The SAG (Sony, Amazon, Google) Wars

Last week Sony and Google announced their eBook agreement.  Under the agreement,  Google Book Search is making 500,000 public domain books available to Sony eReader owners.  All of these titles are in the public domain, meaning that the copyright on the book has expired.

I am a little puzzled as to what the big deal is.  After all, a 100,000 or so of these titles are already available through Project Gutenberg in text or html format that can be ready by pretty much anyone.

Perhaps the big deal is simply that Sony can now say that they have more eBook titles than Amazon.  After all, the Amazon Kindle now only has 250,000 titles available.  Lots of books are a good idea, but just exactly what are they?  For fun, I checked out some of the new titles:

• Explorations of the Highlands of the Brazil By Richard Francis Burton
• The English Dairy Farmer, 1500-1900 By George Edwin Fussell
• Quinquennial catalogue of the Dental School of Harvard University, 1869-1900 By Dental School, Harvard University
• Vivisection By United States, District of Columbia, Senate, Congress
• Alphabetical List of Battles, 1754-1900 By Newton Allen Strait

I don't know about you, but these will not be on my reading list anytime soon.  Admittedly there is some great, classic and readable literature in the public domain.  Some of my favorite titles as a little girl like Pollyanna or Little Women and still current favorite authors like Jane Austin, Jules Verne, Charles Dickens and Mark Twain. But good literature is only a small percentage of the 500,000 titles. Much of this work is heavy duty academic tomes and historical artifacts that are of limited interest to the general reading public.  Quantity is one thing, quality and desirability are another!

I keep wondering why Sony thinks this partnership with Google is a good idea for them?   Yes. they become bigger than Amazon but at what price? They are giving Google a huge boost and while it may  derail the Kindle in the short run, but they are probably hastening the demise of their reader in the long run.

Google is obviously setting the stage for online books.  Books that make proprietary readers unnecessary.  Their goal is to render all eBook readers as interesting artifacts. 

Maybe the answer is that Sony and Google are hoping to create an iTunes-like store with content for eBook readers.  The problem of course is that ultimately the iPhone or something like it will make the eBook reader an interesting artifact without any help from Google at all.

It is fascinating to watch the anti-evolutionary forces in the eBook market join forces to release books from Darwin's period and call it progress.

del.icio.us Tags: sony,google,amazon,sony eReader,Google Book Search

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

Google and the Very Long Tail

Henri is never short on opinions!  Now, the Google settlement has given him a lot to think about.  Here's his take:  if you agree or disagree be sure to let him know.  He loves a good discussion!

Of all of the services that Google has done for mankind in the name of profit and good business practices this one may be the most important yet. I am talking about the recent settlement of its lawsuit related to putting a lot of copyrighted material online without first seeking rights from each individual owner. Google and everyone with any interest in the past won and the forces of darkness lost big.

Oh yes it cost Google an eighth of a billion dollars and some big lawyer’s fees. The project itself is also expensive and will take a long time. On the other hand the library at Alexandria is never going to burn again. The massive literary and knowledge base built in our past on paper will be safer from war and fire and the ravages of time than ever before in history. Even more important it will be accessible to innumerable scholars in the future.

The unprecedented access offered by this settlement is worth anything Google and all of the rest of us could pay for it. I have a serious love affair with the written word and a vast (And possibly useless) eclectic knowledge base derived from struggling with great libraries and depositories. They yield up their secrets reluctantly. I am definitely a biased observer.

That said, how else could anyone have penetrated the maze of laws and rights that buried so much merit in dusty treasure troves with no hope of release until Google came along? The laws governing use of once published and still copyrighted material made little sense in the digital age. Unless they allow for a much broader access path they are merely inhibitory, not protective in any meaningful sense of the word.

So Google ignored them and invited lawsuits as the most efficient way to sort out that mares nest of laws, regulations and garbage. It is a messy mélange of rules that we have assembled around protecting Disney and other huge companies against unreasonable use of their long lived intellectual property assets.

Google did not want those assets; they wanted the poor huddled masses of books and papers languishing in vast dusty depositories. And now they have them and are moving to free them for the fun and profit of all of us including of course Google. It is a story worthy of greater pens than mine and it will continue to be written for a very long time.

Money was not the only point of this action but it will flow back into Google’s coffers in plentitude over time. Those of us who could only dream of this day until now are living a dream of vast access brought on by smart young businessmen and women.

If I could tell any young entrepreneur how to succeed here would be  the three things I would recommend. Have fun, do something good for people and the world they live in and make money doing it. Google is a good example of that ideal and this project shows what can be accomplished with the right people and the right level of access to capital. Bravo Fortissimo, Encore!!!!!!

del.icio.us Tags: google,AAP,google books,digital reading

Of Google, Random House and eBook Royalties in the Digital Age

OK, I have to admit it, last week was an amazing week (and not just because of Barak Obama).  I'm talking the book world here, not politics. 

