Feb 28

Digital Divide Narrows

Author Patrick Carman (wow…mental gap there…at first I thought Eric Carmen…) is flogging a new multimedia book, Skeleton Creek. See the full story here. The children’s ghost mystery is a hybrid that takes the form of an ‘actual’ book that is also an online movie. Both elements depend on the other for the complete experience. It is Carman’s way to keep kids interested in books, and drag some of their net time toward reading.

It’s a great idea, and one that will truly flourish when he offers the book component as a tricked out eBook–something that links out of an eReader and interfaces with an online experience.

I can see this working well for kids and the adult market. This type of interface has been around for some time, perhaps in a less interactive form, with a paperback’s story augmented by online components like clues, illustrations and maps.

I can’t wait to see story ideas like this evolving until the reader is flipping between a hand-held reader and a wall-mounted flat screen. Too cool!

Feb 27

Newspaper Extinction? Not likely…

You can read it and see it all over the place. But that doesn’t make it true.  This morning CNN had a story  about the loss of newspaper jobs and the approaching demise of the newspaper industry. Watch it below. The powers that be blame the Internet for a decline in profitability due to the loss of ad revenues and readership .  

They’re clasping their chests and doing a great Silent Movie death scene. Ahhh! So are they really dying off, or are they just trying to sell newspapers? (Kind of creepy if  you think of it…reminds me of that kid who drove traffic to his web site by advertising his own suicide…)

Or are these crazed corporate giants using the economic downturn to make cuts intended to prop up the next quarter profits for their outmoded business model rather than open their minds and evolve to thrive in the landscape that the new technology is inventing for them. Then a jaded part of me whispers: Perhaps they’re crying poor, hoping to share in some of President Obama’s handouts to unsuccessful business models.

The technology is coming into place that will redefine newspapers and their profitability. See an example of newspaper eReaders here.  The future’s all about communications and information exchange, so newspapers will be there. However, it will be more difficult to monopolize the marketplace and to get their piece of it they’ll have to think outside the columns. Yah?

Feb 26

Sheesh, okay. Just well, another Kindle reference…

Look, you know I have to do this. There’s such a ballyhoo, it wouldn’t be fair to skip over something as important as Gizmodo.com‘s Kindle 2 Review Matrix. You can find it here. Enjoy! Yah?

I promise, soon we’ll all be talking about the next eBook reader out of the blocks… Who would that be, by the way?


Feb 25

An Excellent Option…now we need a Kiosk!

Here’s a nice warm and fuzzy, environmentally friendly meshing of worlds, perfect for anybody who’s nervous about leaving the Paperback Age behind. It’s another fantastic option, yah?

Using print-on-demand technology, the Espresso Book Machine can print a paperback in 3 – 5 minutes. That’s so cool!

espresso

Click for More

I can see this working very well. It will take a bit of thinking, but as long as eBook retailers sell you access to various formats, or if eBook readers get smart enough to convert everything to a format your handheld can eat, it shouldn’t be too complicated. The main point is, eBooks will have to be available in a print-formatted version too. Simple enough, when you consider the number of formats most are already available in.

And it’s a reprieve for book designers, who must have been fearful that the eBook and its nothing fancy, text-o-centric display had them marked for death. Continue reading

Feb 24

Tired of Kindle 2 Talk Yet?

Okay, I’m almost finished with it. (Yah, right!)

Only on Kindle 2

Only on Kindle 2

I might have sounded a bit catty earlier, about Stephen King‘s contribution to the launch of the new Kindle. I don’t want my reservations about his rationale to undercut what I believe to be a sincere effort on his part to embrace the new technology. Mr. King has seen a career of firsts, and none of it was accomplished with him playing it safe.

Having said that, I would like to put an open call out there, to any Kindle 2 owners. His new story Ur is only available on Kindle 2. Amazon’s eBook reading device is not an item I can pop in and snatch off a store shelf, so reading and reviewing Ur will not be possible for me until long after the fun and excitement has gone out of it. So. Please, submit your review here.


