I like to read while reclining in my La-Z-Boy. My cats, Nick and Nora, love to sleep in my lap while I'm reading. I'm getting old, and my eyes don't focus as well. I can read either without my glasses by putting the book two inches in front of my face, or by using my glasses and holding the book at arm's length. Unfortunately, that focal length is right in the middle of a cat. And I'm not going to make my cat get up.

The solution to this problem came to me when visiting my mother and she showed me the latest book she was reading. It was a large print book. I've always been amused by large print books because they remind me of children's books, with their large font sizes. But it was so pleasurable to read that large print book! The trouble is my kind of books usually do not come in large print. In fact, everything I like to read seems to be crammed onto the page with the smallest possible printable typeface.

Over the past few years, I've noticed that I do most of my reading on the computer screen. Monitors can be positioned to the right focal length, and fonts can be adjusted to taste. Web browsers make a pleasing way to read multimedia information. The trouble with computers is you can't sit in the La-Z-Boy and use them. I know, you are asking, what about laptops? Laptops would occupy the territory that belongs to the cat, so, it's a no go for them. Those of you in the know, will be frantically waving your hands yelling, "I know, I know," and will be anxious to tell me about eBooks, a new class of computers used for reading. Well, you smart alecs are right. This log is about eBooks.

eBooks are handheld devices designed specifically for reading. Why don't you go read about the various leading models: The SoftBook Reader, Rocket eBook, and The EveryBook. Be sure and read all the reviews at Barnes and Noble. Reading between the lines shows that people who bought Rocket eBooks love them, and the bad reviews are from people who don't like the price, or from PalmPilot users trying to justify their purchase.

While you are at it, go ahead and read some of the reviews about these products, and the new industry emerging around them. The first two articles are about the new Open eBook standard: New eBook standard: A best-seller? and New file standard should give electronic books a boost.

Then read the three reviews I've found: Would you curl up with an electronic book?, Is there an eBook in your future? and Is the world ready for digital books?.

By now you should be familiar with the subject, and we can go on to speculate and philosophize about the topic. Although I would not mind trying one of these devices, I'm not sure if I'm ready to put out cold hard cash for the experience. My current favorite of the three is the Rocket eBook because it works in conjunction with a computer, costs the least, and comes with software to develop eBooks. I definitely want an eBook, but I think I'll wait for the standards to emerge. For now, let's just speculate what a perfect eBook would be.

My life revolves around two computers: one at work, and one at home. Since I don't travel, I've never felt the need for a portable computer. However, there are many times during the day when I'm not at one of my computers that I wish I could look something up on the web, like when I'm watching TV and want to look up an actor in All Movie Guide. Or when I'm out for dinner, and a trivia question comes up. The perfect eBook should really have access to the Internet. So any eBook I would buy would have to serve as a wireless extension to the Internet, and be my ultimate reference library.

Even though I love books, have a lot of books, and buy rare out of print books and magazines, I don't like collecting books. I read for pleasure, to track down information, to acquire news, and to look at pictures. Most of my books sit around for years at a time without being opened. Often, when I do want a book, I have to do a lot of searching through my shelves to find the sucker. When I do buy an out-of-print book, it's to read, so I'm not looking for a first edition, or leather binding. I do however, prefer buying books with dust jackets and illustrations. I like the visual qualities that go into making a good book. The ultimate eBook would have high resolution color for photographs and art.

I would much rather have a perfect facsimile of an issue of ASTOUNDING rather than the real issue. Most real issues are decaying from acids in the paper, and are fragile to hold. I feel obligated when I buy something old because out-of-print books and magazines are the last of an extinct species. You have to take care of them, or they will disappear entirely. I buy these old editions when they are the only source available. If they were available electronically, I'd never buy them at all, and leave them to true collectors.

Currently, eBooks are only reprints of modern publications, or original publications that are bypassing the whole physical and expensive process of paper and printing. There is a thriving enterprise of putting out of print classics into digital form. The Rocket eBook people are quite active in converting e-texts to The Rocket-Library. I would expect the librarians of the world would eventually start trying to save the decaying collections of rare items by converting them to digital form. Eventually, University Microfilms will probably switch to this medium too. Digital is just the way to go.

So the first thing I'd want in an eBook is availability of titles, and I think that is coming along with great momentum. The second thing I'd want is a secure digital bookshelf. I don't expect eBooks will be free, but if I buy them, I want to own them, and I want to know I will have access to the eBook for the rest of my life. I really don't care where the storage is located though. Right now, I'd guess the perfect solution would be for eBook publishers to use a universal database of ownership. The price of buying an eBook should include perpetual storage. That way, I just request a title, the publisher checks to see if I've paid for it, and then lets me read a copy. Why should I worry about the hassle of storing eBooks and making sure they don't get erased?

The next important quality in an eBook reader would be making it use wireless technology. I recently read a short story set four hundred years in the future where the character downloads his e-mail to take with him on a trip. Aw, come on! The new iBook from Apple with its AirPort interface is a great idea, but its range needs to be extended beyond 150 feet. I don't want to store books on my eBook reader. I just want to read them. Until there is universal wireless Internet, I would live with a certain amount of downloading in case I wanted to take my eBook reader on a trip.

A perfect reader will probably also include sound out, and sound in, so I could listen to books, or give verbal commands to the reader. I'd expect the screen to be large, high resolution, full color, and very adjustable. The whole thing should weigh little.

The final reason I'd buy an eBook reader, is because I would want to sit in my La-Z-Boy and read books with large fonts of my choosing. Whatever standard is developed for formatting eBooks should include the ability for the reader to select the exact font and font size that they wanted. Put the typography and layout into the readers hands. I'm really tired of magazines and books I can't read, or hate to read, because of the damn layout. The standard format for eBooks should allow for the flow of text to be easily changed.

One trouble with eBooks now is some titles are priced like hardcover books, when not even paperback materials go into the production of the title. If we're cutting out the publishing costs, as well as the distribution, warehousing, and other middle man costs, I expect eBooks to be priced much differently. If I'm going to pay $25, then I'm going to want a real book. Personally, I'd pay $1 for a book out of copyright, like most classics, $2-3 for what is currently selling in paperback, and $7-10 for a hot new title that I was dying to read. I'd gladly pay $1-2 for facsimile reprints of old magazines. Even at these prices, I'd expect the publishers to promise lifetime bookshelves.

If I had all of this, I'd give up printed books and magazines. I'd miss visiting bookstores, but then I'd have more time for reading, and more space in my house.