Lifehacker takes a survey.
Publishers should probably be doing this kind of research before they start battling to raise prices. I hope they're listening!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Macmillan books gets Amazon to raise prices, almost guarantees I'll never buy one.
From the Amazon Kindle team:
Now John Gruber over at Daring Fireball says that Apple has successfully disrupted Amazon's Kindle business, but I think a little bit differently.
I think that Apple has successfully laid the groundwork to raise the standard price of eBooks. And I think that is going to seriously damage the eBook format. Would I pay $15 for the privilege of reading something I could pay $10 or less for by picking it up at the local book store I walk by every day on my way home? I sincerely doubt it, and I think it's absurd that publishers should want to charge more for something that costs less to produce.
Publishers need to start waking up and reading the writing on the walls the way the music industry has been forced to do. Things are changing. Paying a premium to read a book early might work. Waiting to release an eBook until softcovers come out might work. But charging more for an eBook than a softcover? Good luck with that.
Macmillan E-books - kindle Discussion Forum: "We have expressed our strong disagreement and the seriousness of our disagreement by temporarily ceasing the sale of all Macmillan titles. We want you to know that ultimately, however, we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan's terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books. Amazon customers will at that point decide for themselves whether they believe it's reasonable to pay $14.99 for a bestselling e-book. We don't believe that all of the major publishers will take the same route as Macmillan. And we know for sure that many independent presses and self-published authors will see this as an opportunity to provide attractively priced e-books as an alternative."
Now John Gruber over at Daring Fireball says that Apple has successfully disrupted Amazon's Kindle business, but I think a little bit differently.
I think that Apple has successfully laid the groundwork to raise the standard price of eBooks. And I think that is going to seriously damage the eBook format. Would I pay $15 for the privilege of reading something I could pay $10 or less for by picking it up at the local book store I walk by every day on my way home? I sincerely doubt it, and I think it's absurd that publishers should want to charge more for something that costs less to produce.
Publishers need to start waking up and reading the writing on the walls the way the music industry has been forced to do. Things are changing. Paying a premium to read a book early might work. Waiting to release an eBook until softcovers come out might work. But charging more for an eBook than a softcover? Good luck with that.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Why I think the iPad is a threat to the Amazon Kindle
I am not impressed by the iPad as a device, especially as an eBook reading device. The amount of eye strain it will cause just doesn't do it for me. But here's something it does do: it uses the ePub format.
Now let's remember that there's a small format war happening here between the Kindle and, well, everyone else. The Nook, the Sony Reader, the iRiver Story, and now the iPad all use the ePub format.
Like or not, the iPad is going to help jumpstart eBook reading, and when it does it's going to become a major player. In doing so, it's going to add a good bit of market share for the ePub format. And that, in my mind, is a threat to the Kindle.
Now let's remember that there's a small format war happening here between the Kindle and, well, everyone else. The Nook, the Sony Reader, the iRiver Story, and now the iPad all use the ePub format.
Like or not, the iPad is going to help jumpstart eBook reading, and when it does it's going to become a major player. In doing so, it's going to add a good bit of market share for the ePub format. And that, in my mind, is a threat to the Kindle.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Magic Mouse: Impressions
A friend at the office was kind enough to switch mice with me today - he has a new Magic Mouse where I rock the older bluetooth Mighty Mouse, so I could get a feel for it and see what I thought. He shared his thoughts with me, and now I want to put together my own.
From my reading, I knew that I would miss being able to squeeze the sides of the mouse to open exposé, but I know there are apps to add gestures with actions so I am not hugely concerned.
The hardware is very light and glides nicely on my desktop. I am not sure I'd like it on a mouse pad, but I don't have one and it tracked well for me so it was a non-issue. The first challenge I encountered was the question of how to make the device discoverable. I looked inside the battery case to see if there was a button, but there was not one. On a hunch, I switched the mouse on and tried to search for it immediately. This worked. It actually looks like the device stays discoverable at all times - something I'm not that big on. I would have preferred a way to put it into discovery mode, and otherwise have it undiscoverable.
