E-books and e-publishing | Page 6

not gone. It is here to stay because it is
sorely needed. But it is in a state of flux. Old maxims break down. New
modes of operation emerge. Functions are amalgamated, outsourced,
dispensed with, or created from scratch. It is an exciting scene, full with
opportunities.

E(merging) Books By: Sam Vaknin A novel re-definition through
experimentation of the classical format of the book is emerging.
Consider the now defunct BookTailor. It used to sell its book
customization software mainly to travel agents - but such software is
likely to conquer other niches (such as the legal and medical
professions). It allows users to select bits and pieces from a library of
e-books, combine them into a totally new tome and print and bind the
latter on demand. The client can also choose to buy the end-product as
an e-book. Consider what this simple business model does to
entrenched and age old notions such as "original" and "copies",
copyright, and book identifiers. What is the "original" in this case? Is it
the final, user-customized book - or its sources? And if no customized
book is identical to any other - what happens to the intuitive notion of
"copies"? Should BookTailor-generated books considered to be unique
exemplars of one-copy print runs? If so, should each one receive a
unique identifier (for instance, a unique ISBN)? Does the user possess
any rights in the final product, composed and selected by him? What
about the copyrights of the original authors? Or take
BookCrossing.com. On the face of it, it presents no profound challenge
to established publishing practices and to the modern concept of
intellectual property. Members register their books, obtain a BCID
(BookCrossing ID Number) and then give the book to someone, or
simply leave it lying around for a total stranger to find. Henceforth, fate
determines the chain of events. Eventual successive owners of the
volume are supposed to report to BookCrossing (by e-mail) about the
book's and their whereabouts, thereby generating moving plots and
mapping the territory of literacy and bibliomania. This innocuous
model subversively undermines the concept - legal and moral - of
ownership. It also expropriates the book from the realm of passive,

inert objects and transforms it into a catalyst of human interactions
across time and space. In other words, it returns the book to its origins:
a time capsule, a time machine and the embodiment of a historical
narrative. E-books, hitherto, have largely been nothing but an
ephemeral rendition of their print predecessors. But e-books are another
medium altogether. They can and will provide a different reading
experience. Consider "hyperlinks within the e-book and without it - to
web content, reference works, etc., embedded instant shopping and
ordering links, divergent, user- interactive, decision driven plotlines,
interaction with other e-books (using Bluetooth or another wireless
standard), collaborative authoring, gaming and community activities,
automatically or periodically updated content, ,multimedia capabilities,
database, Favourites and History Maintenance (records of reading
habits, shopping habits, interaction with other readers, plot related
decisions and much more), automatic and embedded audio conversion
and translation capabilities, full wireless piconetworking and
scatternetworking capabilities and more".

INVASION OF THE AMAZONS By: Sam Vaknin The last few
months have witnessed a bloodbath in tech stocks coupled with a
frantic re-definition of the web and of every player in it (as far as
content is concerned). This effort is three pronged: Some companies are
gambling on content distribution and the possession of the attendant
digital infrastructure. MightyWords, for example, stealthily
transformed itself from a "free-for-all-everyone-welcome" e-publisher
to a distribution channel of choice works (mainly by midlist authors). It
now aims to feed its content to content-starved web sites. In the process,
it shed thousands of unfortunate authors who did not meet its (never
stated) sales criteria. Others bet the farm on content creation and
packaging. Bn.com invaded the digital publishing and POD (Print on
Demand) businesses in a series of lightning purchases. It is now the
largest e-book store by a wide margin. But Amazon seemed to have got
it right once more. The web's own virtual mall and the former darling
of Wall Street has diversified into micropayments. The Internet started
as a free medium for free spirits. E- commerce was once considered a
dirty word. Web surfers became used to free content. Hence the (very
low) glass ceiling on the price of content made available through the

web - and the need to charge customers less than 1 US dollars to a few
dollars per transaction ("micro-payments"). Various service providers
(such as Pay-Pal) emerged, none became sufficiently dominant and
all-pervasive to constitute a standard. Web merchants' ability to accept
micropayments is crucial. E- commerce (let alone m-commerce) will
never take off without it. Enter Amazon. Its "Honour System" is
licenced to third party web sites (such as Bartleby.com