E-book

Electronic Books or eBooks as they are popularly known, are books that are published in a digital format. All of the book’s content is made to be readable on any digital device from computers to smartphones and tablets. They are made available and distributed through the internet as downloadable files or as web pages that can be read online.

Common eBook Formats

·       EPUB – this is one of the most popular formats for eBooks as it is supported on almost all devices and e-readers except Amazon Kindle.

·       MOBI – This is similar to the EPUB format except for the fact that it doesn’t support audio or video and it isn’t publicly available.

·       AZW – This format was developed by Amazon specifically for their Kindle e-reader, any eBook purchased from Amazon will come in this format. The AZW format supports both audio and visual content in eBooks, but it is not supported on many other e-readers besides Amazon’s Kindle.

·       PDF – this is another extremely popular format of eBooks, as it is easy and comfortable to use along with the fact that it is open standard. The main drawback of this format is that it isn’t reflow-able. This means that the presentation of the book doesn’t adapt to the size of and the user settings.

eBook Readers

eBook readers or eReaders are devices that are made specifically for the purpose of downloading and reading eBooks. They are usually handheld devices that offer a variety of features that enhance the digital reading experience. This includes things such as – longer battery life, various lighting options, sharp displays, customisable size and font of the text, page-turning feature, automatic bookmarking, and more.

These are some of the most popular eReaders that exist in the market –

• Amazon’s Kindle
• Rakuten’s Kobo e-reader
• Barnes & Noble’s Nook
• BeBook Neo