Using the mouse was another story. Its low profile was a different experience for me because it meant holding my hand up instead of resting it on the body of the mouse. I could feel the corners of the mouse in my palm rather than the comfortable rounded feel of the mighty mouse. The scrolling gesture was great, I have to say, and scrolling with momentum is nice. One negative to the scrolling is the overall feel of the surface. It reminded me of my iPhone without a screen protector. My finger would stick a little bit, and the gestures wouldn't be as smooth. I enjoy the screen protector on my phone for this reason, and wonder if putting something like that on the magic mouse might make me happier. Should I buy the mouse, I may pick up another screen protector and try popping it on there just to see.
So to sum it up, I like it a lot. I prefer the form factor of the Mighty Mouse, and if I could have that form factor with the Magic Mouse's functionality I'd be sold and happy.
From my reading, I knew that I would miss being able to squeeze the sides of the mouse to open exposé, but I know there are apps to add gestures with actions so I am not hugely concerned.
The hardware is very light and glides nicely on my desktop. I am not sure I'd like it on a mouse pad, but I don't have one and it tracked well for me so it was a non-issue. The first challenge I encountered was the question of how to make the device discoverable. I looked inside the battery case to see if there was a button, but there was not one. On a hunch, I switched the mouse on and tried to search for it immediately. This worked. It actually looks like the device stays discoverable at all times - something I'm not that big on. I would have preferred a way to put it into discovery mode, and otherwise have it undiscoverable.
Using the mouse was another story. Its low profile was a different experience for me because it meant holding my hand up instead of resting it on the body of the mouse. I could feel the corners of the mouse in my palm rather than the comfortable rounded feel of the mighty mouse. The scrolling gesture was great, I have to say, and scrolling with momentum is nice. One negative to the scrolling is the overall feel of the surface. It reminded me of my iPhone without a screen protector. My finger would stick a little bit, and the gestures wouldn't be as smooth. I enjoy the screen protector on my phone for this reason, and wonder if putting something like that on the magic mouse might make me happier. Should I buy the mouse, I may pick up another screen protector and try popping it on there just to see.
So to sum it up, I like it a lot. I prefer the form factor of the Mighty Mouse, and if I could have that form factor with the Magic Mouse's functionality I'd be sold and happy.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Hello, Kobo
Wired has a neat story about kobo, a new eBook store that sells books in the ePub format. The short version? Kobo is betting on an open eBook format that works on multiple platforms where Amazon is not. Books bought here work on a whole list of devices that the Kindle is missing from. But Stanza, an app I've mentioned here before, can read DRM-free ePub eBooks and can export into the Amazon format. Is it more work? Yup. Is it worth it? Depends on the book, your device, and the stance you take.
Gadgets on airplanes
Joel Johnson has a couple of posts on Gizmode under the tag #takebacktakeoff in which he rants a bit about our rights to use our gadgets on airplanes during takeoff. He puts into clear words a lot of frustration that many share each time they fly. While I have not historically been impacted by these rules very heavily as I prefer to read, I will be in the future as I have converted eBooks. This means no reading during takeoff - a generally boring and stressful time. Taking peoples' gadgets away forces them to pay attention to what's going on around them, increasing their ability to react in an urgent situation. On the other hand, it forces them to pay attention to what's going on around them, often stressing them out more than they otherwise could be. The music, videos, and books being denied are often coping mechanisms. Even when they're not, they're often considered one of the perks of flying rather than driving.
Here's another fun fact - one reason these gadgets are disallowed because of transmissions that they might make if they're malfunctioning. Isn't that what the FCC certification is for?
Here's another fun fact - one reason these gadgets are disallowed because of transmissions that they might make if they're malfunctioning. Isn't that what the FCC certification is for?
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