SoftBook
Encyclopedia
SoftBook, "The Intelligent Reading System," was one of the first dedicated electronic book (eBook) readers. It was released in 1998 by SoftBook Press, Inc. of Menlo Park
, California
.
and Lunar Design
, featured a brown leather
cover which flipped back to give the device a more book-like feel, and was notable for its large 6 × 8 inch (15.2 × 20.3 cm) touchscreen
display which allowed you to navigate the HTML
-based pages as well as highlight and draw simple notes on the pages. It could store approximately 1,500 pages (expandable up to 100,000), and claimed that the rechargeable battery
allowed up to 5 hours of reading time.
Use of the SoftBook did not require a desktop computer
or an Internet service provider
; it had an RJ11 telephone jack and internal 33.6 Kbps modem
to connect with the "SoftBookstore" to download books. Publishers included HarperCollins
, McGraw-Hill
, Simon & Schuster
, Warner Books, and others, and subscriptions to periodicals such as Newsweek
, Time
, and The Wall Street Journal
were available (which could be downloaded automatically overnight if you kept the device plugged in to a phone jack). You could upload your own documents via their Internet web site to download onto your SoftBook.
The SoftBook was the first device to comply with the Open eBook
specification, which was "based primarily on technology developed by SoftBook Press."
SoftBook utilized the and patents.
In 2000, SoftBook Press was acquired by Gemstar-TV Guide International
, who also acquired its competitor, NuvoMedia (creator of the Rocket eBook
), and merged them into the Gemstar eBook Group.
Menlo Park, California
Menlo Park, California is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south; Atherton, North Fair Oaks, and Redwood City...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Overview
The SoftBook, designed by IDEOIDEO
IDEO is an international design and innovation consultancy founded in Palo Alto, California, United States with other locations in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Boston, London, Munich, Shanghai, and Singapore, as well as Mumbai, Seoul, and Tokyo. The company helps design products, services,...
and Lunar Design
Lunar Design
LUNAR is a product design and development consultancy based in the San Francisco Bay Area.- History :LUNAR was founded in 1984 by Jeff Smith, Gerard Furbershaw and Robert Brunner. Capabilities include product and package design, engineering, strategic design, interaction design, and medical...
, featured a brown leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
cover which flipped back to give the device a more book-like feel, and was notable for its large 6 × 8 inch (15.2 × 20.3 cm) touchscreen
Touchscreen
A touchscreen is an electronic visual display that can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area. The term generally refers to touching the display of the device with a finger or hand. Touchscreens can also sense other passive objects, such as a stylus...
display which allowed you to navigate the HTML
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
-based pages as well as highlight and draw simple notes on the pages. It could store approximately 1,500 pages (expandable up to 100,000), and claimed that the rechargeable battery
Rechargeable battery
A rechargeable battery or storage battery is a group of one or more electrochemical cells. They are known as secondary cells because their electrochemical reactions are electrically reversible. Rechargeable batteries come in many different shapes and sizes, ranging anything from a button cell to...
allowed up to 5 hours of reading time.
Use of the SoftBook did not require a desktop computer
Desktop computer
A desktop computer is a personal computer in a form intended for regular use at a single location, as opposed to a mobile laptop or portable computer. Early desktop computers are designed to lay flat on the desk, while modern towers stand upright...
or an Internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
; it had an RJ11 telephone jack and internal 33.6 Kbps modem
Modem
A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
to connect with the "SoftBookstore" to download books. Publishers included HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
, McGraw-Hill
McGraw-Hill
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., is a publicly traded corporation headquartered in Rockefeller Center in New York City. Its primary areas of business are financial, education, publishing, broadcasting, and business services...
, Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
, Warner Books, and others, and subscriptions to periodicals such as Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, and The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
were available (which could be downloaded automatically overnight if you kept the device plugged in to a phone jack). You could upload your own documents via their Internet web site to download onto your SoftBook.
The SoftBook was the first device to comply with the Open eBook
Open eBook
Open eBook , or formally, the Open eBook Publication Structure , is a legacy e-book format "based primarily on technology developed by SoftBook Press" and on XML; it has been superseded by the EPUB electronic publication standard.Open eBook is a ZIP file plus a Manifest file...
specification, which was "based primarily on technology developed by SoftBook Press."
Specifications
Technical specifications printed on the back of the product box:- Weight: 2.9 lbs (1.3 kg)
- Display: 9.5 inch (24.1 cm) diagonal, greyscale, backlit, touch-sensitive LCDTouchscreenA touchscreen is an electronic visual display that can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area. The term generally refers to touching the display of the device with a finger or hand. Touchscreens can also sense other passive objects, such as a stylus...
, built-in protective cover - Capacity: 2 MBMegabyteThe megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
(1,500 pages), expandable to 64 MB with Flash miniature card (50–100,000 pages) - Modem: Built-in 33.6 KbpsKBPSKBPS is a high school radio station run by Benson Polytechnic High School students enrolled in the radio broadcasting program. It is owned by Portland Public Schools...
modemModemA modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
; download approximately 100 pages per minute - Power: Rechargeable lithium-ion batteryBattery (electricity)An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...
pack. Up to 5 hours reading time (less than two-hour recharge). AC powerAC powerPower in an electric circuit is the rate of flow of energy past a given point of the circuit. In alternating current circuits, energy storage elements such as inductance and capacitance may result in periodic reversals of the direction of energy flow...
adapter. Optional recharge cradle. - Reading tools: Sophisticated searching, bookmarking, hyperlinking, text markup, stylusStylusA stylus is a writing utensil, or a small tool for some other form of marking or shaping, for example in pottery. The word is also used for a computer accessory . It usually refers to a narrow elongated staff, similar to a modern ballpoint pen. Many styli are heavily curved to be held more easily...
for marking and highlighting. - System requirements: AnalogAnalog signalAn analog or analogue signal is any continuous signal for which the time varying feature of the signal is a representation of some other time varying quantity, i.e., analogous to another time varying signal. It differs from a digital signal in terms of small fluctuations in the signal which are...
telephoneTelephoneThe telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
connection. AC power outlet for battery recharge. - Price: $599.95 USD (original MSRPSuggested retail priceThe manufacturer's suggested retail price , list price or recommended retail price of a product is the price which the manufacturer recommends that the retailer sell the product. The intention was to help to standardise prices among locations...
), or $299.95 plus $19.95 per month for a 24 month "content package" contract (totalling $778.75)
SoftBook utilized the and patents.
SoftBook Press, Inc.
SoftBook Press, Inc. was founded by James Sachs and Tom Pomeroy in 1996, and located at 1075 Curtis St., Menlo Park CA, 94025. Book conversion was managed by The Lowe-Martin Group of Ottawa ON.In 2000, SoftBook Press was acquired by Gemstar-TV Guide International
Gemstar-TV Guide International
Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. was a media company that licensed interactive program guide technology to multichannel operators, such as cable and satellite television providers, and consumer electronics manufacturers, video recorder scheduling code under brands such as VCR Plus, published TV...
, who also acquired its competitor, NuvoMedia (creator of the Rocket eBook
Rocket eBook
The Rocket eBook was an early popular e-book reader. It was manufactured by NuvoMedia until 2000, when it was purchased by Gemstar-TV Guide International.Rocket-compatible e-books were sold through the websites of Barnes & Noble as well as Powell's Bookstore....
), and merged them into the Gemstar eBook Group.