Current+News+&+Issues

Samsung to launch ebook readers ** Samsung, the leading maker of phones and TVs for the U.S. market, is launching e-book readers early this year, joining a host of manufacturers who hope to capitalize on the shift away from paper books. []

@http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2009/11/03/golub
 * "Kindle for the Academic"**

eBooks are the latest crave according to Alex Golub. While he admits that the new electronic reading devices are okay for reading your latest mystery novel. Golub states that these readers aren’t ready for the academic population. He says that he understands that many are looking for these readers and eBooks to be the future; he has reservations that technology will truly impress many scholarly individuals. eBooks make it a lot easier to access new books from anywhere which makes them great for vacations or when you have limited access to books. However the tradeoff is that you’re unable to make personal notations in your book. It’s a little harder to locate notes. Viewing graphics, charts or pictures are difficult due to the size of the reader. Golub does acknowledge that readers have some benefits, like the ability to email PDFs to it, and you can put .doc files on it. Another benefit is that you can download sample chapters of your book before you purchase it. He also states that the new generation of students will probably embrace the eBooks, as they aren’t as inclined to keep textbooks, most students today do not highlight in their books or make notes because they want to sell them back. He feels that taking ownership of your education means making your books a part of your physical environment. He feels like eReaders, the Kindle in general alienate students from their libraries rather than empowering them to immerse themselves into them.

[|**Penguin Books Looking to Reinvent eBooks**] Penguin Books is working through Apple to add innovative graphics and interactive technology to the eBook format. Penguin’s new books hardly resemble books at all they lean more to being interactive learning experiences. Penguin has added video, audio and streaming into their books. Currently eBooks sales are 4% of books sales in the U.S., Penguin is looking to up this number to 10%. To test their products currently Penguin is offering a lot of their content as applications through app stores. They’re looking to see if consumers are interested in video introduction of their books. Also they are trying to see if consumers are willing to pay for all of these new gadgets.

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