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Google Set To Tackle eBook Market
Mike writes "Google's latest decision to try its hand selling eBooks promises to make life in the eBook world more interesting, and will likely spur a standards war that in the end may prove beneficial to many consumers. Google's eBook store will pit it directly against Amazon and Amazon's Kindle — an enormously popular eBook reader. This will push many companies to create eBook readers to take advantage of Google's new store, and will flood the market with tough choices. Google does not have a dedicated eBook reader yet, but it seems a logical next step for the search giant."
I seem to remember people saying the same thing about cell phones, but Google is not a hardware company. I'd look for an API and not much else.
Jesus saves and takes half damage.
Lets hope they can bring the price down to 'every man'. 400 for a kindle is pretty steep for a lot people, even during the best of times.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Android based app that's free and open source even, with an essentially open standard so anyone can program nearly anything to connect up. Between an iphone/ipod touch app and an android app, there's just enough space for a dedicated ebook reader to flourish. Maybe a nice addition to a ebook reader is a way to share a book with friends, maybe via bluetooth, letting you transfer a set amount (like in Google books where you only see part of the book) and then a linking system to allow you purchase the rest. Might make it more compelling. If tracked as to who recommended it to who, it could have a new start to rating books, by number of recommendations made.
Amazon's Kindle an enormously popular eBook reader.
I'm not sure the description "enormously popular" is deserved. Just because it is out selling other eBook readers doesn't make it "enormously popular"; how many of these have actually sold?
It doesn't seem that the eBook market has really expanded to the point of anything yet being worthy of the "enormously popular" status, AFAIK.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
I want an eBook device that can read the eBooks I already bought and own.
They are in PDF and some on CHM format.
If I am going to spend $300 or more for an eBook device I might as well buy a Netbook that can use PDF and CHM formats for the same price.
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Attention. If I can look at and search for thousands of books in one place, I am more likely to notice your book if it is there.
One way to look at it is like this: how much are you currently making on the books that you are not selling that Amazon is not taking a share of?
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
You need the publisher less than you need a retailer.
A publisher (mainly) provides publicity, editing, manufacturing, and, the only thing they are really good at, getting your dead tree into brick&mortars. You can contract editors, you can do publicity on the internet, and small run print options have almost reached parity with bigger presses. Most bookstores will even order PoD books now and some even take PoD returns on the theory that if you were interested enough to order it at a store, someone else might be interested enough to make a casual purchase.
Having your publisher be your store would limit you to people who mainly read books from your publisher, as opposed to readers of your genre. Doing it directly yourself would be even worse, unless you were already a name. I'd rather not fill in my CC info on a few hundred authors' websites, or even a dozen publishers'.
And you probably don't want to have to deal with CC payment processors, especially with the chargeback fees that retailers generally eat for you. I haven't read the Kindle contract closely, but I don't remember it being as binding as most publishers' contracts. Their PoD services seemed a little demanding on minimum quantities.
PS, put your books online, if you are at all popular, otherwise someone else will first. Probably a "fan".
Wouldn't the Kindle be more analogous to the iPod? Both can use a proprietary, DRMed format. But both also work with well-known, non-DRMed formats. Also, if Google's formats are really open, then won't people be able to read them on Kindles?
"Anyone who [rips a CD] is probably engaging in copyright infringement." - David O. Carson
along the right side of each page in the ebook.... yep "ads by google" :D
Attention. If I can look at and search for thousands of books in one place, I am more likely to notice your book if it is there.
The more you think about it, the less that actually makes sense. The more books that are there, the less likely you are to notice my specific book.
Having tried to find decent apps in Apple's App Store (especially free games), I know that eventually volume becomes more of a negative than a positive. I wind up searching the net for people's "top X list of free iphone games", etc. So in reality, what I'm looking for is a content portal with reviews and discussion groups done by area of interest that can then directly link to a publisher or author's store.
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The original article seem to focus entirely on a Amazon vs Google battle. But in that article is missing one point: Kindle is not available outside the US. That is: you need an USA registered Credit Card with a USA address to buy one. Yes there are work around - but why should I support a flawed business model.
So for me living outside the US I had to look else where for for eBooks. And if you do you will soon notice that there are better eBook reader then Kindle and that there are better eBook shops then Amazon. Amazon is largely capitalising there good name here. In fact currently it is more like Amazon vs the rest of the world.
For me there is no doubt who is going to win in the long run. While USA is a large marked but it does only represent 5% of human population. Well, unless Amazon changes there business model that is.