NEW YORK, Dec. 11, 2000 — Mibrary, the roaming digital library software company, today announced that Microsoft has won the Inaugural Alan Kay Award for eBook Innovation at BookTech West 2000 in San Francisco. The award recognizes the largest contributor to the advancement and popularization of electronic books in the past year.
“Microsoft is honored to receive this award; it’s particularly gratifying to see our technologies and industry efforts recognized by our peers and partners, who have been essential in creating excitement for this new industry,” said Steve Stone, general manager of Microsoft’s eBooks Business Unit. “Being chosen for this award underscores the innovative nature of our eBooks software solutions, including Microsoft Reader with ClearType and Microsoft Digital Asset Server.”
Microsoft will receive the Pillar Crystal created by noted Steuben designer David Dowler. In addition, Mibrary will make a $5,000 contribution on behalf of Microsoft to the Association of American Publishers’
“Get Caught Reading”
program.
The winner was selected by popular vote by members of the electronic book industry and user community via the Mibrary Web site. The final nominees also included Stephen King and Gemstar.
“Each of the three nominees have contributed immensely to popularizing the eBook and proving that it is a viable route for the publishing industry, and Microsoft has certainly made tremendous strides in this area,” said James Alexander, chief executive officer of Mibrary. “We’re pleased to present Microsoft Corporation with the Alan Kay Award for eBook Innovation.”
