The web has even been predicted as the replacement for the book itself. NetLibrary uses the internet for providing books on-line to its subscribers. Electronic readers are now on the market under the names Rocket eBook and Softbook . Both require purchasing the reading material. Each uses its own electronic text format.
Work is also in progress on an open standard for ebooks.
Microsoft Reader is an example of one project to develop improved ebook software. Many books are published on the web and can be read for free. Many did so through Project Gutenberg . Volunteers select books in the public domain, convert them to electronic text, and Project Gutenberg publishes them on the web. For example, see Art and Scholasticism by Jacques Maritain.