ebook
An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices.[1] Although sometimes defined as "an electronic version of a printed book",[2] some e-books exist without a printed equivalent. E-books can be read on dedicated e-reader devices, also on any computer device that features a controllable viewing screen, including desktop computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones.
In the 2000s, there was a trend of print and e-book sales moving to the Internet,[3] where readers buy traditional paper books and e-books on websites using e-commerce systems. With print books, readers are increasingly browsing through images of the covers of books on publisher or bookstore websites and selecting and ordering titles online. The paper books are then delivered to the reader by mail or any other delivery service. With e-books, users can browse through titles online, select and order titles, then the e-book can be sent to them online or the user can download the e-book.[4] By the early 2010s, e-books had begun to overtake hardcover by overall publication figures in the U.S.[5]
The main reasons people buy e-books are possibly because of lower prices, increased comfort (as they can buy from home or on the go with mobile devices) and a larger selection of titles.[6] With e-books, "electronic bookmarks make referencing easier, and e-book readers may allow the user to annotate pages."[7] "Although fiction and non-fiction books come in e-book formats, technical material is especially suited for e-book delivery because it can be digitally searched" for keywords. In addition, for programming books, code examples can be copied.[7] In the U.S., the amount of e-book reading is increasing. By 2014, 28% of adults had read an e-book, compared to 23% in 2013. By 2014, 50% of American adults had an e-reader or a tablet, compared to 30% owning such devices in 2013.[8]
Besides published books and magazines that have a digital equivalent, there are also digital textbooks that are intended to serve as the text for a class and help in technology-based education.
Terminology[edit]
E-books are also referred to as "ebooks", "eBooks", "Ebooks", "e-Books", "e-journals", "e-editions", or "digital books". A device that is designed specifically for reading e-books is called an "e-reader", "ebook device", or "eReader".
History[edit]
The Readies (1930)[edit]
Some trace the concept of an e-reader, a device that would enable the user to view books on a screen, to a 1930 manifesto by Bob Brown, written after watching his first "talkie" (movie with sound). He titled it The Readies, playing off the idea of the "talkie".[9] In his book, Brown says movies have outmaneuvered the book by creating the "talkies" and, as a result, reading should find a new medium:
Reading data[edit]
All of the e-readers and reading apps are capable of tracking e-book reading data, and what the data could contain which e-books users open, how long the users spend reading each e-book and how much of each e-book is finished.[164] In December 2014, Kobo released e-book reading data collected from over 21 million of its users worldwide. Some of the results were that only 44.4% of UK readers finished the bestselling e-book The Goldfinch and the 2014 top selling e-book in the UK, "One Cold Night", was finished by 69% of readers. This is evidence that while popular e-books are being completely read, some e-books are only sampled.[165]
[edit]
United States[edit]
According to the Association of American Publishers 2018 annual report, ebooks accounted for 12.4% of the total trade revenue.[184]
Publishers of books in all formats made $22.6 billion in print form and $2.04 billion in e-books, according to the Association of American Publishers' annual report 2019.[185]