In my recent counter-tirade against the emotional outbursts that booksellers are frequently guilty of when they should be discussing retail strategies, I mentioned that the last time I contacted a local bookstore to offer feedback on what I want as a customer, I was ignored. I thought it might be nice to publish that email [...]
competition
Why I won’t buy anything from iBooks
Last month was a sad one for all ebooksellers who aren’t Apple but who offer iOS apps, as well as for ebook customers. If you use a Kindle, Kobo or Nook app on your iOS device, you probably already noticed this, but otherwise you might have no idea what’s going on. So here’s a quick [...]
Rumor: Amazon to offer EPUB format on Kindle “soon”
Citing off-the-record statements by four different publishers, the blog Good E-Reader today announced that Amazon will soon offer EPUB format books on the Kindle platform: Four publishers in the last week have confirmed that Amazon has indeed told them they now have an option to submit eBooks to be listed in the Amazon store in [...]
How to predict what Amazon will announce next
It should be clear by now that the only time Amazon likes to announce a feature is when a competitor–usually Barnes & Noble–has something to announce. The Kindle 2 price cut this summer happened a few hours after B&N’s price cut. The long-requested (and long-denied) feature of gifting Kindle books was announced the same day [...]
Amazon buys touchscreen company, merges it with Kindle division
It’s probably safe to assume there will be a touchscreen Kindle some day, but it’s been hard to make any educated guess as to when. Adding touchscreen capability is a matter of finding technology that’s affordable, that can work with the current screen/display technology, and that isn’t locked down by a competitor via patents. Amazon [...]
Don’t believe the hype about lending ebooks on the Barnes & Noble nook
B&N wants the world to think that you can loan your ebooks to friends on their Kindle competitor, the nook. The reality is that the feature is so restricted that it is barely usable at all.
Don't believe the hype about lending ebooks on the Barnes & Noble nook
B&N wants the world to think that you can loan your ebooks to friends on their Kindle competitor, the nook. The reality is that the feature is so restricted that it is barely usable at all.
Report from Frankfurter Book Fair on the state of e-readers
It looks like publishers have finally accepted the idea of e-readers being a legitimate part of the book market, judging by their comments at this year’s Frankfurter Book Fair, according to Reuters: Penguin publishers Chief Executive John Makinson told Reuters: “They have become mainstream in the sense that they are a genuine consumer product for [...]