eBook – What is it ?

Fundamentally, an eBooks is an electronic version of a text that can read on a standard desktop or laptop screen, on a PDA or other portable device, or on dedicated ebooks hardware. eBooks can use many file formats, though they all share some common characteristics: they are portable, transferable, and searchable. Electronic media can also incorporate other features, such as annotations, audio and video files, and hyperlinks.  ebooks can include commenting and chat tools that allow interaction among readers, and some let users add links to external resources. Some eBook projects are tied to proprietary software, while others provide eBooks in formats such as HTML.

Different kinds of  eBooks serve a variety of purposes. In some cases texts that are conventionally printed are also offered electronically, to increase access to readers who might not be able to obtain printed copies or to provide electronic features that enhance or complement the printed version. Other books are only available electronically, which avoids the printing, storage, and mailing costs of traditional publishing and may considerably reduce the time required to produce and distribute a text. Still other projects embrace ebooks because the content is more suited to the medium—and the functions that digital texts allow—than to printed text.