Mibrary Announces Ebook Innovation Award Finalists

Posted on November 21, 2000

Mibrary, a digital library software company, has announced the finalists for the company's first annual award recognizing the largest contributor to the advancement and popularization of electronic books. The winner of the will be announced prior to the keynote address at the BookTech West 2000 conference in San Francisco on December 11. Mibrary's award is named for Dr. Alan Kay, who is considered to be a founding father of the eBook.

The finalists, from which the winner of the Alan Kay Award for eBook Innovation will be chosen, include:

Stephen King's Philtrum Press: For the exposure he gave to the electronic book format through the release of his bestseller Riding The Bullet, as well as publishing his newest novel, The Plant exclusively in electronic installments.
Gemstar: For the company's development and licensing of two electronic reading devices, the REB 1100 and the REB 1200.
Microsoft Corporation: For the company's Microsoft Reader and ClearType technologies.

Stephen King said in a statement, "It is a great honor to be mentioned in connection with this award. The ebook revolution has been one of the most exciting things to happen to me in the last two or three years, and I am delighted to think that I have had even a small part to play in changing the way the culture reads and expanding the market place for good books."

The winner of this annual award will be selected by popular vote at the Mibrary website. Final balloting to determine the winner will conclude at midnight on Friday, December 1st. The winner will receive the Steuben Pillar Crystal created by designer David Dowler. In addition, Mibrary will make a $5,000 contribution in the name of the winner to the Association of American Publishers' "Get Caught Reading" program.