image When will corporations stop inventing new ways to bungle e-books—and I don’t just mean DRM?

The latest laugh is from Discovery Communications, creator of an “electronic book secure communication system.”

But wait! Could a Discovery e-book tablet, a concept shown here, be on the way to make trouble for the Kindle with new book-optimized distribution technology?

Cheap wireless and more?

Here’s why U.S. Patent 7299501 is a little interesting, even if I think that unshackled books on cellphone-type devices will be the real winners in the end.

The Discovery system uses “cable television distribution systems, broadcast television distribution systems, video distributed over telephone systems, direct satellite broadcast distribution systems, and other wire and wireless distribution systems. Nearly any distribution system which can deliver a video signal will work with the text delivery system. It is also possible to distribute the text without using a video signal as described below.”

So might we have, in effect, the seamless equivalent of the Kindle’s EVDO-based wireless network?

Will the related tablet be as easy to use as the Kindle—with or without a set-top box involved? I’m not sure (“the home subsystem may have as many as five separate components which communicate with each other”).  Also, will the distribution network undercut Kindle’s distribution costs sufficiently to make a difference? And how about the downloading time, which, if a phone is involved, could be “7 minutes” for “an average book”—much longer than the Kindle takes? And what about the costs of the actual books?

Biz models and outlets

Libraries, schools, bookstores—the patent envisions them all as book outlets, with one possibility being rental of e-book readers through bookstores.

So what will the readers be like? Display is to be “VGA quality” via LCD. One storage possibility might be a 60MB hard drive to “store approximately 100 books,” although I’m not sure if it can be within the actual tablet. Of course, 100 would be a pittance, definitely, compared to the thousands I can hold on a memory card in my OLPC XO.

But remember, this is could all change. A John S. Hendricks of Potomac, MD, apparently Discovery’s founder, filed the patent on September 28, 2001, when e-book tech was much different. So no laughs, please about the hardware specs.

If Discovery isn’t spinning off the tablet’s hardware design already, that might be a good idea, given the iffy ergonomics of the Kindle. Leave the design to the pros rather than repeat Amazon’s mistake.

The patent abstract

Here’s the exact wording of the abstract involved: “The invention, an electronic book selection and delivery system, is a new way to distribute books and other textual information to bookstores, libraries and consumers. The primary components of the system are a subsystem for placing text in a video signal format and a subsystem for receiving and selecting text that is placed in the video signal format. The system configuration for consumer use contains additional components and optional features that enhance the system, namely: (1) an operation center, (2) a video distribution system, (3) a home subsystem, including reception, selection, viewing, transacting and transmission capabilities, and (4) a billing and collection system. The operation center and/or video distribution points perform the functions of manipulation of text data, security and coding of text, cataloging of books, messaging center, and uplink functions. The home subsystem performs the functions of connecting to a video distribution system, menu selecting text, storing text, and transacting through phone or cable communicating mechanisms. A portable book-shaped viewing device is used for viewing the textual material delivered. The billing and collection system performs the transaction, management, authorization, collection and publisher payments automatically utilizing the telephone system.”

Another patent by Discovery: 7,299,501—Electronic book security and copyright protection system.

Related: Latest FAIL in eBooks, from Mike Cane. Hey, Mike, I’m with you on the lockup issue, but until we hear more about the economics and ease of use and reliability, let’s keep an open mind about the distribution system. Oh, and yes, seven minutes—download time on a public phone system—is too long. And I sense a lot more complexity, at least in certain situations, than the Kindle offers. So my bet is that your pessimism is justified. But let’s see. Would that I have time to study the patent papers more than I have.

Also of interest: Discovery patents e-book invention, a Gazette.net article.

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2 COMMENTS

  1. Interesting point about Patent Payday, Mike. As a layman, however, I doubt that Discovery could sue Amazon over the Kindle’s use of wireless. Be fascinating to watch if it happens, though–given Amazon’s rather aggressive stance on such matters as one-click checkout. Thanks. David

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