New Device Sparks Renewed Interest in eBooks

Sony Teams with Innodata Isogen to Perform eBook Conversions

Challenge

Sony had a problem. But it was a good one to have. Sony’s popular Reader (a device the size of a paperback book that can hold about 80 books) had taken the market by surprise and ignited interest in eBooks. Officially titled the Sony Reader Digital Book, the Reader accomplished what no previous device had done — convince consumers that a portable eBook was a good idea.

Along with the Reader, Sony launched an associated eBook store. Users could browse titles from major publishers and download them to the Reader. This model, similar to Apple’s iPod music player and iTunes store, was a wakeup call to the industry. Although Sony had a jump on the market with a highly-anticipated device, they needed to make sure they stayed ahead of the competition in terms of both content availability and cost.

They needed to convert thousands of titles from printable file formats to formats suitable for the Reader. They wanted to make sure the conversion was rapid, cost-effective, and of high quality in keeping with their reputation. However, they realized that building this capability inhouse would be costly and time consuming and that the key was to find a partner with the right experience and technical know-how...