Microsoft, Publishers and Electronic Book Makers to Develop Ebook Standards

Posted on October 8, 1998

Microsoft Corp. announced it is joining major publishing firms, electronics manufacturers and pioneers in the new market for electronic books to establish an important set of open technical standards and help strengthen this emerging industry.

The announcement was made at the world's first electronic book ("eBook") conference, sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Md. The firms working with Microsoft include publishers Bertelsmann, HarperCollins Publishers Inc., Microsoft Press, Penguin Putnam Inc., Simon & Schuster and Time-Warner Books; barnesandnoble.com; the manufacturer Hitachi Ltd.; Audible Inc.; plus eBook pioneers EveryBook Inc., Glassbook Inc., Librius Inc., NuvoMedia Inc. and SoftBook Press Inc.

eBooks are digital versions of printed books, which display on specialized reading devices or on PCs and laptops. The firms announced today that they have agreed to collaborate on a common set of file specifications. This will allow a title to be read on all machines adhering to these standards, and it will allow publishers to reach a wide audience without separately reformatting their titles for each machine.

"The goal is to create as many titles as possible, and win as many customers as possible -- as fast as possible," said Dick Brass, vice president for technology development at Microsoft, who heads the company's eBook efforts. "The idea is to get eBooks off the ground." Brass emphasized that the "Open eBook" standard announced today is designed so that early purchasers of eBook titles will be able to read their "books" on all devices supporting the standard. "There will be no penalty for buying early," he said.

During his keynote address, Brass reviewed the history of paperless book devices. He pointed out that while the product has great potential to lower publishing and book costs, ease distribution and increase access to information and education, past attempts to launch these devices have been largely unsuccessful. "Most books are still published on paper only," Brass said. He urged publishers and eBook pioneers to continue to work together to make eBooks more attractive to consumers and more likely to succeed.

At the conference, Microsoft announced that the Open eBook specification for eBook file and format structure is based on the popular HTML and XML languages used to format information for Web sites. The specification, which will be available free of charge to all interested users, is designed to allow compatibility between many different types of eBook devices, including conventional PCs and laptops, as well as the specialized reading appliances that are now beginning to appear.