Amazon Kindle Agreement

I mentioned the agreement in passing yesterday.  Later in the day I stumble upon this great blog piece that is an annotated version of the Kindle license agreement. 

Stowe Boyd does a great job of taking the agreement apart and explaining it in plain English.  He concludes:

This is an enormous mess for Bezos and Amazon, and the license agreement is not going to protect them from their misdeeds.

Probably not good news for Amazon because class action law firm KamberEdelson is looking at suing Amazon for removing books from the Kindle. 

Jay Edelson "says he intends to argue that the recall infringes on consumers' property rights. He will also argue that Amazon's ability to delete books makes the Kindle less valuable to consumers, who believed they were purchasing a device that would allow them to store books forever. Edelson says he intends to seek to represent all Kindle owners in the case against Amazon."

This is so much fun to watch!  Stay tuned. . .

del.icio.us Tags: kindle ebook,amazon,ebooks,ebook

Big Brother and the Kindle

Irony is my most favorite form of humor!  And last week Amazon provided me with a great "laugh out loud" funny moment.

Seems that Kindle owners who bought copies of 1984 and Animal Farm woke up one morning to find that Amazon had deleted their copies.  No notice; no indication that anything was wrong.  They just remotely zapped the copy of the book off the machine.

Someone (I can't remember who or find the quote) noted that this would be like Barnes and Nobles coming into your house in the middle of the night and stealing back books you bought from them.

Which of course made me curious about the actual Amazon Kindle User Licence Agreement.  I actually went to the source and read it.  Lots of legalize, intended, I am sure, to confuse the average person.  But there are a few thing in actual English.

One of them is this sentence:  "Amazon grants you the non-exclusive right to keep a permanent copy of the applicable Digital Content and to view, use, and display such Digital Content an unlimited number of times..."

Now if you are me and you see the word permanent, you figure it means unchangeable, enduring and everlasting.  And I would further opine that my purchase was a purchase of real intellectual property even if it is in bits and bytes and not between covers.  Evidently Amazon (and their lawyers) think differently.  

The whole concept of someone being able to delete electronic material you have paid for (at will) is pretty scary and brings up legitimate questions about eBook ownership; but the fact that it was 1984 that got zapped is truly delicious!!

del.icio.us Tags: amazon,1984,orwell,kindle ebook,intellectual property

The eBook Reading Device Mystery solved

Interesting article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday about eBooks and how they are priced.

But the statement that really caught my attention wasn't about pricing at all. It was a prediction by Sarah Rotman Epps:

Ms. Epps, the Forrester analyst, estimates that by year end there will be more than three million dedicated e-reader devices in the U.S., with two million sold in 2009.

All of the press about the Kindle makes it sound like they are flying off the shelves and in fact almost everyone has one. Of course, I have yet to see one in real life. . . Until now I have just chalked it up to a vague idea that maybe I am just too sheltered; don't get out enough.

But this article has made me actually sit down and do the math.

The estimated US population in 307 million. An estimate three million devices means that approximately .01% of the population will own one by the end of the year. No wonder I haven't seen one yet!

del.icio.us Tags: kindle,e reader,Sarah Rotman Epps,ebooks,ebook hardware

eBook pricing - 2009 edition

As a bookseller eBook pricing is pivotally important to me. It impacts my daily business life and is often a source of frustration. I am bound to pricing as set by the publisher, evidently Amazon is not. 

Over the last few years a pricing structure has evolved where the list eBook price was the same or slightly lower than the trade paper.

And then  -- along came Amazon loudly touting that every Kindle eBook is priced at only $9.99.

Evidently, Amazon intended to use the Kindle in the same way Gillette used the razor.  People might pay for the Kindle but Amazon saw the real money in on going book sales. 

Or maybe Amazon was trying to emulate the Apple iTunes model and inject a little conformity into eBook pricing. 

Either way one thing was clear:  this was a clear attempt to muscle in on the pricing of eBooks.  Amazon was putting the world on notice that they have the clout and the resources to set eBook pricing at any level they want.

