January 23, 2006

By Mike Goldfein / Belo Capital Bureau

Tech Files are video reports examining popular topics about technology and the Internet. Links to helpful Web sites are listed. Mike Goldfein reports from the Belo Washington bureau.

STORY
Are you ready for a book without paper? Well, later this spring, Sony is going to begin selling a new gadget called an electronic book Reader. The portable device will hold dozens of books that you buy and download online.

Here's Mike Goldfein:

Can a novel be called a page turner if there aren't any pages to turn?

"The actual experience of reading from this panel is no different than reading a book." — Lee Ali Shirani, Sony vice president

Sony's new eBook, called the Reader, will begin selling this spring for between $300 and $400.

The rechargeable device can hold up to about 80 novels that you buy at an online bookstore and then download.

The 9-ounce paperback-sized Reader uses an innovative technology from a Massachusetts company called E Ink.

The paper-thin screen contains millions of microscopic black-and-white capsules that are moved by a small electrical charge to form letters.

Now what's cool about this is that the screen doesn't rely on a backlight, like an LCD computer screen. It uses reflected light, so it's as easy to see and read outdoors in the bright sunlight as it is indoors.

The question is whether consumers will give up hundreds of years of ink-and-paper tradition.

"People have gotten used to downloading music, video content. And we think the time is right to reintroduce electronic book reading to the public as well." — Lee Ali Shirani, Sony vice president

The Reader certainly has features paperbacks don't. Fonts can be resized. Passages and pages can be easily bookmarked.

And the Reader will also play MP3s and show photos — although only in black and white.

And Sony promises to make a number of newspapers available for downloading to the device, too.

On the Web for Belo Interactive, I'm Mike Goldfein.

LEARN MORE

A number of major publishers have already lined up to provide books for the Reader. Prices should be slightly less than buying them in print.