"au vu des programmes qui se profilent dans la plupart des maisons d'édition, il y a fort à parier que le niveau sera beaucoup plus faible, sans doute une cinquantaine, tout au plus. Fayard, Buchet Chastel, Le Cherche Midi, Minuit, Plon, Verticales n'en publieront aucun. Les autres (Gallimard, Seuil, Grasset, Stock, Actes Sud, Albin Michel, Julliard, Flammarion...) se contenteront, à eux tous, de dix premiers romans."

Depuis trois ans, un groupe d'universitaires, de graphistes et d'ouvriers typographes persiste à se battre pour que ce patrimoine soit sauvegardé. D'où lettre aux candidats, les appelant à «s'engager, pour que les savoir-faire traditionnels de l'Imprimerie nationale trouvent leur place dans un projet à la mesure de leur valeur universelle». [...]

«les options [permettant de préserver et valoriser ce patrimoine] soient examinées avec la plus grande attention». Hélas! rien dans ce courrier ne précise la nature desdites «options». [...] «Votre soutien et votre confiance me sont, plus que jamais,indispensables et précieux pour engager cette action».

Here is the first crucial thing: the screen does work. By "work", I mean that the words stand out clearly without shimmering, and that you can certainly read it outside, in dappled light and direct sunlight, as you would not be able to read a normal computer screen. The effect is matt, not shiny, and black-and-white, not colour. Well, to be precise, not black-and-white so much as dark grey characters on a light grey background, which is perhaps part of the secret. The font is modern - not elegant, but effective - and you get far fewer words to the "page" than with a traditional book, though the half-inch borders and generous spacing between paragraphs help you to read. I tried it, reading some Tolstoy and then some Conan Doyle, in the garden, slumped in a chair inside, on a sofa in a dimmish room, and in the back of a car. In each place, it was easy to read; I have spent plenty of time reading it and so far, haven't felt any eyestrain, or no more than I would have found with a book.
    What about page-turning? It is slower than a book. There is a distinct "one-and-two" count as the page dissolves and re-forms after your thumb has touched the flicker, and it can be disconcerting. I found it more cumbersome than turning a page. Speeding this up will be important if the ebook is to really catch on. [...]
    But the real question is whether it is so useful that it is worth more than £400? And on top of that, there's the material itself, because although a deal with the Amazon subsidiary Mobipocket means there will be access to about 50,000 titles, and though publishers such as Macmillan are now moving into ebooks for new authors, scientific books and other material, the proud owner of an Iliad would still buy "books" to download. It isn't cheap and it isn't going to replace beautifully made books, or books with lots of pictures.