The Philippine Online Chronicles

Technological advancements are a great influence in the way things are done, though sometimes paradoxical. Fire became a weapon, and also paved the way for modern medical miracles.

The invention of the wheel, meanwhile, allowed for the refinement of agricultural methods, which in turn led to a multitude of other innovations and cultural transformations. As transportation and agricultural methods evolved, trade was also elevated to an art form. The barter system became the stock exchange, and the delivery of one or two cartloads of goods at a time became several thousand crates per day of cargo ferried by ships from one country to another.

The development of the Internet and online security protocols, meanwhile, paved the way for the creation of a web economy. A variety of goods are now traded online, allowing people to shop from the comforts of their own homes, and making shipping and delivery necessary only when enough orders come in. In some cases, delivery is instantaneous, as with the purchase of e-books and their direct download to digital readers.

There are several e-book stores and repositories online. Some are tied to e-readers, while others offer books for download to assorted devices, from desktop computers to smartphones. These sites offer different types of reading material: novels, anthologies, textbooks, magazines, newspapers, even comics, all in nifty digital formats.

Most are for sale, but some are available for free, such as out-of-copyright books, or chapter samples of new releases. Some of these have print editions for sale to defer printing costs. However, the latest bestsellers in e-book format are obtainable for a price, with some being offered at discounted rates.

Device manufacturers, in order to better cater to customers, make e-book stores and databases accessible by default on their e-readers. Some do it in reverse: upon creating an e-book store, they release devices in hopes that buyers go primarily to their stores for content. It's a matter of want and need – someone will either buy an e-reader because they want to read e-books; or they will buy e-books because they want to try this newfangled technology called an e-reader.

In order to maximize sales, some e-book stores provide special applications that can be installed in e-readers. There are applications for smartphones, Macs and PCs. Even online stores that market their own devices such as the Kindle (Amazon.com) and Nook (Barnes & Noble) also give customers alternative means to purchase e-books on other machines via special programs.

Apple, being primarily a device manufacturer, makes access to its store exclusive – only people using iTunes, or Apple applications via the iPad, iTouch or iPhone, can access the iBookstore.

Where to find books for sale:

• Amazon.com (www.amazon.com)

In addition to books and e-books sold via the Kindle store, Amazon.com, the company behind the Kindle, boasts an array of products, from clothes and power tools to music and pet supplies.

• Barnes & Noble (www.barnesandnoble.com)

Going head-to-head with Amazon is the Barnes & Noble store, which also sells a wide range of products. However, B&N primarily sells print books and e-books for its e-reader, the Nook, along with a smattering of movies, music, toys and decorative items for the home.

• iBookstore (accessible via iBooks App)

The iBookstore, like the iStore, is accessible using an Apple application, and is tailored for access by Apple devices such as the iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone. Using the iBooks application, users can browse through a catalog of books from iStore-accredited publishers.

• Reader Store (www.ebookstore.sony.com)

The Reader store is tailored for Sony's Reader. It doesn't sell print books, but allows customers to browse through its catalog of e-books for purchase and download.

• Kobo Books (www.kobobooks.com)

Kobo Books is an e-book store backed by several retailers, and book and technology companies. While accessible via other devices, the store also promotes its own device, the Kobo eReader.

• enTourage e-Books Store (www.entourageedge.com/e-books.html)

The enTourage store caters primarily to users of the enTourage eDGe. As the device's target market is the student population, featured books are usually somewhat relevant to classwork or appeal to the academia, such as classics, literary award winners, textbooks and treatises on assorted topics.

• BooksOnBoard (www.booksonboard.com)

Touting itself as the “Largest Independent eBookstore,” BooksOnBoard sells e-books and audio books. E-books are available in EPUB, MOBI, PDB, and LIT formats, while audio books are available as MP3 and WMA files.

• O'Reilly (www.oreilly.com)

O'Reilly targets mostly information technology professionals, offering books on programming languages, hardware, and business strategies. Instead of offering audio books, this store sells instructional videos made by experts in different fields. O'Reilly also sponsors conferences and training seminars, and runs an online technology school.

• All Romance (www.allromanceebooks.com)

All Romance's selection, as its name implies, includes all colors of the Romance genre, from paranormal affairs to historical love stories set in England's Regency period. Free content is available for registered users.

• SmashWords (www.smashwords.com)

If you're looking for books from independent authors and publishers, SmashWords is the place to go. E-books are available in multiple formats, and are DRM (Digital Rights Management)-free. Bookmakers can publish and distribute on the site for free, and set prices for their works, either giving them away or selling them for a certain amount.

• Mobipocket (www.mobipocket.com)

The Mobipocket store, which offers novels and reference books in digital format, came into being during the heyday of palmtop computers (PDAs). Initially a software developer for Franklin Electronic Publishers Inc., the company behind the defunct eBookman e-reader, its shares were bought by Amazon in 2005. Mobipocket's e-book format (PRC or MOBI) is one of the three main formats based on the Open eBook specifications. It also offers free downloads, mostly books from Project Gutenberg digitized in MOBI format.

Get 'em for free:

• Feedbooks (www.feedbooks.com)

Feedbooks, which calls itself “a cloud service for digital publishing/distribution” and says it is the first service to support the EPUB format, offers free e-books for download. Its selection contains books that are in the Public Domain, or were given away by authors for distribution.

• Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org)

The first producer of free e-books, Project Gutenberg has over 33,000 books in its database, which are available in EPUB, Kindle (AZW/MOBI), HTML and simple text formats. It has several partners, through which several thousand more books are available, such as Wattpad (www.wattpad.com) and MobileRead (www.mobileread.com), which create books for mobile phones and other handheld devices.

• Random House Free Library (www.suvudu.com)

Random House-owned Suvudu features free full-length genre books: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Paranormal, Star Wars, Graphic Novels & Manga, and Gaming. Books are copyrighted, but given away for free.

• TryHarlequin (www.tryharlequin.com)

Tryharlequin.com features 16 free e-books from romance publisher Harlequin. The website serves as an introductory portal for the company, letting potential readers know about its books and partners. Books in tryharlequin.com are available in PDF format.

• Munseys (www.munseys.com)

Munseys contains over 20,000 free Pulp Fiction, Classics, and Hard To Find books. E-books in Munseys are available in 10 digital formats including Daisy DTB, HTML, Plucker, PDF, LIT, EPUB and MOBI.

• BookGlutton (www.bookglutton.com)

BookGlutton offers a unique twist: it makes reading into a community experience if the reader so desires. The site allows some books in its database to be read online or downloaded as an EPUB book for free. However, other books may only be read or downloaded for a fee.

Photo: “Brave New World - Un mundo feliz - Schöne neue Welt” by Daniela Hartmann, c/o Flickr. Some Rights Reserved.

This article first appeared in the Vee Press e-book primer, which was printed and given away at the Future of the Book conference on Sept. 13-14, 2010. Download a PDF of the primer here.