Ebooks

Palo Alto, CA ( PRWEB) April 14, 2010 -- To serve individuals and students with print disabilities and to provide timely access to digital books, Simon & Schuster has signed an agreement that will give Bookshare’s members access to an extensive selection of titles from all imprints.

Simon & Schuster, one of the world’s leading publishers of English language books, publishes under numerous well-known imprints including Simon & Schuster,
Pocket Books, Scribner, Gallery Books, Free Press, Atria Books, Fireside, Touchstone, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, Simon & Schuster Books for Young
Readers, Little Simon, and Simon Spotlight.

According to recent legislation, companies that sell textbooks in California must make digital versions of the books available by 2020. Senator Elaine Alquist, the author of the law claims that it will significantly reduce costs for students.

I'm mostly scratching my head: what's the point here? And don't get me wrong, I appreciate the effort, but there's really nothing more to it.

The Kindle 2 electronic reader is shown at an Amazon.com news conference in New York on Feb. 9. Macmillan CEO John Sargent said he was told Friday that
its books would be removed from Amazon.com, as would e-books for Amazon’s Kindle e-reader.
Mark Lennihan, The Associated Press

Technology is turning the page on hard copy textbooks — well, almost.

Twenty sections of RHET 105, one of the most popular courses on campus, are offering their textbooks in a computerized format. Students purchase an access
code and can read the book on their computer or on an e-reader such as Amazon’s Kindle or Sony’s Reader.

The PA's Digital Directors Group is "alert and ready to act" on key issues surrounding e-book strategies, delegates at yesterday's 'Blue Skies and White
Clouds' conference were told.

Kicking the day off, group chair and director of Random House Group Digital Fionnuala Duggan highlighted three themes identified by the group last year,
which they considered vital to the industry: interoperability, DRM and accessibility, piracy and standards. She said: "It's still early days and these
are things we can influence or shape... The Digital Directors Group is alert and ready to act on whatever comes out today."

While it seems increasingly likely that e-books will one day become the standard in education, California has passed a law to virtually guarantee it --
and to set a deadline.

A new state law, effective January 1, 2020, will require that all textbooks used in public and private postsecondary institutions be made available in electronic
form "to the extent practicable" either "in whole or in part." Senate Bill 48 states that "the electronic version of any textbook shall contain the same
content as the printed version and may be copy-protected."