Frankin eBookman

"We're currently examining the different models being used by (mainly public) libraries to circulate eBooks. We have two of the first generation Rocket Readers currently sold by Gemstar eBookstore and considering the possibilty of adding additional readers.

We're also looking at the Audible.com MP3 audio ebook program for libraries as well. This will require an investment in MP3 capable players as well. What would be ideal is to use a hybrid player/reader that could handle both formats. Franklin's eBookman is a first gen attempt at such a device.

I'm hoping to locate a few libraries out there that are using the Franklin's and gather some feedback on how they've worked as both reader and player. I've located a few, but (not surprisingly) they appear to be mainly university libraries.

Anyone out there in 'blogspace aware of any libraries (hopefully public) that have succesfullly implemented ebooks using a hybrid device like the Franklins?" [LibTech Weblog]

I'll have to dig through my digital and paper stacks to see if I know of a public library using these, but I really wanted to use this post to highlight a little-remembered fact about the first generation of Rocketbooks. We have three of them at SLS, two regular and one Pro. We purchased them so that staff at our member libraries coudl see for themselves what they were like. The one advantage these particular models have over the newer ones is that they allow you to transfer any HTML page or Word document onto them.

So in the past, I encouraged libraries to load their current newsletters, calendars, etc. on their circulating Rocketbooks. With the REB1100 and 1200, you can't do that anymore. You're locked into the content Gemstar (and the publishers) want to make available to you, and guess what - that doesn't include free material. Big surprise (not)!

This is one fork in the digital content road that we are now facing. Besides the lack of standards, interoperability, and usability, another reason ebook hardware hasn't taken off is content. There just isn't a varied enough menu from which to select (imagine your favorite O'Reilly books on one reader and you'll start to understand). Even if the industry figures out all of the problems in the first sentence of this paragraph, ebook readers still won't go anywhere if the content is difficult to obtain, expensive, and immobile (in other words, not portable). This is what happens when you reduce the number of formats and material available to a specific device - no one wants the device.

If the entertainment industry follows this same tact and tries to lock down all of its content so that it's in unusable formats and is not portable, no one will want it. Older devices become premium over newer devices because they play more formats, or so the theory goes. If new PCs have copyright protection built into them, no one will want them and they'll just stick with the old ones. Which is exactly what might happen to those first Rocketbook readers. I remember lamenting how quickly the SLS RBs became outdated. Now I'm starting to think we might be able to sell them on eBay someday for a handsomely sum.