First Google announced that it had finally settled it's lawsuit with the Authors Guild, AAP (American Association of Publishers) et al.  The simple version is that Google won the right to put a lot of copyrighted material online without first seeking rights from each individual owner. In other words, ordinary people will have an unprecedented ability to search (for free) and access (for a fee) books that formerly lived only in university libraries

Under the agreement, unless authors specifically opt out, books that are out-of-print but still copyrighted will be available for "preview" (a few pages) for free.  And to obtain full access there is a a fee. For access to in-print books, "rightsholders"  must opt in, but the basic structure remain:  preview free and access for a fee.

Where it really gets interesting is when you look at the fee structure.  It is fairly long and involved, but basically, Google pays approximately 60% royalties on any money received.  Even better, authors can be paid directly.

Right on the heels of this news, Random House, not to be outdone, also introduced a new royalty structure.  They, too, are going to pay e-book royalties based on the actual net moneys received by the publisher.  Not on as a percentage of list prices as they have always done.  AND they are going to pay the author a whopping 25% royalty from these monies.

Here, quoted directly, is the Random House logic:

1. The new rates are very much in line with the e-book and digital audio rates being offered today by our major competitors.
2. The way the market is developing, the publisher's list price will soon no longer be a relevant basis for calculating royalties in the digital environment.
3. The electronic formats are not as inexpensive to produce and publish as many believe [...] We have made substantial investments, and we will continue to invest, in related digital infrastructure, such as the creation and maintenance of a digital archive, and in the development of the market for electronic formats.
4. The new ebook rate continues to compare favorably to the rates we pay for other formats in which books are made available.

Well, they are right about one thing -- the market is changing. 

The problem for Random House is that they (and their major competitors) don't really understand what the change is or how it is going to affect them. 

Somehow, the fact that Google has defacto set the standard for royalties in the digital age went right over their head! 

Even worse, is the fact that as Google is opening the market and actually compensating authors they are fighting to maintain the their perceived status and the status quo. 

Wanna take a bet on which approach will win?

del.icio.us Tags: ebook,e-book,royalties,google,random house

As I Live and Breathe the Cell Phone is Taking over the Center

Henri has been doing some thinking about kids, cell phones, open systems and the PC.  Here are his reflections. . .

Nothing has given me greater pleasure in life than the birth of my children. My youngest daughter turned thirty two this month. The next events in line have all had to do with the birth of revolutionary ideas in the world that I have lived in for sixty five years so far.

Let’s see, there was the birth of computing as a business support system. Then there was the ongoing revolution in electronics. The development of the human genome from the first days of the shape and form of DNA to the publication of the first actual readout of the genome itself was as fundamental a breakthrough in human knowledge.

Along the way there have been many gratifying moments and more than a few terrifying discoveries. The Ozone hole, global Warming and other threats to the ecosystems that sustain us all are among the scariest. Of course even the greatest gains in knowledge can be perverted by misuse or abuse. The idea that scientists are responsible for their creations is still gaining traction. Codes of ethics and other means of controlling misuse of great ideas are still in their infancy.

Meanwhile the Personal Computing revolution has given birth to the Internet and the Cell phone revolution has been playing around with the power that network offers. Now we are about to watch the birth of a new stage in that set of gains in human communication.

The PC King is dying and a new Queen is about to take over. Open systems are coming to cell phones. Taken together with the still growing power of handheld devices this will end the reign of King PC. Cell phones are the new center of Personal Computing. The iPhone is the earliest prophet of this revolution but the next wave will blow away all doubt.

You can start with the Android Operating System contributed by Google and end with the ever evolving nature of handheld devices themselves. It has been years since anything like the vitality that exists in the competition for market share in Cell Phones existed anywhere else in the electronic world.

There are reasons to believe that this next revolution in Personal Computing will bring on revolutions in education, publishing, government and too many other human institutions to mention here.

I am hoping to watch and continue to work to help those revolutionary times achieve the best possible results for the most people possible. There are millions of people who like me see these changes as positive. I hope you are among them.

del.icio.us Tags: ebooks,e-book,cell phone,android,google android

The Android Phone -- It’s Alive and It’s Going to TAKE OVER THE WORLD

Henri is excited about Google's new Android operating system and the new Google phone.  Here he tells us why.

Intelligent design has everything to do with the new Google Android phone about to be released by T Mobile. Of course this is only the first in a series of phones using Google’s Android software. The T Mobile version is being manufactured by HTC one of the largest cell phone manufacturer’s in the world.

I'll bet you are wondering why I chose this seemingly ridiculous title.  It is simply because the operating system software in this cell phone is designed around an open systems approach. That means that any application software written by anyone for the Android operating system will work on any phone.

This is the cell phone equivalent of the release of Microsoft’s DOS operating system for the PC.  DOS revolutionized c0mputing. The ability to write unlimited third party software drove the Personal Computing revolution.  Oh yeah, that was back when Microsoft had one revolutionary bone in its still tiny body.

Of course the iPhone has recently attempted to do this same sort of thing.  But that is really only ian attempt to preempt the real revolution in application software for the cell Phone:  free operating software in every sense of the word free. Google’s software will open up the cell phone world to all of the creative forces that drove personal computing and more. Even more than that it is going to mean the end of dominance by the systems, hardware and software of computing as it is defined today.

