http://www.web2learning.net/archives/2674

I am now an avid user of the eReader for the Palm/PC after having experimented with the early Glassbook Reader, Rocket Ebook, Microsoft Reader, and have purchased titles for Adobe Digital Editions, Mobipocket Reader as well as the majority of my ebook content from eReader.com (now run by Fictionwise.com)

I have not tried the Kindle device yet as I have resisted proprietary readers that don’t easily allow multiple device reading and have found the eReader format the most flexible and portable of all the ebook platforms. The most problematic issue has been the digital rights management systems, which frequently make the cross-platform reading difficult.

eReader has produced a version for the PocketPC platform and the newest version for the iPhone, but they did not bother to replicate the eReader for Palm features such as easy hyperlink lookup in multiple reference material titles (dictionaries, encyclopedias), which is probably my favorite feature.

I believe on a past Digital Campus podcast there was a consensus that content for the handheld device was really the wave of the future and I agree. The most recent problem I have encountered is that Amazon’s Kindle is quickly cornering the market on titles that I would consider purchasing (mostly History and Non-Fiction titles). Amazon appears to be mounting a Microsoft-type marketing coup and I am afraid that at some point, if I want a certain title in ebook format I will have to purchase the Kindle version.

In summary the ebook technology has so many great features (e.g. full-text search, hyperlink lookup in reference works, electronic annotation with backup and export, consolidated small-space storage, etc.) I hope that the technology stabilizes to the point where, using the International Digital Publishing Forum’s (IDPF) Open Publication Structure, we might have the ability to obtain any desired title in the individual’s preferred format.