Planet eBook Talks To Microsoft

September 19, 2001

Planet eBook speaks to Microsoft's Nathan Everett about eBooks and Microsoft Reader. Nathan will be participating in the Planet eBook & DRM Arena at Seybold San Francisco 2001, September 25-26.

Last year Microsoft entered the eBook world with the release of Microsoft Reader. What features have users/readers been most impressed with in Microsoft Reader?

ClearType, great pagination, portability, use on Pocket PC, OpeneBook standards.

The world of eBooks and DRM has gone through a year of consolidation, how have you seen the past year and the direction in which it appears to be heading?

A lot of us thought that eBooks were a special thing that publishers would create and sell to us. Therefore they needed good security as well as a good reading platform. A lot of solutions have been offered, and fortunately Microsoft has been a key player in advancing this technology as well as the concept of eBooks.

What people were crying for, however, was not simply books on screen, but readable documents of all kinds, distributed securely and readable on a variety of devices. Scarcely an e-mail of any substance comes across my desk that I don't convert to READER format so that I can read it comfortably. Departmental reports and proposals come in READER format. There is no question that I want to open these items easily in my web browser. So, in spite of the consolidation that has gone on in the industry, we've created a new standard for reading on screen, distributing work securely, and publishing individual work. We'll see more reading technology integrated into the core of our computer experience, which supports the fact that most knowledge workers in the U.S. spend 4 hours of more a day reading on screen. A great example of this is the inclusion of ClearType in Windows XP.

What is the key thing that needs to occur before the widespread adoption of eBooks? A transparent rights management system? Improved display technology? More content? New devices?

As with most of the world, we buy new things that promise comfort and convenience. The world of reading is no different. Unless reading a book on screen is as comfortable and convenient as reading in print, there will be an uphill struggle. That means both software developments to make sure that books (and other matter) are rendered on screen in a clear and pleasant manner. But it also means hardware technology that increases the comfort level when reading on screen. That includes device weight and versatility, screen/page size and orientation, portability, resolution, and connectivity.