[Summary]
How about a book-sized electronic device that could store many books at
once? The first ebook readers were developed in Silicon Valley,
California. The Rocket eBook was launched in 1998 in Palo Alto by
NuvoMedia, whose investors were Barnes & Noble and Bertelsmann. Shortly
afterwards, the SoftBook Reader was launched by SoftBook Press, whose
investors were Random House and Simon & Schuster. These two ebook
readers were the size of a (large and thick) book, with batteries and a
black and white LCD screen. They could connect to the internet through
a computer (for the Rocket eBook) or directly with a built-in modem
(for the SoftBook Reader) to download books from the digital bookstores
available on the companies’ websites. Other models followed in 1999,
for example the EveryBook Reader, launched by EveryBook, and the
Millennium eBook, launched by Librius. The Gemstar eBook was launched
in the U.S. in November 2000. The Cybook (1st generation) was in Europe
in January 2001.
***
How about a book-sized electronic device that could store many books at
once? The first ebook readers were the Rocket eBook and the SoftBook
Reader, launched in Silicon Valley in 1998.
These dedicated electronic readers were the size of a (large and thick)
book, with a battery, a black and white LCD screen, and a storage
capacity of ten books or so. They could connect to the internet through
a computer (for the Rocket eBook) or directly with a built-in modem
(for the SoftBook Reader).
They got much attention from book professionals and the general public,
with few of them buying them though, because of their rocket-high price
-- several hundreds of dollars -- and a small choice of books in the
digital bookstores available on the companies’ websites. Publishers
were just beginning to digitize their own books, still wondering how to
market them, and worried with piracy concerns.
# The Rocket eBook
The Rocket eBook was launched in 1998 as the first dedicated ebook
reader by NuvoMedia, a company founded in 1997 in Palo Alto. The
investors of NuvoMedia were Barnes & Noble and Bertelsmann. NuvoMedia
wanted to become "the electronic book distribution solution, by
providing a networking infrastructure for publishers, retailers and end
users to publish, distribute, purchase and read electronic content
securely and efficiently on the internet". The Rocket eBook could
connect to a computer (PC or Macintosh) through the Rocket eBook
Cradle, a device with two cables, a cable for power through a wall
transformer, and a serial cable for the computer.
# The SoftBook Reader
Shortly afterwards, SoftBook Press launched the SoftBook Reader, along
with the SoftBook Network, “an internet-based content delivery
service”. The investors of Softbook Press were Random House and Simon &
Schuster. With the SoftBook Reader, "people could easily, quickly and
securely download a wide selection of books and periodicals using its
built-in internet connection". The device, "unlike a computer, was
ergonomically designed for the reading of long documents and books."
# Other ebook readers
Other ebook readers were launched in 1999, for example the EveryBook
Reader, launched by EveryBook, and the Millennium eBook, launched by
Librius.
The EveryBook Reader was "a living library in a single book", with a
"hidden" modem to dial into the EveryBook Store, for people “to browse,
purchase, and receive full text books, magazines, and sheet music”.
The Millennium eBook was a "small low-cost" ebook reader launched by
Librius, a "full service e-commerce company". On the company website, a
World Bookstore "delivered digital copies of thousands of books" via
the internet.
All these ebook readers didn’t last long. People would have to wait to
get through the millenium to see the Gemstar eBook in the U.S. and the
Cybook (1st generation) in Europe.
# The Gemstar eBook
The Gemstar eBook was launched in November 2000 after Gemstar bought in
January 2000 Nuvomedia (author of the Rocket eBook) and SoftBook Press
(author of the SoftBook Reader), the two companies that created the
first ebook readers. Two versions of the Gemstar eBook were available
for sale in the U.S., the REB 1100 (successor of the Rocket eBook) with
a black and white screen, and the REB 1200 (successor of the SoftBook
Reader) with a color screen, both produced under the RCA label,
belonging to Thomson Multimedia. Gemstar tried to launch them in Europe
too, beginning with Germany, while buying 00h00, a French publisher of
ebooks, in September 2000. In fall 2002, cheaper ebook readers were
launched as GEB 1150 and 2150, produced by Gemstar instead of RCA.
Sales were still far below expectations. The company stopped selling
ebook readers in June 2003, and stopped selling ebooks the following
month.
# The Cybook
The first European ebook reader didn’t work well either. Developed by
Cytale, a French company created by Olivier Pujol, the Cybook (21 x 16
cm, 1 kilo) was launched in January 2001. Its memory -- 32 M of SDRAM
and 16 M of flash memory -- could store 15.000 pages, or 30 books of
500 pages. Sales were far below expectations, and Cytale closed its
doors in July 2002. This model was later renamed Cybook 1st generation,
waiting for more generations to come. The Cybook project was taken over
by Bookeen, a company created in 2003 by Michael Dahan and Laurent
Picard, two former engineers from Cytale. The Cybook 2nd generation was
available in June 2004. The Cybook Gen3 (3rd generation) was available
in July 2007, with a screen using the E Ink technology.