In October 2000, Dick Brass, a vice president of Microsoft in charge of its efforts to promote electronic books, presided over the first annual Frankfurt eBook Awards, held at an opera house in Frankfurt. Financed mainly by Microsoft, the awards presented prizes of up to $50,000 to winning authors of books available in digital form.
"Someday, when electronic books replace print, these will just be called the book awards," Mr. Brass said in an interview then.
But the managers of the National Book Awards can rest easy for now. So far, demand for reading the texts of books on computer screens has been tepid at best, and last week the International eBook Award Foundation discontinued the awards and suspended its activities. "It has become increasingly difficult to raise the necessary funding," Alberto Vitale, the foundation's chairman, said in a statement. That is, Microsoft stopped paying.
The awards are not the only casualty in the electronic book world. Hand-held reading devices made by Thomson Multimedia with software from Gemstar—TV Guide International Inc. have disappeared from stores. Thomson does not plan to make any more because of low sales. "Are they dead? No," said Lauren Snyder, a Gemstar spokeswoman. She said some company might make new versions with Gemstar.
Mr. Brass has not declared defeat either. On Friday, Microsoft announced that it was creating the International eBook Association. Mr. Brass said the association would also give awards, albeit smaller ones, but would focus on regulatory and technological issues.
Mr. Brass said he had never promised that the Frankfurt awards would continue forever, and he stood by his prediction that someday electronic books would be as accepted as paper ones.
"We started the Frankfurt eBook Awards to attract attention," he said. But he said awarding big prizes was no longer as important as solving problems like making electronic books easier to read. "Now, getting attention is the least of our problems," he said. Besides, he added, the National Book Awards are accepting submissions of electronic books and received a donation from Microsoft.
n October 2000, Dick Brass, a vice president of Microsoft in charge of its efforts to promote electronic books, presided over the first annual Frankfurt eBook Awards, held at an opera house in Frankfurt. Financed mainly by Microsoft, the awards presented prizes of up to $50,000 to winning authors of books available in digital form.
"Someday, when electronic books replace print, these will just be called the book awards," Mr. Brass said in an interview then.
But the managers of the National Book Awards can rest easy for now. So far, demand for reading the texts of books on computer screens has been tepid at best, and last week the International eBook Award Foundation discontinued the awards and suspended its activities. "It has become increasingly difficult to raise the necessary funding," Alberto Vitale, the foundation's chairman, said in a statement. That is, Microsoft stopped paying.
The awards are not the only casualty in the electronic book world. Hand-held reading devices made by Thomson Multimedia with software from Gemstar—TV Guide International Inc. have disappeared from stores. Thomson does not plan to make any more because of low sales. "Are they dead? No," said Lauren Snyder, a Gemstar spokeswoman. She said some company might make new versions with Gemstar.
Mr. Brass has not declared defeat either. On Friday, Microsoft announced that it was creating the International eBook Association. Mr. Brass said the association would also give awards, albeit smaller ones, but would focus on regulatory and technological issues.
Mr. Brass said he had never promised that the Frankfurt awards would continue forever, and he stood by his prediction that someday electronic books would be as accepted as paper ones.
"We started the Frankfurt eBook Awards to attract attention," he said. But he said awarding big prizes was no longer as important as solving problems like making electronic books easier to read. "Now, getting attention is the least of our problems," he said. Besides, he added, the National Book Awards are accepting submissions of electronic books and received a donation from Microsoft.
