More than a decade after the first clunky electronic books appeared, a new push is under way to get readers to curl up with digital versions of their favorite best-sellers. But despite backing from heavyweights such as Sony Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and a handful of publishers, the idea has yet to catch fire with consumers.
For now, there isn’t a huge amount of interest in e-readers in the enterprise, either. A spokesperson for Amazon, which is at the heart of the latest e-reader push, was stumped when asked whether any enterprises are using the company’s Kindle e-reader.
“Sounds interesting, but we haven’t heard of that,” said Amazon’s Andrew Herdener.
However, those few enterprises that have tried e-readers express enthusiasm. After all, e-readers can lower costs and provide previously unthinkable benefits such as putting easily updatable shelves of technical manuals in the hands of field workers.
