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What exactly is an e-book
00:00 Mon 24th Dec 2001 | Technology
A. An e-book is the shorthand term for an electronic book - and this in turn is an electronic version of a traditional printed book. An e-book can be read on a normal PC or a handheld computer (roughly the same size as a paperback book) with e-book reader software. Confusingly the term e-book is also used to describe a computer that is solely used and dedicated to reading e-books - but on the whole it usually means an electronic book.
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Q. Can all e-books be read using the same reader software
A. No - it really depends on what computer you're using to read your e-book as to what reader software you'll need. The most popular readers on the market are: Microsoft Reader, Adobe e-book Reader (and Acrobat Reader) and the Gemstar e-book Reader - most e-book publishers now make their publications compatible with these three readers.
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Microsoft Reader comes as standard on Pocket PC, Palm Reader is used on most Palm, Handspring and Sony handhelds (Palm recently bought the Peanut Press, an e-book publishing house) and is usually installed as standard on it, and if you use a Psion handheld computer it usually comes with its own Psion Reader installed as standard.
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Alternative and popular readers that do not come as standard on handhelds include TomeRaider -which works with Psion, Pocket PC and Palm operating systems; and Mobipocket Reader is compatible with Palm, Psion, Windows CE and PC Desktop.
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Q. Where would I obtain free copies of e-book reader software online
A. For a free copy of Microsoft Reader (for Windows) is available from www.microsoft.com/reader - you don't need to download a free copy of this software if you have a Pocket PC as it comes as standard. For a free copy of the Adobe e-book reader go to www.adobe.com/epaper - you can download PC and Macintosh compatible versions here. A free copy of the Palm reader is available from the Peanut Press at www.peanutpress.com.
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Q. Do I have to have an e-book reader to read an e-book
A. Not always, some publishers do have their e-books available as PDF files - so you can download these onto your PC, but a reader is really worth investing in as it makes reading a novel for example on a computer a lot easier. You can bookmark pages, highlight passages, scroll down the page (or pre-set the time and your Reader will automatically scroll down for you - a great feature on the Psion Reader), make notes or save selected text. It usually has a backlit screen too, which makes reading in the dark more comfortable.
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Q. What formats do e-books come in
A. As mentioned above, if you don’t have a dedicated e-book reader you can download PDF (portable document format) files onto your PC - these read like replicated printed book pages (often with two columns). Adobe provides free e-book Reader and Acrobat Reader software for most operating systems.
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Most e-books use the HTML (hypertext markup language) format and work with most operating systems and web browsers. Other formats include PML (peanut markup language) which is an HTML-based e-book format developed by the Peanut Press for Palm; and XML (extensible markup language) which has been incorporated into Microsoft and Gemstar software - it provides dynamic tagging of content which makes it easier and more enjoyable to read e-books. For example, the Microsoft Reader separates out chapters and displays them as hyperlinks so you can flick around if you're looking for something in particular. It also has a riffle control that tells you how much of a book you've read and it gives each e-book a front cover so they are easy to find in your personal library.
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Q. How would I find an e-book
A. E-books can be purchased on disk or CD, but usually they are downloaded from the Internet - and a download usually only takes about five minutes to complete. Make sure that any e-book you download is compatible with the reader you have on your PC or handheld computer.
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Q. Can you recommend some good sites for downloading e-books
A. Project Gutenberg is undertaking a massive project - to offer all fiction titles no longer copyrighted online for free, the website is easy to use and well worth checking out. Other good sites include the following: Barnes and Noble, Online Originals, PDA Bookstore, Memoware, Amazon and Fictionwise.
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By Karen Anderson
