Aug 09

Free is Good but it’s not original…

Sorry folks. Here’s yesterday’s news that failed to post for some reason…

Here’s an Associated Press story about established authors doing what independents have been doing for years. Believe me, James Patterson’s not taking the same risk. I’m glad he’s taking the risk and adding his heft to the eBook Revolution, but his motivation is different from a new novelist on the road up.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining and there are some risks involved for Patterson. But free offerings from his backlist can be used in this way to promote his new material.

It’s an entirely different concept for the independent novelist who has yet to build a readership and gives away his or her work.

And the idea that Amazon is supporting the ‘free’ market and low pricing is laughable. Amazon is being forced to comply by the demands of that market. They started off with, and still maintain, high prices for content and their machine (the Kindle) that reads them. They’re doing what they have to do to survive.

Make no mistake. The established publishing world is complying and adapting to an eBook market and business model that was established on the backs of independent authors who have been giving their work away for years.

Aug 07

Plastic Logic and a Nameless Rollable eNewspaper

Ok, it doesn’t have a name yet, nothing cool like Papyrus or Kindle or what have you, but this week Plastic Logic unveiled a lightweight E-Ink newspaper reader roughly 8.5″x11″ that updates wirelessly.

Its touch-screen interactivity allows users to make notations and offers video, if you can imagine. Read the full story about it here.

It will be manufactured in Germany and Plastic Logic plans to have it available for sale early next year. The device has a large storage capacity,  is made of flexible plastic (.25 inches thick) and boasts an environmentally friendlier profile than eBook Reading contemporaries.

I’m sure I read about something like this in a science fiction novel, yah?

Aug 06

Rupert can’t be serious…

Granted publishing billionaire Rupert Murdoch is a smart cookie, but we’ve been wondering if perhaps he’s finally hit the wall with the digital age. First he boasted getting onboard by designing his own handheld reading device, and then he more recently about-faced and was going to dump his ‘eReader’ in favor of providing content to existing eReaders. (He owns a lot of newspapers.)

Well this article at BBC has Rupert declaring that his News Corp is now going to start charging for content on his many online news resources. (Old story, painful lesson to come.) This after losing $3.4 billion in the first half of this year.  He needs new revenue streams and is going to make the mistake of driving people away to free news providers by charging for what he used to give away. Since the Internet will not be shaped to suit anyone’s will, (especially outmoded business models) we are looking toward his next $3 billion in losses.

I’ve got one thing to say: “What are you going to do when that doesn’t work?”

There is a way to charge for content, many specialty news addresses, like specialty television channels have done it, because there is a special audience. You just can’t charge for anything pulled from a wire service. Adapt or Die. The Internet favors the small and flexible, so News Corp’s losses are just evidence of those processes at work, yah?

Aug 05

An Apology from Amazon…

We talked about Amazon’s dictatorial ways a few days ago. Read it here. Well, they finally received enough complaints for entering the Private Property of Kindle owners–their Kindle eBook Collections–and deleting copies of George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm without warning or explanation.  So they’re apologizing. They later claimed the evil deed was due to a mix up with the party doing the sales. The point is, Amazon showed an inexcusable lack of respect for their customers’ privacy.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos apologized for the action.
——–
“This is an apology for the way we previously handled illegally sold copies of 1984 and other novels on Kindle. Our “solution” to the problem was stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. It is wholly self-inflicted, and we deserve the criticism we’ve received. We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward, ones that match our mission.

With deep apology to our customers,

Jeff Bezos
Founder & CEO
Amazon.com
——–
OUCH! He used the ‘s’ word! Well, they deserve it. There’s more and commentary here at CNN.

Aug 04

Suddenly slow news day…

To give you an idea how slow, I’m posting a link to an article at InfoWorld.com that talks about ePub eBook format being the new PDF. Read it here. It’s not the sexiest story in the world, but it speaks to the next major step in the eBook Revolution: the adoption of a universal eBook file format. The creation/adoption of a format that will read on any of the growing collection of eBook reading devices will pave the way for eBook ubiquity. It’s an excellent article though, that talks optimistically about the future of the revolution.