You have to admit, that for the average book buyer the pitch is great.  Buy any book for only $9.99. 

A year later, it turns out that the $9.99 price per title is (depending on your point of view) disingenuous or a downright lie. According to Knipfty on the Amazon blog, a more accurate statement is that only  33,000 of their 240,000 titles are listed to sell in the $9.01-10.00 range.  That is only 13.75%; a long way from 100%!

A close look at Amazon pricing shows that:

• 79,250 or 33% sell for between $0.01 and $10.00
• 105,000 or 43.75% sell for between $10.01 and 19.99
• 55,750 or 23% sell for over $20.00
• 80% of all the new books added by Amazon since Jan 20 have been priced above $9.99

Should all eBooks should be priced at $9.99 or lower?  Maybe.  But that isn't really the point.  The point is that when Amazon arbitrarily sets prices, everyone suffers.

Authors are the biggest losers in this scheme since they are usually paid a percentage on the actual revenue derived from each sale.  Publishers,book reps and booksellers also take a hit.

But ultimately it is the consumer who suffers when decisions about what can be read, in what format and how much can be charged are made by any one large company. That is a monopoly we can't afford.

del.icio.us Tags: ebook,e-book,ebook pricing,Amazon,Kindle

eBooks in the News

It was busy, busy week for eBook news items. Here is a grab bag of the ones I found the most interesting.

Google Mobile

Google announced that it's library of 1.5 million scanned books is now available for the PC, the iPhone and the T-Mobile G1. These books are scanned so that there are no links but the image quality is pretty impressive.   Check out it out on the Google Book Search Blog.

Amazon Kindle 2.0 and Surprise Announcement

Rumor has it that Amazon will be releasing a new version of the Kindle next week.  More info and pictures can be found on the  Boy Genius blog

AND according to the New York Times, Amazon is now working on making Kindle titles available on a variety of mobile phones. Not surprising really. . . of course there is no time estimate but the idea has a lot of people watching this new development.

Computer World Predicts a Bright Future for eBooks

One of the most interesting articles I have read about the growth in the eBook market showed up over the weekend in Computer World.  Staff writer Mike Elgan makes a case for revolutionary growth in the eBook market.  He believes that six major trends will finally kick eBooks into the mainstream:

• The economy
• The environment
• Publishing revolution
• Aggressive eBook marketing
• A rise in books written for electronic reading
• The decline of the newspaper industry

An excellent and persuasive piece which is worth reading from top to bottom.  Click here to read it.

A Short History of eBooks

Another excellent piece is a rather long article by John Siracusa at ars technica.  He traces his experience with eBooks starting with his job at Palm in 2002 to the present.  My favorite quote:

Let me leave you with a quote from another Peanut Press founder, one which reflects his not-entirely unfounded optimism about the subtle seduction of e-books: "You know what we call people who finally try e-books after they've sworn they could never read on a handheld device? 'Customers.'"

It is an excellent history of eBooks and the story of his personal experiences with the content and the technology.  I actually laughed out loud a couple of time!

Cell Phones -- the Statistics

I know.  Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics.  I can not resist, however, quoting some statistics that back up my belief that cellphones are going to rule the world of eBook reading.  

• 1.18 Billion new mobile phones were sold in 2008 (IDC 2009)
• There are 4 Billion mobile phone subscribers
• The world has about 6.7 Billion people, so this means that 60% of the world population has a cell phone

Admittedly some people own multiple phones but even so, that might take the percentage down to 50% (extremely low).

Tomi Ahonen and Alan Moore explore this phenomena in great detail on their blog. Check it out!

That's it for this week -- my top five stores.  Stay tuned for news and updates and follow the links to read the items mentioned here.

del.icio.us Tags: ebooks,e-books,amazon,google,google book search,kindle ebook,digital reading

The Sony eReader, DRM and Literacy

eBooks have been a hot topic this week. Much news about the Sony change in strategy and what it means for the Kindle. I have had a hard time getting this piece together. . . for some reason (probably the heat), I am having a difficult time thinking, much less getting inspired or passionate. But here goes. . .

