Electronic Book

What Does Electronic Book Mean?

An electronic book (e-book) is a digital publication that can consist of text, images or a combination of both. An electronic book can be read on a proprietary digital device (an e-reader) or on a computer, which requires special software.

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Techopedia Explains Electronic Book

E-books originated mostly as technical product manuals, but today, the format covers most publishing formats. Some authors rejected by traditional publishers may electronically self-publish their work, due to low production costs. Major publishing companies also offer e-books as an alternative to hard copy publications.

Some e-books use a proprietary format, such as those designed for Amazon’s Kindle tablet. The alternative is an open format, like Adobe’s PDF, which is compatible with most e-readers.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…