Authored by Cheyenne Clenney, UNG Press Intern
A Brief History of eBooks
The concept of eBooks goes back as far as the earliest rendition of the internet when Michael S. Hart digitized the world’s first eBook, the United States Declaration of Independence, in 1971 (Government Book Talk, Losowsky). Using ARPAnet, Hart uploaded the downloadable file typed in all caps as part of a program called Project Gutenburg (Government Book Talk; Hardy; Losowsky). In the subsequent years, the internet began rapidly evolving, leading to more efforts to digitize reading:
- 1971 – Michael S. Hart digitized the U.S. Declaration of Independence (Losowsky).
- 1993 – BiblioBytes created the first electronic market to sell books over the internet (Hardy).
- 1999 – Simon & Schuster created iBooks, becoming the first trade publisher to publish eBook and print books (Hardy).
- 2002 – Random House and HarperCollins started to sell digital versions of their publications (Government Book Talk).
- 2007 – Amazon released the Kindle eReader (Government Book Talk).
The Introduction of eReaders
The release of the Kindle in 2007 launched a whole new way to read digitally—with thousands of books available in one place; the 2010s saw a substantial rise in eBook sales, surpassing both paperback and hardcover book sales in America (Government Book Talk). The Barnes & Noble Nook and the Sony Reader were also pioneers in the digital reading world, helping to pave the way for the creation of eBook platforms that are popular today, such as Apple Books and Libby (Government Book Talk).
The Kindle was popular when it first released nearly two decades ago, and it continues to dominate the industry today for its convenience and portability. eReaders offer accessibility to thousands of books at the touch of a finger, provide a variety of fonts, such as the OpenDyslexic font, and include subscriptions that make digital copies more affordable to customers than print books. The nuances and benefits of eReaders launched a rapid demand for eBooks that the publishing industry still sees today.
The Evolution of eBooks & Contemporary Publishing
The Evolution of eBooks and Contemporary Publishing
Digital publications were first text or PDF files, but the most common and recognized format today is EPUB; it offers resizable and reflowable text (Government Book Talk). EPUB files are easy to access and can be downloaded on phones, computers, tablets, and eReaders. In an article titled “Page Loading in Process: Digital Representations of Page Turning and the Future History of the Book,” Kurt Milberger posits that “publishers have consistently sought to confine text to fixed formats resembling the book for ease of distribution, control of content, and most importantly profit.” However, despite their high demand, print books remain significantly more popular than eBooks. The one corner of print publishing that digital reading cannot dominate is the 40% of paper book marketing called “gift purchasing” (Hardy). Recipe books, picture books, coffee table books, and design books are some genres that are sold in abundance around the holidays (Hardy). As the world of eBooks continues to expand, it is important to note that contemporary publishing is an ever-evolving space that allows for the co-existence of print and digital reading.
References
Government Book Talk. “The History of eBooks from 1930’s ‘Readies’ to Today’s GPO eBook Services.” Government Printing Office, Mar. 2014, https://govbooktalk.gpo.gov/2014/03/10/the-history-of-ebooks-from-1930s-readies-to-todays-gpo-ebook-services/.
Hardy, James. “A History of eBooks.” History Cooperative, 5 Feb. 2024, https://historycooperative.org/the-history-of-e-books/.
Losowsky, Andrew. “The Inventor of eBooks Dies.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 8 Sept. 2011, www.huffpost.com/entry/ebook-inventor_n_954684.
Milberger, Kurt. “Page Loading in Process: Digital Representations of Page Turning and the Future History of the Book.” New Americanist, vol. 3, no. 2, Nov. 2024, pp. 146–64. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.3366/tna.2024.0035.
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