The Gemstar eBook was launched in October 2000 by Gemstar-TV Guide International, a company providing digital products and services for the media. Gemstar first bought Nuvomedia (Rocket eBook) and SoftBook Press (SoftBook) in January 2000, as well as the French 00h00.com, a producer of digital books, in September 2000. Two Gemstar eBook were available for sale in the U.S. in November 2000, with a later attempt in Germany to test the European market. The REB 1100 had a black and white screen, like the Rocket eBook. The REB 1200 had a color screen, like the SoftBook Reader. Both were produced by RCA (Thomson Multimedia). New and cheaper models were then launched as GEB 1150 and 2150, produced by Gemstar instead of RCA. But the sales were still far below expectations. The company stopped selling reading devices in June 2003, and digital books the following month.
= What people thought of them
In 2000 and 2001, I was interviewing some book professionals about these new reading devices they were so curious about, while wondering how a reading device could ever replace a print book. (As shown in the answers below, people often used the word "ebook" for an ebook reading device.)
Peter Raggett is the head of the Central Library at the OECD (Organization for Economic and Cooperation Development). He wrote in July 2000: "It is interesting to see that the electronic book mimics the traditional book as much as possible except that the paper page is replaced by a screen. I can see that the electronic book will replace some of the present paper products but not all of them. I also hope that electronic books will be waterproof so that I can continue reading in the bath."
Henk Slettenhaar is a professor in communication technologies at Webster University in Geneva, Switzerland. He wrote in August 2000: "I have a hard time believing people would want to read from a screen. I much prefer myself to read and touch a real book."
Randy Hobler is a consultant in internet marketing living in Dobbs Ferry, New York. He wrote in September 2000: "eBooks continue to grow as the display technology improves, and as the hardware becomes more physically flexible and lighter. Plus, among the early adapters will be colleges because of the many advantages for students (ability to download all their reading for the entire semester, inexpensiveness, linking into exams, assignments, need for portability, eliminating need to lug books all over)."
Eduard Hovy is the head of the Natural Language Group at USC/ISI (University of Southern California / Information Sciences Institute). He wrote in September 2000: "eBooks, to me, are a non-starter. More even that seeing a concert live or a film at a cinema, I like the physical experience holding a book in my lap and enjoying its smell and feel and heft. Concerts on TV, films on TV, and ebooks lose some of the experience; and with books particularly it is a loss I do not want to accept. After all, it is much easier and cheaper to get a book in my own purview than a concert or cinema. So I wish the ebook makers well, but I am happy with paper. And I don't think I will end up in the minority anytime soon - I am much less afraid of books vanishing than I once was of cinemas vanishing."
Tim McKenna is an author who thinks and writes about the complexity of truth in a world of flux. He wrote in October 2000: "I don't think that they have the right appeal for lovers of books. The internet is great for information. Books are not information. People who love books have a relationship with their books. They re-read them, write in them, confer with them. Just as cybersex will never replace the love of a woman, ebooks will never be a vehicle for beautiful prose."
Steven Krauwer is the coordinator of ELSNET (European Network of Excellence in Human Language Technologies). He wrote in June 2001 that "ebooks still had a long way to go before reading from a screen feels as comfortable as reading a book."
Guy Antoine is the founder of Windows on Haiti, a reference website about Haitian culture. He wrote in June 2001: "Sorry, I haven't tried them yet. Perhaps because of this, it still appears to me like a very odd concept, something that the technology made possible, but for which there will not be any wide usage, except perhaps for classic reference texts. High school and college textbooks could be a useful application of the technology, in that there would be much lighter backpacks to carry. But for the sheer pleasure of reading, I can hardly imagine getting cozy with a good ebook."