Even textbooks are appearing as electronic books, such as The African American Experience . The possibility to create custom books is also present. Instructors can create their own textbooks from various sources for teaching purposes. Alongside these electronic and online text developments the idea of a portable book for viewing books and documents has taken shape this year . While SoftBook Press is aiming at professional users, NuvoMedia has partnered with Barnes and Noble and Bertelsmann Publishing to approach the consumer market.
Readers can electronically flip through the book.
They look like PalmPilots and are the size of a small book or paperback. These e-books are portable and will be used by people on the move. No PC interface is needed, though the unit can download other documents from the computer as well. A 2 gigabyte hard drive will hold 2000 books. Looking at the near future, the concept of what we think is a book can be rewritten.