Just Wink and Grab Big E-Book Releases

Just Wink and Grab Big E-Book Releases is an India Today article written by Max Martin and published on 4 June 2010. The report covers the forthcoming launch of Wink, an Indian e-book reader developed by Bangalore-based EC Media International, and includes a comment from Sunil Abraham of the Centre for Internet and Society on the device’s potential to expand book access in remote areas.

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Article Details

📰 Published in:: India Today
📅 Date:: 4 June 2010
👤 Author:: Max Martin
📄 Type:: News Report
📰 Newspaper Link:: Read Online

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One can call it a desi answer to e-book readers, or palmtops packed with digital books. Wink - to be launched by a Bangalore firm next month - has a line-up of some of India's top publishers and writers. It can go online through Wi-Fi, besides GPRS just like a mobile phone; or 3G if you pay more.

E-book readers have been changing the way people buy books and read worldwide. Typically they weigh less than a paperback, store some 1,000 books and let you buy a book online in a minute. They read somewhat like real paper without backlight or glare, even out in bright sunshine, thanks to a technology called 'E Ink'(see box).

Though digital books are at least two decades old, it is Amazon's Kindle that made waves since its 2007 launch, boosting book sales, shutting down many small stores in the USA. Sony Reader, Samsung Papyrus, Fujitsu Flepia and Plastic Logica are some leading brands. Apple's iPad also supports e-books, besides being a powerful tool for gaming and multimedia; its display is backlit, so you can read it at night. Pi was the first Indian e-reader launched last year by Infibeam, a firm with an online paper bookstore. It is now making school textbook content available.

"Wink has an open policy," claimed Pradeep Palazhi, the California-based COO of EC Media International, the company behind the gadget. Promoted by the Kottayam-based DC Books, the firm promises access to a lakh titles in 15 languages shortly, each costing about a third less than a printed book.

Wink has rights over 6,000 Malayalam titles and a few more thousand in Hindi, Tamil and Marathi, Palazhi said. It is forging newspaper tie-ups too. Made in China, the gadget is supported by Digital Rights Management (DRM) software that restricts access and copying.

Free downloads are, however, available from open sources like Project Gutenberg. At Rs 12,000 entry price, it is cheaper by a quarter compared with Kindle.

The books will be in EPUB format, lighter than a PDF. One charge of the battery can last for 10,000 page views, Palazhi claimed. This 'unplugged' quality is what endears the gadget to Sunil Abraham, executive director of Centre for Internet and Society here, a critique of restrictive models like DRM. "Looks like a good fare that can make books accessible in remote villages," he said.

What is e-Ink?

e-Ink comprises millions of tiny capsules. Each contains charged black & white particles suspended in a clear fluid. When an electric field is applied, the white particles move to the top, leaving black particles hidden at the bottom. So you see a white surface.

By reversing this process, the black particles appear at the top. The 'ink' is printed onto a sheet of plastic film for a display.

Context and Background

This article was published at a time when the global e-reader market was expanding rapidly, driven largely by Amazon’s Kindle, which had launched in 2007. In India, the market was still nascent, with Infibeam’s Pi being the only domestic e-reader available at the time. Wink represented a second attempt at a home-grown device, with a notable focus on Indian-language content — a gap that international devices had not addressed.

The mention of Digital Rights Management (DRM) is editorially significant. Sunil Abraham and the Centre for Internet and Society had been consistent critics of DRM frameworks on the grounds that they restrict access to knowledge, particularly for users in lower-income settings. His qualified approval of Wink, despite its use of DRM, centred specifically on its offline, battery-efficient usability and its potential reach into areas with limited connectivity.

EC Media International’s parent, DC Books, is one of Kerala’s largest publishers, which explains the device’s strong Malayalam-language catalogue at launch.