RE: Are you debating the elimination of printed docs? (An idea.. -- .)

[Emru Townsend <etownsen -at- Softimage -dot- com>]

I had a Rocket eBook for a few months while I was working on some articles
on e-books (here's one: http://www.janmag.com/features/ebooks.html).  I
think that once you get past the "I can't turn pages" prejudice, it's pretty
good.  I also wouldn't mind reducing the shelf space I have dedicated to all
my software & hardware docs.  With a few tweaks (color screens, for
instance) I don't see any reason why the eBook or its descendant couldn't do
away with paper docs.

Emru Townsend, Information Developer | etownsen -at- softimage -dot- com
Softimage, Inc.
Personal Web site: http://purpleplanetmedia.com
Recent musings: http://purpleplanetmedia.com/eye/film/f2k.html


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Darren Barefoot [mailto:dbarefoot -at- mpsbc -dot- com]
> 
> Good afternoon,
> 
> As a point of interest in this never-ending debate, Microsoft 
> and Barnes and
> Noble just today announced that they're going to join forces on the
> promotion and development of the Rocket eBook--the handheld,
> shaped-like-a-paperback digital book--and associated 
> software. In fact,
> within the next 10 years, Barnes and Noble Vice Chairman 
> Steve Riggio said,
> "There will be an electronic version of virtually every single book in
> print." See the following URL for more details:
> 
> http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2417896,00.html
> 
> Might this technology, if it gets wide-spread enough, be the 
> nail in the
> coffin of the paper vs. online debate? Can it provide the best of both
> worlds? Some might scoff at the possibility of "an eBook on 
> every coffee
> table," but they said the same thing about the television, 
> automobile and
> ever needing more than 64K. Just a thought. DB.