949. |
| " I have traveled the length and
breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure
you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year. " - The
editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957. |
| " But what...is it good for? " -
Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968,
commenting on the microchip. |
| " There is no reason anyone would
want a computer in their home. " - Ken Olson, president, chairman, and
founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977. |
| " 640K ought to be enough
for anybody. " - Bill Gates, 1981. |
| " $100 million dollars is way too
much to pay for Microsoft. " - IBM, 1982. |
We
Very Much Believe
In The Future
Of Electronic Books!
WaybillToAdventure.com knowledge products —
which will accompany our print books as well as chosen print books
that we carry, outside of our own line — will all be
expanded sets of materials that will vary, book to book.
For our Carson Enterprises line of print books, we will be
issuing the primary books in E-book format (PDF, for now, is the
chosen medium). The same PDF format is the first choice for all future
knowledge products based on ''outside'' print books, as PDF is readable, almost
across the board, on most browsers.
Depending on the size of the original print book, the knowledge products
will either be in the same PDF E-Book — or presented as a separate book. For
ALL outside books, the knowledge product will be a stand-alone product.
The primary asset of taking the works into digital format is that several of
our own books are out of print, and this alternative puts them quickly back
into easily accessible format, and back into a market that has loudly and
clearly asked us: ''Where is .... ???''
Secondly, it allows for each book to be hyperlinked
from within the book, as well as appropriate linking outwardly
to the Net.
Each book is going to have different accompanying materials,
since the topics are different in each book. These will
include maps, previous writing by Glenn Carson and others in
our line of previously or not-yet-published works,
appropriate researched articles, histories, legends, etc.
from primarily electronic sources.
Each E-book will have digital tools in the package that relate to the product —
either as a free/shareware, or a low-cost software
appropriate for use with the topics in the knowledge
product. These are also planned to be ''living books,'' in the
sense that we will maintain a buyer's list, and will contact
them when updates are made to the book.
Our products-in-planning-stages for books that are not of
the Carson line, will be similar in nature, with maps, tips
and tricks, articles, researched topics and writings,
photographs, etc. — specifically geared to the topics in
any given book. They are constructed to help the reader
understand the background, history, and current status of
names, places, and events that are part of each book's makeup.
Some Likely Questions & Observations —
And Some Resources!
- What is an eBook?
''The term eBook applies to
published materials, such as reference books, scholarly monographs, and trade
books that have been converted into digital format for electronic distribution.
eBooks are much more powerful than traditional books ... eBooks are available
twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week - from any location in the world
... [some] with additional features such as an embedded dictionary, a linked
Table of Contents, and easy keyword searchability.''
~ netLibrary.com : http://www.netlibrary.com/about_us/publishers/faq.asp
- What's So Great about E-Books?
''Flexibility, Functionality,
Convenience, Pricing, Space, Availability, Self-publishing, Conservation...
I don't expect e-books to replace print books in our lifetime. But in spite of
their disadvantages, e-books are in demand. In 2000, Andersen Consulting predicted
10% of all book sales by 2005 will be in e-book format. Though that number may be
high, e-books are growing in popularity...''
~ Wilson Internet Service : http://www.waybilltoadventure.com/SuccessToolkit/
WilsonWeb_Whats_Great_About_E-Books.html
- Do You Prefer Paper?
''Most e-books are hard to read
and were never intended for print. That's great if you like staring at a monitor
all day, but not so great if you want to take it to the beach. Search
Engine Optimization Fast Start uses the industry-standard Adobe Acrobat
format, so you can read it on your computer screen, or print it out on almost
any printer.''
''Works
Almost Anywhere: Windows, Mac, Linux...
Adobe's free Acrobat Reader software is available for all major operating systems.
There are even versions available for PocketPC and Palm Pilot. (I don't know why
you'd want to read this on a PDA, but at least it's possible.)''
~ Search Engine Optimization Fast Start : http://www.waybilltoadventure.com/SuccessToolkit/
Search_Engine_Optimization_Fast_Start.html
- Secure and reliable distribution of your business documents
Whether you create business
plans, spreadsheets, graphically rich brochures, or Web sites, Adobe® Acrobat®
5.0 software lets you convert any document to an Adobe Portable Document Format
(PDF) file. Anyone can open your document across a broad range of hardware and
software, and it will look exactly as you intended — with layout, fonts, links,
and images intact.
~ Adobe Systems Incorporated : http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/main.html
- There are functions that eBooks offer that take us light years from
Gutenberg's press and shoot us into the 21st Century
''Just as there are hard covers,
trade paperbacks, mass market paperbacks and audio books... there are now eBooks.