The Sony eBook Reader now reads Adobe Digital editions eBooks!

Last week Sony announced a new way of thinking. It came in the form of a software (firmware) release. In what appears to be a direct challenge to the Amazon Kindle, Sony opened up the Sony eBook Reader so that their owners can buy from other retail outlets.

Until now, the only way to read a copy protected (DRM) eBook on the Sony was to buy a book in the Sony store. Not true anymore. The latest update allows the Sony reader to handled protected Adobe files and any of the ePub formatted files.

For those who wonder, the ePub format is the new standard proposed by the International Digital Publishing Forum. The IDPF has spent a lot of time developing this "universal" standard as a way to eliminate the confusion caused by many proprietary formats.

I am thrilled that to be able to welcome Sony eBook owners to the eBooks About Everything store!

A few words about DRM

In the beginning, Sony and Amazon created their eBooks with proprietary reading software. If you owned a Sony you could only buy books from Sony. If you own a Kindle you can only buy a book from Amazon.

The lack of a standard eBook format has been even more hampered by the way publishers think about copy protection and their decision to use Digital Right Management.

Make no mistake, I am NOT a fan of DRM, but as a bookseller I am more or less forced into selling DRM protected books. The publishers insist that it will protect their intellectual property and prevent piracy. SO if I want to sell the latest titles from the big publishers like Random House, Simon & Schuster or Harper Collins I have no choice.

Most books in the eBooks About Everything store are offered in four formats -- adobe digital editions, palm eReader, MSReader and Mobipocket. Very cumbersome!

At least 95% of our customer support issues are related to DRM! That is a lot of time and energy.

As much as it might pain me, I agree with Bill Gates about piracy. It is inevitable and probably helps more than hurts:

"And as long as they're going to steal it, we want them to steal ours. They'll get sort of addicted, and then we'll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade. . . They'll get addicted and we will collect."

The music industry has finally given in; it will be interesting to see how long the publishing industry holds out.

The New York Times and Literacy in the Digital Age

The Sunday edition of the New York Times has an excellent piece on literacy in the Digital Age: Literacy Debate: R U Really Reading.

This is an excellent piece on the pros and cons of digital reading and the largely generational divide in attitudes about literacy and online reading. Highly recommended!

del.icio.us Tags: Sony,Kindle,ebook,e-book,ebook reader,piracy,DRM,digital reading,literacy

eBook Reading reported

Last month Tickermine took a random poll about reading; electronic reading on eBook readers in particular.  I know that random self selected polling is not exactly scientific.  But it is an interesting snapshot of those who have strong opinions on any given subject. 

I was fascinated by both the questions and the responses.  

• Do you own a copy of an eBook?
• 33% said they owned an eBook 67% said they did not.
• Do you plan to own one?
• 37% said they planned to buy one in the future
• 63% said they would not
• What is the most you would be willing to pay for one?
• 57% said they would be willing to pay under $100
• 23% said they would pay $100-$200.
• 11% stated $200-$300
• 6% capped their price at $300-$400.
• 3% said they would be willing to pay over $400.
• Which factors influence your decision to purchase an eBook?
• 32% cited how many books it can hold
• 26% answered wireless downloading of the material
• 14% were concerned with battery
• 11% stated the size
• 6% responded that weight was the primary concern
• How would you use an eBook?
• 60% said reading books
• 11% said web content
• 9% said they would read magazines
• 9% said  reading blog
• 6% said documents
• 5% said newspapers.
• Which brand would you prefer buying?
• 37% chose Kindle
• 34% preferred Sony Reader. 
• 29% said they prefer reading on printed paper.

The people who chose to answer this poll, were for the most part people who did not own and eBook and did not plan to buy one and yet they have very strong opinions about what they are willing to pay and which reader they prefer. 

