In an article published in February 1996 by the Swiss magazine
"Informatique-Informations", Pierre Perroud, founder of the
digital library Athena, explained that "electronic texts
represent an encouragement to reading and a convivial
participation to culture dissemination", particularly for
textual research and text study. These texts are "a good
complement to the print book, which remains irreplaceable when
for 'true' reading. (...) The book remains a mysteriously holy
companion with profound symbolism for us: we grip it in our
hands, we hold it against us, we look at it with admiration;
its small size comforts us and its content impresses us; its
fragility contains a density we are fascinated by; like man it
fears water and fire, but it has the power to shelter man's
thoughts from time."
Roberto Hernández Montoya, an editor of the electronic magazine
Venezuela Analítica, wrote in September 1998: "The printed text
can't be replaced, at least not for the foreseeable future. The
paper book is a tremendous 'machine'. We can't leaf through an
electronic book in the same way as a paper book. On the other
hand electronic use allows us to locate text chains more
quickly. In a certain way we can more intensively read the
electronic text, even with the inconvenience of reading on the
screen. The electronic book is less expensive and can be more
easily distributed worldwide (if we don't count the cost of the
computer and the internet connection)."
In the 2000s, while many people still prefer reading a print
book, more and more readers enjoy reading their ebooks on their
notebook, smartphone or any other electronic device. They buy
their ebooks online from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Yahoo, Palm,
Mobipocket or Numilog.
In March 2000, Numilog was founded by Denis Zwirn near Paris,
France, as a company specializing in the distribution of
digital books. Numilog launched in September 2000 an online
bookstore that became the main French-speaking aggregator of
digital books over the years. Numilog has sold books and
audiobooks in partnership with a number of publishers,
including Gallimard, POL, Le Dilettante, Le Rocher, La
Découverte, De Vive Voix, Eyrolles or Pearson Education France.
Numilog was bought in May 2008 by Hachette Livre, a leading
publishing group.
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