Jun 22
I’m sure they’ll say they thought of it first, but Amazon has now dropped the price of their Kindle 2 eBook Reader with Whispernet 3G from $259 to $189 hot on the heels of Barnes & Noble’s nook dropping in price to $149 for its WiFi-only nook and $199 for its 3G WiFi nook. Read more on the story at FastCompany (and just about everywhere else on the net).
This is a shrewd move. Rather than fight it out with iPad for a multi-function market, fight for the E Ink market you already own, yah?
Jun 21
Looks like Barnes and Noble is making another exciting move marking the price of their nook down to $149 while offering an optional $199 3G model.
This will absolutely heat things up this summer, and I can’t help but think this is the work of Kobo’s $150 E Ink eReader.
The $149 nook doesn’t just beat Kobo’s price by a buck, it also comes with WiFi, a clear challenge to Kobo’s USB connectivity. (Most readers don’t care, but the convenience of WiFi might be a deal maker.)
On top of that, B&N is dropping the price of the nook 3G with WiFi from $259 to $199. (Connects anywhere.)
So, there’s a shot across Amazon’s bow as the smart eBook Reading Device makers opt out of a head-to-head competition with iPad’s multi-function and go for getting eBook Readers into the mainstream’s hands.
Can the $99 eBook Reader be far behind?
Jun 19
The Financial Post has a story about eReading platform Kobo announcing their services now extend to any Android-enabled smartphone.
On top of a desire to share their eReading experience anywhere on any machine, their open standards allow customers to access and read their selections on any device.
When linked to their $150 eBook Reader, Kobo is poised to set some fires under the industry front-runners.
Jun 18
Thanks again to Jorgen for links to a digital news story that he’s been monitoring. The developments involve Rupert Murdoch making some moves to get a firm toehold in the growing digital newspaper industry and mark a casualty in the eBook Revolution.
Click here for a story at TabletPCReview that details Murdoch’s purchase of Skiff, LLC, and the e-reading platform developed by Hearst Corp. and designed to deliver premium content to tablet PCs, smartphones, eBook readers and netbooks. Murdoch recently started moving his online news services to a ‘paid content’ format so the Skiff platform’s ability to protect brand identity fits the program.
The other link takes you to CrunchGear’s eulogy for the Skiff Reader. Murdoch bought the Skiff software platform but passed on the physical device. Do you remember the Skiff Reader? I think it’s a beautiful piece of technology that will eventually return from the grave when digital publishing becomes secure enough that niche markets start to evolve that will need large format E Ink devices to deliver broadsheet content. The Skiff Reader was just ahead of its time.
Jun 17
Authorlink News is carrying a story touting Barnes and Noble’s new CEO William Lynch as the main reason B&N is making huge gains in the eBook Market. I’ve got to agree, whoever is calling the shots is sure making up for ground the company lost after briefly shutting down its eBook Store in 2008. Since re-opening, it’s been one innovation after another as the Internet and Bricks and Mortar eBook retailer has charged back into the eBook Revolution. While its share in eBook sales increased by nearly 20% it still remains a distant second to the market dominator Amazon.com.
Still, that kind of thinking brings competition to a marketplace that needs it to lower the price of eBooks and the machines that read them.
Jun 16
Many thanks to our friend Jorgen who provided a link to an interesting discussion over at FUTUReBOOK.com about the future of eBooks on the web and the trouble with DRM. The post by Tom Williams ponders whether Google Editions has already won the eBook war with their cloud-based eBooks versus the proprietary formats offered by Amazon, Apple iPad and etc.
I think it’s still too early for a conclusion on this. The mainstream consumer still has to speak, and by the look of the poster after the article, some people just want to read on an eBook reader and are happy without the distracting net-experience that come with multifunction devices.
Jun 15
The Huffington Post offers a thoughtful piece by Steve Leveen about the past and future of reading entitled: “Will Paper Books Go the Way of the Silent Film? Change in the Air at BookExpo America” inspired by remarks from an industry insider speaking at the recent BookExpo in New York. It’s a well-written piece worth the click.
Jun 14
Bright Side of News has a summary of a Consumer Report review of eBook Readers. Not a lot of surprises, but it’s nice to see that eBook Readers are mainstream enough to rate some ink from the non-profit, independent, subscription supported, rating organization.
Jun 13
Okay. I know what you’re thinking. “Well, that ain’t news…”
Check out the Bookseller.com story: “Discounted books rule on iBookstore.” They can spin this around the word “discount” all they want but the real story is that lower-priced eBooks outsell higher priced. It’s not rocket science. Publishers have to stop “discounting” titles and just start pricing them fairly, yah?
