Mar 04

Librarians Challenge HarperCollins eBook Loan Life

Galleycat offers some video of librarians challenging HarperCollins recent decision to allow libraries a maximum of only 26 eBook loans before HarperCollins titles have to be re-purchased. This is based on HarperCollins estimate that 26 represents the number of times a print book can be loaned before it is worn out. We talked about it here.

As you can see from the video, 26 is rather a low number. It is clear from the video that while print library books do wear out they last much, much longer than the quoted 26 loans. If only HarperCollins had not been greedy, and picked a number like 50. I think people might have swallowed that.

Mar 03

EU Officials Raid Publishers

Thanks Jorgen for a link to a post at eBookMagazine regarding European Union Officials raiding several publishers because “the Commission has reason to believe that the companies concerned may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and other restrictive business practices.”

These raids follow news of the UK Office of Fair Trading’s investigating the agency pricing model. Under the model, publishers set the price and force retailers to accept a set commission on the sale, thereby fixing the price at all retailers.

Mar 02

Apple iPad 2 Launches – Thinner, lighter, faster…

AppleInsider has the details of the new iPad2 announced today by none other than Steve Jobs at a special press event in San Francisco. The tablet market is expecting a hundred-plus new competitors over the next 18 months, so it’s little surprise that Apple has already upgraded their industry leading full-color, multi-function tablet device.

iPad2 is slated to ship mid-March.

Mar 01

Indie Author Makes Millions in the Kindle Store

Digitaltrends has an encouraging story for authors and readers that should send publishing industry executives (and agents) scrambling back to the drawing board. Contrary to what they’ve been trying to get us to believe, the eBook Revolution has changed things and the old business model cannot be grafted or forced onto digital publishing.

Apparently, Indie novelist Amanda Hocking is making millions of dollars by publishing her eBooks directly to Amazon’s Kindle Store for .99 to $2.99 each.

According to the traditional publishers, this can’t be happening. An eBook’s success depends entirely on signing with a medium or large, well-connected publishing firm. Right? Well, not right, according to Amanda Hocking.

It just goes to show you that the democratization of publishing via the eBook Revolution is ongoing, and readers can be trusted to pick a winner if given the chance.

Feb 28

Rupert Murdoch = Draconian Overlord of Publishing…

Ok. Maybe I overstated the case, but the publishing arm of Rupert Murdoch’s empire has declared war on public libraries. A Harper Collins eBook can be loaned out by a library only 26 times! TWENTY-SIX! Murdoch says that number is based on a several factors “including the average lifespan of a print book, and wear and tear on circulating copies.” Come on!

This attack on the public purse in the days of tight municipal budgets is a form of eBook Piracy that would shame the most active eBook Pirate. Read the story entitled: “The benign piracy of libraries vs Harper Collins” at Mobylives.

Feb 27

More on the Apple Apps changes.

Many thanks to Jorgen for sending along a link to a FutureBook story that continues with the discussion that has developed since Apple changed its requirements for iPad Apps that allow consumers to purchase through a third party.

The new rules are Apps must allow an either/or button so consumers can buy through the third party or directly through iTunes. Sounds simple, but it comes down to a 30% commission on the sale that might be a deal breaker.

Feb 26

French Publishers Pass on Adobe DRM

Jorgen dropped off a link to a TeleRead story about 100 French publishers deciding to pass on the Adobe Digital Rights Management (DRM) that many publishers have adopted to control the sale and distribution of eBooks. (It also regulates the options of consumers who buy the eBooks legally.)

Worth the read. (The Google translation of the French worked for me.)

Feb 25

E Ink: History and possible future.

ITBusiness.ca has an interesting post called “E Ink pushing boundaries of display technology” that chronicles some of the history of E Ink and speculates on its future. Well worth the read.

Feb 24

Publishing Logs Growth in the eBook Revolution

The Bookseller.com has an interesting post on the impact of digital publishing on the status quo and it looks good so far with statistics showing 3,151 new publishers registering for ISBNs in 2010. (The highest in 10 years.)

The story credits print-on-demand technology (POD), eBooks and self-publishing with the change.

One can see that the near monopolies enjoyed by the traditional publishing houses are in the process of being taken apart which explains their reluctance to join the eBook Revolution in the first place.

Feb 23

Watch out iPad. Here comes the HPad…

PDFDevices.com reports on Hanvon Technology Co. Ltd. of China planning to announce a new line of products that includes the HPAD A112 eReader. This news will come at CeBIT2011 in Hanover, Germany in March. The Android 2.2 driven tablet with a 7-inch color touchscreen is rumored to hit the market at $545 (US) which puts it in the same price neighborhood as Apple’s tablet.

*Of note is Hanvon’s claim to launching Triton, the first color E Ink eBook Reader.