The thing that strikes me hardest is that only 6% were willing to pay $300-$400 for the reader and yet 37% picked the $400 Kindle.  Only 11% were willing to pay $200-$300 and yet 34% picked the Sony reader.  You might say that only 17% were actually willing to pay for either of the two most well know readers on the market.

The second thing I find curious is that the biggest influencing factor is the number of books the device will hold.  Only 11% were concerned with screen size.  If you had asked me to guess I would have reversed those two results. 

I am not sure exactly what this all means. Clearly there is a large disconnect between what people want and what eBook Reader manufacturers are charging.

I can't help but wonder about the influencing factors for buying an eBook reader.  Both the Kindle and the Sony claim to hold 200 books on the device and yet they both have additional memory card capability which infinitely expand storage capacity.  The most notable answer is the answer about wireless access.  Kindle has done a great job of promoting that particular feature.  The problem of course is that it doesn't necessarily work well in real life. 

In the final analysis, eBooks have a long way to go before they are priced low enough and before eReading will be a generally accepted reading method.

del.icio.us Tags: ebooks,e-books,eBook readers,Sony PRS-500,Amazon kindle

Readius -- The Scroll Is Back

Everything old is new again: a reading platform that starts out the size of a pack of cigarettes (I know, it is politically incorrect to even use that c-word)and expands to a full 5 inch screen. 

 

 

Photos of the so-called Readius prototype have been kicking around for a while. I couldn't have told you the thing was called Readius® but I did know that it was a small light reader with a roll up screen and just eight buttons!

What's not to like about the idea other than the fact that it isn't OLED based?  But I won't bore you with my particular hobby horse.

OLED or not, you still get a small, light thing to carry around.  A gadget that combines high resolution and long battery life -- always a winner.

Secretly, I've wanted one since I saw the first prototype.  If nothing else you have to admit that there is a real "coolness" factor to that roll up screen.

Looks like I might actually be able to get one soon.  According to a Reuters story earlier this week, the Readius will be available for sale by this summer.

The word is that it is really a cell phone that handles eBooks, RSS feeds, email and audio files.  Added features include a 30 hour battery life, an SD slot and it's very own portal.

According to Karl McGoldrick, chief executive of Polymer Vision:  "We are taking e-reading and bringing it to the mobile phone." 

Coolness not withstanding, before I get too excited there are a few question I want answered:

• About that portal:  what exactly do they mean by  "the portal allows users to personally configure the Readius® User Interface and design content and services to their own style and needs"?
• About reading:  What eReader software will I be able to use?  Will I be able to read my Mobipocket or PDF files?  Even the protected (DRM'd) files?
• About eCommerce: Will I be able to buy eBooks, news services and subscriptions anywhere or will I be stuck with a proprietary reader and limited choices?
• How much will it cost? 

The other thing I wonder about is if this device represents competition for current eInk readers (Kindle, Sony, Cybook, Irex etc) or the iPhone?  I guess time will tell.

Technorati Tags: ebooks,e-books,ebook reader,Readius,eBook hardware,reading on a cell phone,iPhone,Kindle

Steve Jobs Kindles Another Debate

"The seminal thinker of Apple is taking another byte that’s too big for his britches. He is declaring the written word dead" says Henri Reynard in this guest appearance.

Steve Jobs has always made great presentations even when he is presenting a dead product. Remember, oh guru, the great black walrus carcass of NeXT hanging around your neck?

Unfortunately when a product offering to your worshipping crowds isn’t up to par, you have to depend on a controversy to make news.  And Jobs is a past master at this kind of folderol.

Luckily for him it is just babble and not real prognostication. He has amply proven that he is not a living reincarnation of Nostradamus. If the written word is dead so is computing which last time I looked depended on keyboards and words to do almost everything it does.

If he really wants to amaze and intelligently impact the growing market for devices that can both talk and listen to you he should build a better tablet computer. I’ll even design it for him.

