Way back in 2000, when the Internet was still wild, I started a new writing gig that required me to move from Atlanta to Southern California. While I had no problem moving some of my most valuable possessions (computer, DVD player, and a few select movies), my real stuff wasn't scheduled to arrive for about a month. With the cable connection still weeks away and nothing else to do, I went down to the local computer store and stumbled across the Rocket eBook. For the next year and a half I ravenously devoured any available eBook, from legal purchases to popular titles that users had converted and posted online.

The eBook was about the size of a regular paperback and weighed just as much. The screen had enough contrast to be read in bright daylight, and featured a backlight for reading in the dark. The battery lasted just long enough to allow me to complete a couple of loads at the local Laundromat and keep me company during coast-to-coast flights. But it had poor graphic resolution for black-and-white images, and the internal storage was so small, I could keep only about a dozen lengthy documents on it at one time.

As with most technology, the Rocket eBook got too old to keep up with changes in technology and eventually found its way to a closet to gather dust. But that doesn't mean eBooks are gone forever, and I still dream of my deluxe eBook. How close are we to getting one? And what's standing in the way? Follow the link for some answers.

Currently, as an instructor at Fort Hays State University, I see students toting heavy backpacks filled with laptop computers and textbooks back and forth to class every day. It's no wonder when I hear them complain of back problems from lugging the heavy load. I feel even more sympathy for middle and high school students who might suffer from the same problem. Back in my day, students didn't have to pull a wheeled briefcase around as they went to class. If those $350 college texts could be converted to portable electronic documents then students would be able to carry a wealth of information with them and never have an excuse for accidentally leaving their textbook at home.

As someone who does quite a bit of traveling, I like to bring along things to keep me occupied: a dozen or so comic books, a copy of the Illuminatus! Trilogy (just to freak with airport security), and the latest edition of whatever magazine I'm reading at the moment. Of course, all this takes up a tremendous amount of room in my carry-on. It would be so much better to have every piece of literature at my fingertips on a single device.

Speaking of the Illuminatus! Trilogy, did you know the book has over 800 pages and has sold millions of copies? How many trees had to be sacrificed for this brilliant piece of literature to find its way into my hands? How many more are cut down just to print my local newspaper? By publishing books and periodicals in electronic form, it reduces the ecological impact of the lumber industry, and cuts down on production cost by not spending tremendous amounts of money on ink and other toxic chemicals.

The first thing eBook naysayers say is that it's better to use a laptop or tablet PC. Granted, I love my laptop for surfing the Web, writing documents, taking notes and getting real work done, but there's a huge drawback to using one of these multipurpose tools for reading. Beyond the cumbersome size and weight (which is better left for another time), laptops eat up battery life so quickly it would be difficult to justify between doing real work and recreational reading. This makes it impractical for universities, businesses and travelers to rely on notebooks for their reading enjoyment.

What I really want is a portable reader that's light, has plenty of space to store books and images, isn't bulky, and best of all can be folded or rolled for easy transportation. E Ink has been developing electronic ink for a couple of years that address nearly all of the features I want in my dream eBook.

Electronic Ink works by sandwiching millions of tiny charged microcapsules between two layers of film. When a small electronic pulse is applied, the black particles rise to the top to create high-resolution words and images. Those particles will stay in place until a new charge is applied. This means power consumption is nearly nil, causing batteries to last a long time. For stores, E Ink signage can be powered for several months off a pair of AA batteries. And because E Ink is a film, it can be rolled into nearly any shape, breaking users away from a rigid and bulky form factor. With prices of flash memory ever dropping, the dream of having all my reading material at my fingertips draws ever closer. If you've seen any of the eBooks currently on the market, you've probably seen E Ink in action.

E Ink's main drawback right now is color, or rather the lack of it. While the company has developed a low-resolution color product (shown in the pic), its quality isn't good enough to reproduce the glossy pages of Maxim or Vanity Fair. The company is predicting it will have a high-res version available by the end of 2008. I can't wait.

The biggest holdup to making my dream a reality is the publishers. Instead of coming up with a set standard for distributing titles, companies have been developing their own proprietary formats that only work on specific devices. While I have nothing against companies trying to protect their wares, if I have to buy five different eBooks, I'm right back to where I began. We've all seen how well proprietary formats and heavily encrypted files have fared with the general public, so why beat a dead horse? Publishers need to pick a standard and stick with it. If this can all happen by the 2008 target date, I believe we'll see a rapid shift in the way we gather and use information for education, recreation and business. — Stephen Schleicher