The team behind Pottermore—the official Harry Potter website and online community—made a few announcements this morning that will disappoint those die hard fans who have been waiting expectantly for access to the site and the official ebooks. Phased access starting in late October In a blog post on Pottermore Insider, they refined their original “opening [...]
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Appetites cookbook app is how enhanced ebooks should work
The cookbook app Appetites is one of the best examples of what an ebook app can deliver, and it’s free for a short time.
Do printed library books really fall apart after 26 uses? (No, they don’t.)
Yeah, I’m still posting about HarperCollins’ new ebook library policy. It’s not just that it’s such a damned greedy, destructive move to make against libraries, the publishing equivalent of clubbing a highly literate seal. It’s that HarperCollins is using this policy change to try to push a 500%+ increase in the frequency with which libraries [...]
New Kindle commercial is possibly also a tampon commercial
The Kindle is so light and carefree that when you’re using one, you can run and jump and hold hands and collapse into a laugh-ball with your other literate friends. The Kindle can absorb far more words than your grandmother’s paperback, and it weighs less too. The Kindle will make you feel like you’re in [...]
Is a Kindle bullet proof? There’s one quick way to find out.
“Can a book save your life?” That’s what Tom Shillue of the literary journal Electric Literature asks in the clip above, and you can tell he should be taken very seriously because he does that TV news journalist walk toward the camera at the beginning. (EL’s next clip should test which books are sexual predators.) [...]
A reminder that not everyone likes to receive a book for a gift
That Kindle holiday ad now running on U.S. television warms me like a cup of hot chocolate, but I suspect it’s something of a Christmas miracle. For contrast: Once, while I was working at a mortgage company back in college (this was before the industry destroyed America–we actually verified incomes), I was forced to participate [...]
Amazon's new Kindle ad makes me feel weird about owning a Kindle
Have you seen the new Kindle spot yet? At first I thought it was made by a fan, or that it was one of the entries submitted for Amazon’s “create a Kindle ad” contest that ran last month. Not because it’s badly made, but because it feels out of touch with the brand image I [...]
Review: Guardian waterproof case from M-Edge
Summary This well-built, premium priced case promises to keep your Kindle 2 dry in up to 3 feet of water. It does its job well, but might seem like overkill for many Kindle owners. Pros It works! Very sturdy construction Easy to open and close Also doubles as a very flat waterproof lunch box Cons [...]
Review: "Fitted" hardshell case from Speck Products
Summary This low profile, fabric-backed hard case gives your Kindle a warm and sophisticated new look, but some may find the black-on-white contrast of the front jarring. Pros adds very little bulk patterned fabric back is sophisticated and unique goes on/comes off in seconds, versus decals or silicone sleeves Cons gunmetal gray front plate stands [...]
Review: "DustJacket" case from Speck Products
Summary This thickly padded, lightweight case looks ordinary, but its built-in kick stand sets it apart on functionality. Pros thickly padded and slightly oversized to provide protection has a built-in stand! built-in Kindle tray is easy to use and holds the device firmly cheaper than the Amazon Kindle case Cons stand is connected via fabric [...]
Penguin previews interactive books for Apple's iBook store
Penguin Books’ CEO John Makinson gave a presentation in London today where he demonstrated some books/applications–I’m not sure what you’d call them technically–that Penguin plans to sell on the iBook store when the iPad launches later this month. Penguin is doing some pretty inventive stuff with its content, judging by these demos, and I think [...]