Feb 23

Not something Amazon will be happy to hear…

While waiting in line at a coffee shop, I watched an 80-year-old man at a table reading something on his iPhone. The old devil had his specs on deftly flipping through pages…quite comfortably defining his place in the digital age. It really hit home how prepared people are for eBooks and eBook Readers.

It also struck me that Amazon’s got to get into the game. Kindle 2 needs a wider release and a lower price if it hopes to share in the spoils. Yah?


Feb 22

More Kindle 2 talk but…

Kindle 2 talks and apparently it exhibits this controversial text-to-speech function in a voice similar to Tom Cruise’s. A rumor over at Engadget.com suggests it’s based on or was voiced by Cruise.

You can find an analysis of Kindle 2’s voice here at KindleBoards. Give it a listen. What do  you think? Is Amazon.com hoping the Top Gun will make Kindle 2 the Top Reader? Not if iPod has anything to say about it. Yah!


Feb 21

Kindle 2 versus iPhone

WOW! This is happening way faster than I imagined. All of it… Amazon’s already being challenged. I’d say “that will teach them” but it won’t. Even eBook prices are starting to drop!

This is the most detailed Kindle 2 review I’ve read so far. Read it here. For good measure, David Berlind of Informationweek.com, throws in a detailed comparison with the upstart eBook-reading  iPhone tricked out with Stanza.

Quite an interesting point in this feature. If you break your $359 Kindle, Amazon will send you a new one for a mere $180. That’s an interesting price. It suggests that their markup on new Kindles is way, way higher than 100%.

If they can ‘give’ you a replacement for $180–and we know they’re still making money on that, then the $359 they charge you for a brand new one is INFORMATION HIGHWAY ROBBERY!!

And they don’t even keep them in stock… Yah!


Feb 20

MANYBOOKS.NET – 23,058 FREE eBOOKS!

Free eBooks!

Free eBooks!

Matthew McClintock creator of Manybooks.net has put together an interesting service for readers and writers that you’ve just got to see. The layout is eye-catching and easy to navigate so check it out.

Offering 23,058 Free eBOOKS  from sources like Gutenberg and Author-direct material is just part of it.

McClintock offers tools and conversion software downloads for readers and writers. You can download the eBooks in a format to suit your reading device, and conversion tools are available to writers for making their work available for digital consumption.

He also lists stats on the most popular eBook formats based on downloads. Click here to view.

I noticed that PDF is commanding top spot in format of choice. I wonder if that means people are reading them as PDF’s or whether they’re easier to convert to format of choice.

Fantastic site, yah!


Feb 19

NEW WORLD – OLD CONTROL

When you’re trying to convince consumers to buy new products, why throw a  hassle into using those new products? It’s been proven that DRM is a drag on new markets when it impeded the growth of the digital music and movie industries, generating more piracy and hostility than sales. Why do they think it will work with eBooks?

New World - Old Control

New World - Old Control

DRM is dying out of the music industry, though it lags and maintains a tenuous hold on DVD publishing. That being the case,  one has to wonder why eBooks are being saddled with the restrictive software.

Amazon.com and Adobe are big proponents of DRM (Digital Rights Management) and continue to offer work that is exclusive to their eBook formats with these digital locks in place. They should know better, yah?

Adobe has loosened up a bit, but still allows their locked eBooks to be read on only a small number of computers or devices with the proper permissions, rather than allowing the buyer a ‘read-anywhere’ purchase agreement.

A story at computerworld.com continues this discussion in depth but here’s the gist: why try to control a fragile marketplace that is barely crawling yet?

Smart publishers will bypass DRM altogether and simply sell a product and as time goes on brave publishers will ditch it too. And it’s in their best interests to do so, with the net offering authors every freedom to bypass publishers and develop their own markets.

They should put their faith in their readers. Most people want to support their favorite artists, while few desire to support uncaring monopolies with outmoded values and mindsets.