Give us an ´e´

The death of the printed page has been prophesised for many years. Even before the introduction of the World Wide Web, so-called experts were claiming that radio and television meant that print publishing would become increasingly unviable. All the major newspapers are providing their Web portals free of charge, without pay-walls or other barriers for viewing content that is also available, at a cost, in their printed versions. Even the book publishing industry is now feeling the pinch with a great deal of reference material now available on various wikis, blogs and reference portals such as About.com. Yet the sheer convenience and portability of paper gives it a cachet that reading from a laptop screen or mobile phone cannot compete with. E-book readers, from companies such as Amazon and Sony, now hope to provide the same usability as paper. Electronic books have been talked about for years, but it´s only recently that manufacturers have come up with the technology that can come close to matching the feel and comfort of a real printed book.