retailers and
end users to publish, distribute, purchase and read electronic content
securely and efficiently on the internet." Investors of NuvoMedia were
Barnes & Noble and Bertelsmann. The connection between the Rocket eBook
and the computer (PC or Macintosh) was made through the Rocket eBook
Cradle, which provided power through a wall transformer, and connected
to the computer with a serial cable.

1999 > The SoftBook Reader was the second ebook reader

SoftBook Press created the SoftBook Reader along with the SoftBook
Network, an internet-based content delivery service. With the SoftBook,
launched in 1999, "people could easily, quickly and securely download a
wide selection of books and periodicals using its built-in internet
connection", with a machine that, "unlike a computer, was ergonomically
designed for the reading of long documents and books." The investors of
Softbook Press were Random House and Simon & Schuster.

1999 > Other pioneer ebook readers

Launched in 1999, EveryBook (EB) was "a living library in a single
book". The EveryBook's electronic storage could hold 100 textbooks or
500 novels. The EveryBook used a "hidden" modem to dial into the
EveryBook Store, for people to browse, purchase and receive full text
books, magazines and sheet music. Librius was a "full-service
e-commerce company" that launched in 1999 a small "low-cost" ebook
reader called the Millennium eBook. The website offered a World
Bookstore that delivered digital copies of thousands of books via the
internet.

1999 > The Ulysses Bookstore on the web

Created in 1971 by Catherine Domain in central Paris, on Ile
Saint-Louis in the middle of the river Seine, the Ulysses Bookstore
(Librairie Ulysse) is the oldest bookstore in the world, with 20,000
books, maps and magazines, out of print and new. Catherine started a
website in early 1999, and wrote in December: "My site is still pretty
basic and under construction. Like my bookstore, it is a place to meet
people before being a place of business. The internet is a pain in the
neck, takes a lot of my time and I earn hardly any money, but that
doesn't worry me... I am very pessimistic though, because it is killing
off specialist bookstores" (NEF Interview).

1999 > WordReference.com, or free bilingual dictionaries

WordReference.com was created in 1999 by Michael Kellogg, who wrote on
his project's website: "I started this site in 1999 in an effort to
provide free online bilingu