Imagine the amount of duplication that’s going on at major publishers as they configure their eBook titles for the numerous available formats.

Aug 03

FULL Sony Reader PRS-300 and PRS-650 Specifications Released

We mentioned the ‘leaked’ specifics a couple days ago. Now  Sonyinsider.com has the full specifications for Sony’s new eBook Readers including price. Check it out here.

At $199, the PRS-300 sets the stage for some real savings  as the other eBook reader designers are forced to respond to that price. Even with the slightly smaller screen and profile, the PRS-300 promises the older PRS-700’s functions and more, all squeezed into a compact new body.

The PRS-600 at $299 offers a size and look similar to its ancestors including a 6-inch E Ink screen. With its ability to allow page-turning with the swipe of a finger, the PRS-600 will clearly capture the imagination of eBook fans.

It won’t be long before these prices start to drop even more, yah?

Aug 02

It ain’t easy being a dictator…

Amazon is being sued for remotely deleting copies of George Orwell’s 1984 from Kindles. It later explained the action was taken because the copy in question was provided by a third party that did not have the right to sell it. Read the full story at Reuters. It seems that in one of the cases it deleted a student’s ‘copious’ notes with the eBook.

This will be an interesting case to follow because it really deals with the question of ownership. The offended Kindle-user bought the eBook for .99 in good faith with a reasonable expectation that he would have access to the information. He was never given a reason for the deletion or provided a replacement. The question is, does Amazon have the right to delete or effectively ‘destroy’ someone’s property? If I committed such an act it would be called theft or vandalism.

If Amazon doesn’t have the right to act on property it sells, then one could argue that Amazon does not have the right to dictate what an individual does with his/her property after the sale.

So one has to wonder if digitally locking and restricting access to  digital property is legal.

Aug 01

An actual RUMOR at eBook Rumors

This is fantastic! It seems that the service manuals for two new Sony Reading Devices have ‘accidentally’ found their way onto the net. Read the full article about the leak at ChannelWeb here.

Apparently the new devices, the PRS-300 and PRS-600, have made it off the drawing board and are on their way to the market.

Both service manuals would make a dull read for the average Joe or Joanne, but page one of both list the specifications for the devices.

For instance, the PRS-300 digital book reader has a memory of 440 MB and boasts a 7,500 page turn battery life. The PRS-600 has a similar battery life with 380 MB memory. Both have USB connectors and SD memory and Memory Stick Duo slots. (See more specification by taking the link to the article.)

Of course there is no word on price, but it will be exciting to see these new machines enter the market, yah?

Jul 31

Papyrus = Samsung SNE-50K reader.

We talked about this back in March when it was still hidden behind the lovely name Papyrus. Well Samsung Electronics finally broke cover and has announced the new SNE-50K reader that it will sell in South Korea–at first. They’ve got plans to take over the world later, probably next year, according to Samsung. Read the article about its release here at cnetnews.

It’s a cute little thing as you’ll see when you take the link, and it was designed to be compact with a 5-inch screen and weighing well under a half pound.  It cruises along with a sensible 512 MB memory and 600×800 pixel display.  There is a list of specifics at the cnetnews article.

Priced at $270 it’s still too expensive but its sleek lines and modern profile might win the hearts of some early adopters.  It’s worth checking out.

I will definitely miss its former name. I like to whisper it: Papyrus…  sigh!

Jul 30

And Amazon trembled…

We’ve been waiting for confirmation on an Apple Tablet for months now, and this story at CNN has got to be the first solid incarnation of the rumor. The article contains some significant specifics and pretty intriguing theories.

The problem  for everyone in the eBook Reader business is Apple has done so well in the hand-held market that everyone knows they’re going to come out as a force in the eBook Revolution. With eBook Readers like Kindle and Sony Reader still close  to the $400 mark (and only offering ebook reading for the bucks), the high price leaves adopters wanting more. And Apple’s been so good at it giving it.

Watch this closely, yah?