Apr 07
Remember about a year ago when all we talked about was the Amazon KINDLE? Well, now we’re going on about the iPAD. I guess it’s still exciting so what the heck? (And at least we’re not saying ‘rumored Apple Tablet’ anymore… I was starting to gag on that one.)
Here’s a very detailed post at Gizmodo.com.au called “The iPad: Amazon’s Secret Weapon.” The article gives very positive feedback on Amazon’s hidden agenda while predicting a bright future for the online eBook retailer.
Apr 06
The good news is in for independent authors and publishers. Smashwords‘ eBook titles have been shipped and can now be purchased through iPad at the Apple iBookstore. Read the release here.
This is the latest distribution deal for the independent author and publisher platform that caps off a fantastic run where Smashwords founder Mark Coker inked similar deals with the online retailers Barnes & Noble, Sony eBook Store and Amazon and leading mobile eBook apps like Stanza, Kobo, aldiko, FBReader and Word-Player that support all mobile platforms including Android, BlackBerry and iPhone.
Smashwords publishes a list of almost 10,000 original eBooks from more than 4,000 authors and 150 independent publishers. With over 1,000 new eBooks published each month, Smashwords stands to be a major player in the eBook Revolution, especially when considering that a number of their authors are professionals previously published by large publishers.
Smashwords is the game changer in eBook Publishing.
Apr 05
Here’s the first tally at CNNMoney. An impressive 300,000 iPads went to early adopters on the first day of sales. That’s a lot of potential readers suddenly joining the eBook Revolution.
So far, the iBookstore is off limits to all but iPad owners. I look forward to the PC version, when they get around to releasing it.
Apr 04
Thanks Jorgen for a link to an article at the Arizona Republic that outlines some of the changes and challenges facing publishers and authors in the eBook Revolution.
An informative read on this Easter Sunday.
Apr 03
Since today marks Apple iPad’s coming out party, I thought I’d post a link to a Canadian Press article that starts to describe both ends of the spectrum in eBook reading, and hints at the crowded and varied future for eBook Reading devices.
Apr 02
Apple’s iPad will arrive in stores April 3, 2010 and the iBookstore will go live. To prepare you for that we’ve got a link to the Chicago Sun-Times’ Andy Ihnatko’s piece “iBooks is worth the price alone for iPad as ebook reader.”
A very informative Good Friday article, in it Ihnatko makes some excellent comparisons between E Ink eBook Readers like the Amazon Kindle and iPad’s multi-function platform.
Apr 01
We found an excellent article at The Economist describing the perilous questions that digital publishing poses for the traditional publishing world.
It’s a very detailed discussion of the difficulties awaiting traditional publishers as they are forced by market and technological advances to adapt their business models to the eBook Revolution.
The problem these corporate giants face is not whether they’ll be able to compete, it’s about whether they can get it through their big-business mindsets that a shift in product content and content delivery to something that has a fraction of the production costs of the old product, must mean a shift downward (hopefully, temporarily) in the perceived and actual product value and the profits that result. A shift in product cost and value should redraw the bottom line. Ignoring that will guarantee extinction.
Traditional publishers simply cannot succeed in the new milieu if they’re going to focus on maintaining outmoded and unjustifiable profit levels. They have to be willing and able to take a loss. And, they’ve got to be market savvy enough to find a valid way of making up any short fall.
Mar 31
There’s a rumor going around out there that Smashwords has inked a deal with Apple to distribute its growing list of titles by independent authors and publishers at the iBookStore. Now we’ve got ars technica talking about a letter going out to participating authors to confirm it. Read about the letter here. We’ve talked about Smashwords before here and here when founder Mark Coker finalized similar rapid fire deals with Sony eBook Store, Barnes and Noble, Kobo Books (formerly Shortcovers) and Amazon.com. Now Apple iPad.Â
Kudos, Mr. Coker!
When one considers that within the ranks of independent authors you will find the next Stephen King, Stephenie Meyer and Michael Crichton, then readers are about to experience a renaissance of talent and selection. The eBook Revolution continues to grow, yah?
Mar 30
Here we go. I think it’s a horserace. I’d put Kobo’s $150 eBook Reader first out of the gates but Pioneer Computers didn’t waste any time getting their DreamBook Color eBook Reader W95 into the race.
Their machine offers a 5-inch TFT (LCD Display) screen with a native resolution of 800 x 480. It offers a portrait and landscape mode, supports eBook formats (EPUB, PDB, TXT, PDF, HTML and FB2), the photo formats (JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP), video (MOV, MPEG, MPG, WMV, RM, AVI, RMVB, 3GP, FLV, MP4, DAT, VOB and MKV) and music (MP3, WAV, WMA, FLAC, AAC, OGG).
Read the announcement here at smarthouse.com.au.
This is where price and multifunction delivery begin to bottleneck. It’s offering a lot on a fairly small screen, but the price will make it a perfect first adoption for the curious mainstream. And it satisfies the color, video and music fix for many who want all the bells and whistles.
Mar 29
Here’s a story at Geek.com about Apple’s plans to add DRM (Digital Rights Management) to the eBooks they sell at the iBookstore. We’ve gone over this so many times I can sleep-type it. Locking a digital item promotes piracy and file-sharing. (Especially if the prices are too high–and why else would you digitally lock an eBook?)
Now, we’re also hearing that they’re using the ePub format, but with their own added code to make the titles iPad-friendly only. This on top of Amazon and Barnes and Noble’s plans to deliver a free App for iPad (so iPad owners can access the titles at those stores) leaves me wondering why they don’t just go for a single open format. (Like ePub was before they started adding code…)
Oh, I forgot. These companies are unable to learn from history. Look at the damage that overpriced, digitally locked songs did to the music industry. (Same thing is happening to the movie industry.) I guess they always have to see how dumb we are, before they can just get down to doing business.
Ah well, as I’ve said many times, things are getting interesting.
