New E-Books Will Debut With Copious Libraries

I've already declared my love for e Ink-based readers like the Sony Reader and the iRex iLiad reader, but a Washington Post article (free registration required) reminds me that, as with electronic books past, early adopters won't be lacking for material to peruse: volunteer-run organizations like Project Gutenberg have been providing online text versions of public-domain works for decades. The result is that thousands upon thousands of works, in dozens of languages, including classics like Paradise Lost, the science-fiction works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and a bunch of stuff from a hack named Bill Shakespeare.

It's interesting to note, of course, that ever more restrictive copyright laws (and, to be fair, the relative expense and expertise required for mastering) have kept similar initiatives from taking hold in other media. So while you're sitting around with your small handful of discs for your new HD DVD player, at least you'll have plenty to read.