Unesco recently offered a workshop in Bangalore, India depicting the potential of e-Books. Participants from Asia and Europe identified the issues and complexities involved in e-book projects delineating the role of e-Books in education, research and libraries from the perspective of the publishers, distributors and users.

While I believe that the acceptance for e-books has at least somewhat improved, Shalini Urs, who leads a UNESCO e-Book Project Strategy Group, has a more gloomy interpretation of the current market:

"The e-Book industry and market place is a nebulous one with each of the players continuing to test waters and gingerly transiting into the arena. While most of the stakeholders believe in the potential of the e-Books, none is ready to take the plunge – not yet! The e-Book revolution though foretold in the year 2000 is yet to happen."

You can read the full press release here (http://www.noticias.info/Asp/aspComunicados.asp?nid=34992&src=0).

I think this is yet more evidence that after quickly reaching the peak of inflated expectations (as mentioned in the quote, around the year 2000), eBooks have reached the bottom of the "trough of disillusionment" in Gartner's Hype Cycle (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3577746.stm) and are starting to climb into the "slope of enlightenment. Companies that develop and embrace emerging technologies must prepare for the roller coaster ride of the hype cycle. The ones that don't prepare to weather the lows with a comprehensive business model will find themselves out of business or scrambling to embrace other proven technologies in order to survive.

Now that ebooks appear to be emerging from this low point, advocating ebooks and educating the masses will only help to accelerate their widespread adoption and acceptance.

Brian