After years of development, e-books finally seem to have come into their own, becoming one of the most popular Christmas presents in the United States in 2008. But will the prospects for the development of the e-book industry in Taiwan continue to look so rosy? In 2009, not only have share prices of Taiwanese companies involved in the e-book industry increased by 400% (Prime View's share price had risen from NT $12 at the beginning of the year to NT$ 48 as of September 14, 2009), a number of Taiwanese financial magazines have even run stories on e-books; add to this the news that a number of telecoms, publishers, and booksellers have formed alliances to enter the market. Taiwan currently has an advantage in the closed e-book industry chain. ASUSTek is said to be preparing to release its own inexpensive e-book reader (said to be able to be marked down as low as $163 USD, about NT$5000 and change, around half of the price of the Kindle 2). The e-book industry can be described as the hot new industry this summer! 

 
The digital reading experience offered by e-books is certainly attractive, and the convenience of a whole library in a single volume is totally beyond the reach traditional books. Taiwan currently has an important position within the global industry in terms of terms of raw materials for and the fabrication and assembly of electronic paper and e-book readers, and this is Prime View, Foxconn, and other companies' niche in the industry. And Taiwanese business alliances that have made it known that they intend to enter the e-book industry(some in publishing, some in displays, and some in telecommunications) are mainly focused on developing new reading platforms. However, in discussions of book reading platforms and service provision systems alone, there are a number of viewpoints that are worth considering. What problems will companies that enter the e-book industry face?

Firstly, for the average consumer, for whom reading is a hobby rather than an occupation, a more open form of reading services is more attractive and convenient than having all content locked away in a single device. For students and teachers forced to lug stacks of books everywhere, an e-book reader that can hold 1,000 volumes in the space of one offers tremendous value. I personally used to hate the idea of reading a message more than 140 characters long on a mobile phone. But one day, I found myself stuck in an interminable meeting and had nothing to kill time with but my cell phone and I found that reading the BBC's news website on my phone wasn't so bad; another day, I saw a high school student on the bus staring intently at his phone, which displayed lots of tightly packed of text, which didn't seem to bother the student, though, and he kept reading for a long time. Some entrepreneurs who have developed the e-reading industry in mainland China have also reported that in the Chinese text message market (finger culture), digital reading has received positive comments from a wide array of users. Judging from these examples, I believe that "reading" will not necessarily be limited to a specific device; immediacy and being able to be used anywhere will be the basic tests to be passed. So, how should companies dealing in e-books in the future choose between open and closed platforms? How to distribute resources to target the two different platform systems and business models will be an interesting question. Whether it is an open or closed platform, I am confident that Taiwanese manufacturers should be able to overcome technical problems and create comfortable reading devices that will satisfy the needs of various types of consumers.

The second essential problem is one of content. But what are we going to give consumers to read? The problem faced by Taiwan's Book11 or the Google Books Library Project, copyrights, looks like an insurmountable mountain range, and has forced Book11 and Google to first provide only old books about which there were no copyright disputes. Priceless as the classics may be, consumers will not remain satisfied with only being able to read older books on their e-book platforms forever. And yet, have e-books' rights management and security matured sufficiently to be trusted by content providers? It's not difficult to confiscate a pirated paperback, but with the nearly inconceivable transmission rate of the online world, if an e-book is cracked today, the electronic version of the book will probably be unsellable tomorrow. And Amazon's Digital Rights Management (DRM) bottlenecks (remote deletion of books purchased for the Kindle which Amazon turned out not to have the right to sell, causing an outcry from readers), profit sharing with publishers and other problems have shown that operating in the e-book industry is not as simple as digitizing a book, shoving it onto a reading platform and calling it a day. And can content providers' revenue streams be protected in business? This will likely be the key to whether or not content owners are willing to provide their content on e-book platforms in the future.

Will e-books revolutionize how books are written? With platform capabilities widely increasing, future readers’ selectivity will lead to increased diversity. Authors and content providers may engage readers through text alone, but it may also be possible to supplement books and articles with multimedia, combining text and pictures, or even audio-visual information, making reading a joy. In Pai Hsien-yung's Crystal Boys, for example, after a copyright agreement is completed, perhaps when the reader's eyes fall upon the words "in this kingdom of ours..." Jin Shi-jie's hoarse voice from the TV version could follow along with the emotional lines, providing a totally new reading experience. The digital reading trend's influence on and benefits for the e-learning industry hardly need to be pointed out; the pioneers of e-learning are no doubt ready and eager to show us what they can do.

 
What positive interactions will be produced by the TELDAP's and digital reading? For instance, when writing an e-book about the birds of Taiwan, you might draw from the biodiversity-themed archive; a bird call or nature clip may add color to your book. At a minimum, the TELDAP's rich collection of all manner of information, pictures, and audiovisual materials will serve as reliable, high quality material for future digital authors. This e-book may lead a young reader to begin to appreciate life and beauty, perhaps creating a future zoologist...

Taiwan's e-book industry possesses advanced technology, a free creative environment, and a wide variety of materials from the Digital Archives. To use a cooking metaphor, the Digital Archives are just ingredients and need to be prepared by a skilled cook to make a delicious meal. How can these advantages be exploited to create a feasible e-book business model? Doing so may be a long journey, but it will be one worth taking.