The tablet computer needs to be about the size of a sheet of paper or at least seven inches by ten inches. It should be no thicker than his new offering which is just another thin portable. It should take written text and dictation. It needs great color resolution like the iPhone and a new operating system based on spoken commands.

This tablet needs a five thousand word look up vocabulary so that it can offer you options when it doesn’t recognize a word you used. “Did you mean functions,” are prevalent in typed word dictionaries. It needs a particular dictionary adapted to the task of taking dictation and dealing with handwritten text. It could also have a keyboard that is presented onscreen as a touch screen function. It certainly should have drawing functions and stock images built into its connected library of utilities.

It should also be fully ready for the next big thing in computing, “Permanently Connected Publishing.” That would be a computer worthy of notice. It could also be designed to fold up and act as a phone; eventually. I wouldn’t want him to overreach the market again.

I can go on and so can a lot of you. Let’s have a little fun challenging Jobs to actually do something besides listen to the iPods with the rest of his life. The iPhone is a pretty toy but not a revolution in anything but Apple’s bottom line. Let’s see a real revolution in computing.

Bring on the tablet computer, it is long overdue.

Technorati Tags: Kindle,Steve Jobs,Jobs,iPhone,Apple Computer,tablet computers

Steve Jobs: "People Don't Read Anymore"

Earlier this week New York Times blogger John Markoff got the chance to sit down and talk with Steve Jobs.  In a fascinating and wide ranging interview they talk about the MacBook Air, the Kindle, Google smart phone, television and Bill Gates.

Jobs disses the Kindle and predicts it will go nowhere.  From his perspective:

"It doesn't matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don't read anymore. . . Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don't read anymore."

Steve loves controversy, and this is one more in a long line of outrageous statements.  It most certainly will get him and the new MacBook Air noticed. 

I happen to agree that the Kindle is a deeply flawed product - ugly, proprietary and dumb.  But I am not letting him off the hook here: his statement is deeply flawed (not to mention dumb and inflammatory). 

People Don't Read Anymore

First and foremost is the presumption that the only reading that "counts" is book reading.  Particularly ironic in this case since the interview was given to someone who writes a blog; last time I checked most people read blogs. 

His statement ignores newspapers and magazines and the tremendous amount of reading done online.

How many people do you think will read his statement that no one reads anymore? 

Oh yeah, there is this:  I would be willing to bet that more time is spent reading email on the iPhone than watching TV or actually talking.

There isn't a market for Books

Makes you wonder why Amazon is in business at all, doesn't it?  But even more problematic is that his statement is not accurate.  The actual statistic from the National Endowments for the Arts study is:

57% percent of Americans over the age of 18 read at least one book per year not required for work or school.

Let's just take the statement at face value.  Let's agree that there isn't much market for books or book related technology.  Then let's do the math: 

• The US population is about 300 million people. 
• If 57% of them read 1 book a year then there is (at the very least) a 171 million unit market. 
• The average book price is $18.00
• That translates to something like a $3 Billion market. . .

By the way actual annual book sales in the US are more than $16 Billion per year

I personally wouldn't sneeze at that kind of money. And that doesn't touch the educational market.

Hey, Steve

Before you so lightly dismiss reading (and eBooks) you probably ought to start praying that people continue to read for a while. 

If they don't, all those iPhones and that shiny new MacBook Air (which requires the user to read) will be sitting on the shelf for a long time to come.

Technorati Tags: eBooks,eBook,Kindle,Jobs,Steve Jobs,MacBook Air,Google phone,iPhone

eBooks and the Perfect Reader

There has been a lot of talk about eBook hardware in the last year:  the Irex Illiad, the Sony reader, the Cybook and finally the Kindle. Lots of press.  Lots of talk.

With each new device the questions arises:  Is this the new iPod for books?  Is this the piece of hardware that will take eBooks mainstream?  The "Killer Device" for eBooks?

The talk is seductive. I admit to having gotten a little sucked into that mind set.  I like the idea that somehow, someday there will be a "killer device" that will catapult eBooks into the next dimension.

