Michael Crichton and Microsoft Team Up
Best-selling novelist Michael Crichton has decided to team up with Microsoft and offer his latest "Timeline" as an eBook published using Microsoft Reader on the Pocket PC. This marks the second occurrance of a well-known author choosing the electronic format as the medium to publish a novel, Stephen King doing it at the beginning of this year with his novel "Riding the Bullet".
While the book was popular amongst computer users and Stephen King fans, it wasn't long before hackers cracked the security on the novel and began distributing it across the Internet free of charge.
For a limited time users can download the Crichton novel free of charge at http://www.bn.com/pocketpc/ as part of the promotion of the joint venture between Barnes & Noble, Microsoft, and Michael Crichton.
This decision by the popular author is the first time Microsoft Reader for the Pocket PC has been chosen as the medium to publish a novel free of charge. Dick Brass, vice president of Technology Development at Microsoft, told reporters, "We are delighted that Michael Crichton has chosen to release his first eBook, especially such an incredible book as "Timeline," which, appropriately enough, transports the reader to another universe."
Crichton praised technology and the Internet and the way that it will affect the publishing industry as well as the new way in which novels and books can be utilized by people in the future.
The eBook is available starting today free of charge for a limited time, and can be found in the eBooks for the Pocket PC section at the Barnes & Noble online retail store.
In addition to the Crichton title, Microsoft has teamed with Barnes & Noble and Simon & Schuster to offer 15 "Star Trek" novels for download free of charge. These can also be found in the eBooks for the Pocket PC section of the Barnes & Noble online store.
Publishing giant Time Warner has also praised Microsoft Reader with ClearType technology, announcing today that the format would be the choice for the iRead channel of the pioneering iPublish venture by Time Warner.
This new venture hopes to unite readers and authors around the world to compose a "community" feeling. iRead will be one of the three channels available at the site.
A wide range of titles and other content will be converted to the popular format for the iPublish community in the next few months before the massive project is officially open to the public.
Visit Microsoft for more information about the Pocket PC, Microsoft Reader, and its latest technology dubbed ClearType, the backbone of the Microsoft Reader software.