Tai-Li Wang (Editor: Stacy Walter)

Digital books bring fundamental changes in publishing visionaries, because the problems with depth and breadth are no longer existing. The concept for an electronic (digital) book stems from the work of Joseph Jacobson, a researcher in MIT’s Media Laboratory. He was dedicated to developing a prototype of an electronic book with the weight and feel of a traditional book, which used an electronic ink composed of tiny particles that are black on one side and white on the other (Paul 1997).

In the digital world, readers and authors are expected to move freely between ‘generalities’ and ‘specifics.’ In fact, the notion of 'tell me more' is the essential part of hypermedia. Hypermedia is an extension of hypertext; a term defining highly interconnected narrative or linked information. The paper regards hypertext as the root construct of digital books, the digital book representing the embodiment of hypertext. How the ‘hypertext’ notion works in digital books will be further explained in the Interactivity section of the paper.

From clay tablets to papyrus to digital, the evolution of books is a manifestation of the evolution of human culture. In ancient Babylonia, books consisted of a number of collections of rectangular clay tablets. They were inscribed with cuneiform and packaged in a labeled container. A reader needed the help of several librarians with strong muscles to carry a book to a reading table. Books became a lot lighter after the discovery of papyrus in Egypt in about 3000 B.C. Just a few millennia later, Gutenberg’s printing press allowed for books to be produced more accurately, cheaply, and rapidly than ever.

Today, the form of books continues to evolve on the World Wide Web. Several sites offer virtual volume readers can download or read with the Web browser. Of course, books printed on paper are believed to remain popular and probably always will. But digital books do offer several benefits. They are never out of stock or out of print. They are inexpensive and easily accessible. The prosperity of online collections of digital books has put a library at readers’ fingertips (Thomas 1997).

Simply put, each page on a digital book is coated with millions of microscopic particles encased in tiny capsules. Each of these microcapsules can respond independently to an electronic charge. Particles within the capsule moving to the rear appear dark, while those moving toward the front look white. The direction in which the particles move depends upon whether a dark or white charge is applied. Each microcapsule is about 40 microns in size, which is a little less than half the thickness of a human hair. The number of microcapsules used on a given page is enormous. For instance, about 1,000 microcapsules might be used to create the letter 'A' on a page. The smaller the size of the letter, the more microcapsules it uses. The target of digital book publishers is to have a ‘paper display’ with a resolution higher than that offered by today’s computer screens. Theoretically, the microcapsules could be programmed to flip rapidly between dark and white states. It is one of determinants how much animated content a digital book could have (Frank 1997).

CONTENT PROVIDERS

In recent years, book publishers jumped into the market of digital books, as Living Books (a venture between Broderbund and Random House) and Dorling Kindersley experienced great success with early book-based CD-ROM titles like Mercer Mayer’s Grama and Me, or David Macaulay’s The Way Things Work. Relative newcomer Houghton Mifflin Interactive is currently making the CD-ROM scene with children’s titles (Shannon 1996). Children’s literature and educational multimedia (such as encyclopedias) are two areas in which digital books work best. The character and the story must be compelling, and the content must be visually inviting to children. It is also found that an interactive storybook is not likely to make money unless it is based on a popular, mass market and big name, such as Disney’s The Lion King or Pocahontas (Shannon 1996).

DIGITAL BOOK PLAYER

CD-ROM made paperless books possible and Sony’s Data Discman made them portable. Fujitsu and NEC released portable and easy-to-operate players for reading digitized best sellers. Fujitsu’s ViewArt uses integrated circuit cards to minimize its size and weight. It weighs about eight ounces and costs $300. The $400 NEC Digital Book Player is larger and heavier because it uses floppy disks. It also contains more functions: readers can mark passages and jump back and forth in the text. But at 1.5 pounds, most readers probably do not want to hold it long. Both manufactures keep prices down by omitting keyboard and search capabilities. However, market reports showed that most PC users were reluctant to buy such a player at the price and functions it offers currently (Dennis 1998).

Besides children’s literature and education material, classic literature is another arena in which digital books are booming. Project Gutenberg, founded in 1971, offers access to nearly 800 titles representing a variety of classical literature—from Aesop’s Fables to the complete works of Shakespeare. Readers can browse or search the collection through the project’s Web site (http://promo.net/pg/). When finding an interesting work, readers can download a ZIPped copy or just read it online (Thomas 1997).

Another collection of digital books is available from Project Bartleby (http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/), founded in 1993 at Columbia University. The developers of the project are committed to four electronic publishing standards: accurate and loyal editions, free public access, a well-researched selection of literature and state-of-the-art presentation. Many other universities also launched electronic archives of books. The collections generally focus on literature works, and the selection standards are quite different from those for commercial usage. Some scholars predicted that digital books will have a profound impact on literature, since the digitalization itself is inherently tailored to picturesque and comic books (Thomas 1997).

In a printed book, sentences, paragraphs, pages or chapters are determined by the author and the construction of the book itself. However, in the hypertext world, information space is not limited to three dimensions. An expression of an idea or thought can include a multidimensional network of pointers to further elaboration or arguments. Information can be reordered, expanded, and the linkages can be embedded by the author before publishing or later by the reader. As the result, one of the most distinguished features of hypertext is that a reader can not only get the content of a book online but its context as well. A printed book, which was a self-contained, static product, has been transformed into an infinite process that exists on many different network servers around. Consider James Joyce’s Ulysses. A publisher could put all the contents of the book online. But more significantly, think of all the scholarly appendages and footnotes one could hyperlink to the content. Readers could put in links to Homer, Shakespeare and the Bible, so they could jump to other works to see their influence on Joyce’s novel. This way, the experience of Ulysses becomes much richer and more immediate.

The digital book is a clunky apparatus. Even laptops can not be very personal appliance at many times. This may be changed in the near future, with small, bright, thin, flexible high-resolution displays. Hypertext will become more 'book-like,' something one can hold when curling in armchairs or in bed. However, the new electronic media raised a host of questions about reading habits and patterns. Not all reading experiences with online books is as pleasant as the ardent promoters of electronic literature expected. Some people have difficulty in concentrating on the electronic content (Sarah 1997). Sarah conducted a reading experiment, comparing the experience with reading the same story on traditional paperbacks and electronic editions. The experiment concluded that when people read conventionally, they tend to carry the story around in heads and hearts between sittings. However, when reading on the screen, they could not remember the story as returning to it, and they were not eager to do so, either. In other words, reading books in electronic versions turned them into 'reluctant readers.'

Some people argue that it is a matter of ‘pace’. When reading paperbacks, flipping the pages does not interpret the flow of reading. But the screen contains only about half a page of text. It is cumbersome for some online readers to scroll back and forth; therefore, the shortcoming is viewed ironically inflexible and ploddingly linear as the new medium is priding itself on being interactive and ‘nonlinear’ (Sarah 1997).

Notwithstanding, many movers see a digital convergence will take place—that is, delivery of content begins digitally and can be completed through any form (Paul 1997). The triangle of interrelationship in the media has three points: print, online and a fixed media base, like CD-ROM or DVD. In the future, readers may have a book and CD-ROM set, or a book and the Internet site combination. Digital books therefore may be complementing, not preempting, the printed paperbacks. To use a digital book is like using an interface to information. And then, publishing will become the art of choosing the right interface for the information in question.

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