Hearst Launching Kindle Competitor and Platform "By Publishers, For Publishers"

The Hearst Corporation has announced their intention to launch an e-reader competitor to Amazon's Kindle and a supporting store and platform that is much more "publisher friendly." More details are available form their official press release this morning. "Launching in 2010, Skiff provides a complete e-reading solution that includes the Skiff Service platform, Skiff Store and Skiff-enabled devices. Skiff will sell and distribute newspapers, magazines, books, blogs and other content. Skiff gives periodical publishers tools to maintain their distinct visual identities, build and extend relationships with subscribers, and deliver dynamic content and advertising to a range of dedicated e-readers and multipurpose devices."

Comments

DRM

[eav]

And if it has DRM I am not buying it.

I PREDICT...

[gbutler69]

...EPIC FAIL...

Re:Publisher friendly?

[fredjh]

I'm sure the prevailing slashdot assumption will be that publishers somehow fail to realize this, but I doubt that.

Does success mean "not alienating?" All of these successful DRM practices alienate customers, it's just that there's enough who are disinterested to make up for it. I give the example of audio cassettes which, despite opposition by recording companies, not only gave them a new outlet for their music, but made vinyl MORE worthwhile because the consumer had more options. Ditto video cassettes... they whined and whined until they found out they had a whole new revenue stream, at which point they were making more money than ever.

Are they shooting themselves in the foot? I don't know, maybe not, maybe it'll be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I really don't believe it's naive to distrust publishers.