To the Editor

Corrections or additions?

This article was prepared for the August 30,

2000 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.

Between the Lines

Our cover story on E-books is another example of why

we consumers still like to hold things in our hand. The electronic

book, now circulating at Princeton and Plainsboro public libraries,

sounds like a great new toy — not only can you adjust the size

of type to fit your eyes, but you can also make notations in the

margin

and underline sections for later review. And the next reader can undo

all your "scribbling" and start clean.

Freelance writer David McDonough got a chance to try one of the

E-books first hand. As he points out in his article beginning on page

17, not all the bells and whistles are all that helpful, at least

not yet. McDonough’s evaluation is echoed by John Feldcamp, founder

of Xlibris, who recently took flak for being quoted in a trade journal

as saying "only eight people in the world are buying E-books,

and they are all CEOs of E-book companies."

His firm, which was incubated in Trenton but moved to Philadelphia,

has 3,000 titles published online or in process and will be adding

1,000 titles monthly by December. These books can be read on a PC,

on an E-book, or can be printed on demand and shipped by snail mail.

"We are providing a gateway for authors to the marketplace but

are agnostic as to what the standard is," says Feldcamp.

"My basic feeling is that E-books will ultimately win huge. but

we will all be pretty damned old by the time we get there," says

Feldcamp. He thinks that E-book success will come when it has

"extraordinary

displays, processors, memory, storage, and wireless connectivity.

Then it will be a way for college kids to have the coolest textbooks

on the planets."

In the meantime we keep sizing up these new technologies whenever

we get a chance. One opportunity will be this Thursday, August 31,

at the Doral Forrestal. The U.S. 1 Technology Showcase features 14

companies showing off their technology-related products and services.

Stories in this issue on pages 4, 6, and 45 preview some of those

exhibitors. And the full line-up can be found in the ad on page 18.

It’s free and it’s in conjunction with the Chamber trade fair that

features nearly four score exhibitors. We hope to see you there.

Top Of Page
To the Editor

Regarding the article on Herb Spiegel’s "Hands On, Hard Knocks

School" (U.S. 1, August 9,

www.princetoninfo.com/200008/00809c01.html): I would suggest two

additions.