RE: origin of "ebook"

When I think of "ebook" I think of "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams, which was a radio series back in 1978, before it became a printed book, a TV series, and a movie.  

The character Ford Prefect is writing a guidebook with that title.  And the book is in electronic form.  I don't know if the word "ebook" appears.  But the concept certainly does.

Richard


Richard Seltzer, B&R Samizdat Express, seltzer-LVbi7B8qMF5Wk0Htik3J/[email protected], 617-469-2269
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-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Christopher R. Maden
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2013 4:01 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [ebook-community] origin of "ebook"

On 04/18/2013 01:21 PM, I wrote:
> That same article says that “ebook” was a well-established term by 
> 1985, but does not say when the contraction happened.

I misread the Wikipedia article; that reference was to the term “electronic book.”

> I’ve asked a friend who is a science editor at a major dictionary to 
> research it.

Their earliest citation seems to be the same as the OED:

American Libraries

May 1, 1988

Public librarians take cool view of future; leadership, not technology, may be the issue.

BYLINE: Hennem, Thomas J., Jr.

SECTION: Pg. p390(3) Vol. V19 No. N5 ISSN: 0002-9769

"* The E-book, a small, hand-held, flat recording device able to replay text as a portable cassette player replays sound.  Librarians who argued that mass storage devices could never replace the book may be wrong-you can cuddle up with the E-book."

This is clearly referring to what most of us would now call an e-book reader, but is consistent with some earlier uses (like the Rocket eBook).

So, let’s help the lexicographers: what is the earliest published use of “ebook” or “e-book” you can find?  Internet sources count, as long as the dating is reliable (e.g., the Internet Archive or USENET).

~Chris
--
Chris Maden, text nerd  <URL: http://crism.maden.org/ >
  FIVE TONS OF FLAX
GnuPG fingerprint: DB08 CF6C 2583 7F55 3BE9  A210 4A51 DBAC 5C5C 3D5E


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