In some cases, they are just the text of a paper book delivered electronically.
In other cases, they have value added because they are live and connected to the
WWW. eBooks are experiments not just in form, but in function...''
~ Electronic Book Web : http://www.ebookweb.org/opinion/linda.gruber.20010708.e-lips.htm
- An eBook is not something that will ever replace print books
''eBooks are books - they're
simply not books the way we're used to them being presented. I'd closer link
them to audio books because you get a complete book in an electronic format...
An eBook is not a physical object that has weight - except for intellectual
weight... An eBook is not something that will ever replace print books. And
to ask them to do so is to deny that physical books can be beautiful possessions
and that holding a book is a satisfactory act.''
~ Electronic Book Web : http://www.ebookweb.org/opinion/linda.gruber.20010708.e-lips.htm
- An eBook is not static
''While a printed research tome
may become useless a year or two after it is printed, an eBook is not out-of-date
as soon as it is published. Rather, an eBook can be updated, rewritten, corrected,
and kept fresh. An eBook is not a book that can go out of print. It remains live
and buyable as long as the web exists and there are eBook stores... prefer
to think of eBooks as neither book nor software, but a hybrid. I think we need
to define eBooks in a way that accommodates both the reader and a array of
future literary innovations...''
~ Electronic Book Web : http://www.ebookweb.org/opinion/linda.gruber.20010708.e-lips.htm
- Franklin Electronic Publishers, Inc. — more than 20,000,000 electronic books sold... in 45,000 retail outlets worldwide!
And peruse the list of names that
are involved : ''Bertelsmann, HarperCollins Publishers Inc., Microsoft Press, Penguin
Putnam Inc., Simon & Schuster and Time-Warner Books; the online book seller
barnesandnoble.com; manufacturers Hitachi Ltd., Vadem, and HP; Audible Inc., the
Web's leading electronic distributor of audiobooks; plus eBook pioneers NuvoMedia
Inc., EveryBook Inc., Glassbook Inc., Librius Inc., and SoftBook Press Inc.''
And the STANDARDS are
coming!
''By working with NuvoMedia, Microsoft, SoftBook Press and these other business
leaders to define standards, we provide publishers the security and confidence
they need to convert files to electronic form so consumers can ultimately have
a virtual library in their hands...
''The Open eBook draft specification for eBook file and format structure is based
on the popular HTML and XML languages used to format information for Web sites.
The draft specification, which will be available free of charge to all interested
users, will help to quickly create a critical mass of content for electronic
reading devices. A publisher will be able to format a title once according to
the specification and the content will be compatible with a wide variety of
reading devices.''
~ Franklin Electronic Publisher : http://www.franklin.com/pressroom/news/arch99/24feb.asp
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A Word From The Waybill Editor
I am hoping this was informative, although some of it was a bunch of ''geek talk.'' My
primary reason for including each of these points was to show you a bit of the history
of electronic publishing, as well as the forecast for the future.
Here at Waybill, we are utterly devoted to our decision for taking our entire line of
print books, online. Now, time for a bit of confession and some of MY history. In the
examples above, the first one is netLibrary.com. I was the Photoshop Image Specialist
for netLibrary in almost their startup days. For about one year (before leaving for
Kansas City to build a very large Web site for Sprint PCS), I worked with illustrations,
logos, and layout for thousands of books. Many were destined for Amazon.com
and barnesandnoble.com, as well as Discovery channel online.
After a lifetime of print and
publications (being raised in the Carson Enterprises household, there was no escaping it :-)
— this was an eye-opening experience for me.
I entered the electronic publishing game very early, in 1989 — when I truly ''saw the
writing on the wall'' ... the E-WALL, I guess you'd say! I was one of the earliest in independent
services in desktop publishing, and have quite a few kudos to my name.
Now, as time has passed, and this vision has become global reality, I am even more
committed ... because the WaybillToAdventure.com line of books is the continuation of a
legacy... the Carson Enterprises Inc. line of books.
E-Books you purchase here are of the highest quality, using the top and most state-of-the-art
equipment and techniques. I can literally say that I helped build this thing (the worldwide
electronic publishing industry) ... and every E-Book we sell comes with a 100% satisfaction
guarantee, a lifetime of free updates, and the BEST whopping graphics in the world!
Plus, you have the advantage of — when you dog-ear your first copy, spine-tingling as so
many of our Adventure books are — you can print out a new one, and start over!
... all for extremely good prices!
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your patronage and support in keeping this
legacy alive.
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