This morning, while in the shower (I do my best thinking in the shower), it struck me -- the whole concept is totally fallacious.  It is, in fact, highly unlikely that there will ever be such a thing.

Think about it.  All over the world people are reading digital books.  Most of them read these eBooks on PCs, PDAs and mobile phones.

They aren't waiting for the perfect reader.  In fact they aren't even necessarily interested in a new gadget that will transform the whole electronic reading experience.  They are quite happy just as they are.  Thank you very much. 

Sure, there are some annoying inconveniences but basically, the technology is "good enough" for them just as it is.

Most of the "good enough" readers are young, hip and wired.  They are generally under 35 and grew up with computers, games boys and cell phones.  They are dexterous and have decent eyesight.  They think of books as something their parents read to them before they could play video games.  Alternatively, they think of books as some kind of bizarre punishment inflicted on them in the name of education. 

Most of the people waiting for the "killer device" think of books as iconic.  They seem to feel that the physical form of a book is somehow sacred.  After all, they grew up reading books, libraries were well funded and book stores were everywhere.  They expect the electronic reading experience to replicate the familiar print experience. 

In the end it is all about expectations and familiarity.  And then there is this:  the "good enough" generation is growing even as those waiting for the "killer device" are slowly and inexorably dying off.

Technorati Tags: ebooks,e-book,sony eBook reader,kindle,cybooks,irex illiad,ipod for books

Fun News for the week

A Different View

A friend sent me a link to some wonderful book pictures taken by David King and posted on Flickr.  Here are some shots of the Kansas City Library taken in April. 

AND Another One Bites the Dust

I swore I wasn't going to do it!  I was going to sit back and let everyone else bash the Kindle. I wrote my one post and that was going to be it. 

There has been a new development, however, that I pretty much "forces" me to break my silence.  This on is just too good not to pass on!

In less than two weeks the much talked about Kindle DRM has been "hacked" by one, Igor Skochinsky.

Mr. Skochinsky figured out the Kindle algorithm that takes a regular Mobipocket file (.prc) and turns in into a Amazon proprietary one (.azw)  He has kindly and posted his very simple python scripts for anyone to use.

I suspect Jeff Bezos is not very happy today. 

 

Technorati Tags: king,skochinsky,kindle ebook,drm,kindle,amazon,mobipocket

Technology is not the Point!

Henri Reynard weighs in on eBook Technology.  Henri presents his views on E Ink, the Kindle and what he really wants.

A spate of eBook readers has hit the market recently with one or two yet to follow. The display candidate of the moment is the technology based on E Ink which rhymes with pink but has the visual value of oink to my eyes.

The background is gray and slightly hazy.  I do not think that the visual effects of a book are very well presented. AND they all cost over three hundred dollars.  A sum of money for which these days you can get a fully featured portable PC. Or for that matter more than half of an Iphone if you really like technology that much.

I am not a fan of any of the current crop of eBook readers but they are getting better at getting the size and weight close to right for the avid reader. E Ink readers have one major drawback: they are fragile and not as capable of living through a good drop to the floor from the bed – a criteria for books in my house.

My wife is a technocrat of the first order so I get to hold a lot of technology in these hands. New technology is not likely to impress me unless I think it will actually move the market. Take for example the Kindle, well named if you believe in burning books.

I seldom have used a book to start a fire, notice I did not say never. But the Kindle suffers from some interesting drawbacks. It is totally proprietary and makes no apologies about that fact. It also loses in the cost derby since it has no price advantage to go along with its other restrictions. Note that it cannot read protected PDF which is one of the most prevalent formats for eBooks sold today.

No! I think I will wait on a better technology than the current oink -- ER, E Ink -- crop before I buy another reader. Maybe the tablet PC will be back in a solid and simple light weight form before this is all over. An open standard and a really large memory with a lot of computing capability. Now that would be an eBook that didn't depend on a lot of new untried technology.

Wouldn't that be nice?

Technorati Tags: cybook,ebook,e-book,ebook reader,irex illiad,eInk,kindle