This living breathing model for computing in the future is clearly going to do away with the multiple devices that clutter my home. With the power of the Smartphone and the flexibility of the Google Android Operating System who needs a PC? Or for that matter who needs a GPS System a dedicated eBook Reader or any of the other clutter that we deal with daily in the electronic world?

How long will it be before these phones attach to anything your PC can hook up to and run it without a glitch? If I know Google it will be less than a year if not immediately. Driver software for any device that runs on a PC will mean no need to haul a five pound device around just to print or otherwise deal effectively with data.

The freedom of really open computing on a Cell Phone will lead to places we have never gone before. Being able to hook this Phone up to a screen of any suitable size will be wonderful. Soon enough it will be a screen that can be rolled up into the size of a pencil and unrolled to display your images and video. Being able to project those images unto any flat or other reflective surface will also happen quickly.

There will be more to come in my projection of the new world of computing that this approach to Cell Phone Operating Systems will usher in. This is only the first in a series of blogs directed at drawing a line in the sand that the PC will have a hard time crossing.

Who needs a clunky, usually connected, device that sort of uses a network approach to computing? Let’s step out into the brave new world where all we really need is the computing core device that fits into our pocket and connects to everything in the world. This is going to be fun!!!!!!!!!

del.icio.us Tags: google,google android,tmobile,iphone,open software,hardware,ereading

O'Reilly, Google Phone and Open Access

  I read an excellent article in the NYT (New York Times or www.nytimes.com for those of you who like links) by Tim O’Reilly.  O'Reilly opines that cell phones and the Internet are on a collision course.

Tim is a person who has always put his money and effort where his mouth is; in service of an open Internet.

Even more, he has spent a large amount of personal time working in the market to develop tools to make an open publishing environment became a reality. There are few people who have been more instrumental in helping develop open standards in the digital publishing world.

Open standards does not just mean free access. It also means open access; anyone can access any carrier on any device no matter where they buy the that particular device.

As ubiquitous as cell phone technology is; no one phone will let you access more than one carriers. A Motorola phone bought at Verizon only works on the Verizon network and you cannot access ATT or Sprint.  This is a unnecessary  layer of stupidity in system design that no one needs! 

The article discusses the much anticipated Google phone-like device.  Google is working with their partners to assure access will be open.  If they accomplish this we will soon have a world where cell phone service will no longer require some of us to carry two or even three phones.

But the most interesting statement he makes is one that is almost lost in the article. He states the obvious -- cell phone connectivity is so important to the future that soon all computing devices are going to be built around open cell phone technology.

That all computing devices need to be connected from anywhere at any time is such an article of faith with those of us who are working at planning the future that Tim tossed that comment off without stressing the point.

In other words, the value of any computing device, be it a cell phone, a personal digital assistant, a portable computer or an eBook reader is so enhanced by universal connectivity that it will become a requirement for all such devices in the future.

This should serve as a warning to people like Amazon and Sony.  The stupidity of an eBook reader based on proprietary technology that cannot be kept proprietary.  Like it or not -- the future is barreling towards us.  And  in that future we will have an open publishing environment.  

Technorati Tags: tim oreilly,google phone,open access,verizon,cell phones

Amazon eReader and Google Book Search

Last week the New York Times had a long article on Amazon and Google. Seems both companies have a big interest in digital reading. Their approach to digital reading has nothing in common, except that, neither one expects to create a significant revenue stream from it in the short run. Their approaches are an interesting window into today’s world of electronic reading.

Amazon is reportedly taking a gamble on a new e-reading device, the Kindle, complete with wireless connection, keyboard and e-Ink screen. Google, on the other hand, is eschewing the reader and focusing on content.

Amazon’s “revolutionary” feature is the ability to download directly from the Web (no intermediate computer needed). I am still shaking my head in disbelief! After all, any smart phone has been able to do this for years. And when you think it can’t get weirder, you find out that this "revolutionary" web-connected device is unable to produce color or handle animated images.

Google continues to focus on aggregating content. Now, however, they want to start charging you for it. Soon Google Book Searcher users will be able to open a book and read a segment of it for a small fee. The owner of the content will receive some type of revenue sharing. In other words every time someone uses a device (computer, smart phone, eReader or PDA) to open a book and read even 1 page, the owner receives a little dough. Since Google reaches about 25% of all internet users in any given day this could add up to a lot of cash for publishers and authors.

Amazon will present their titles in Mobipocket format, while Google offers most of the Book Search titles in Adobe PDF (digital editions) format.

Amazon has been building a device while Google has been busy digitizing books that can be read on just about any device.

The two approaches really do highlight everything that is wrong with commercial digital content and the eBook market. Here are two giant companies with different approaches to digital reading and neither one of them will make a dent in the real problem.

They don’t get it! The consumer (you and I) is drowning in a flood of words and information: email, newspapers, newsletters, RSS feeds, magazines and books are coming out our ears. We don’t need or want every book every book ever written in digital form. A lot of them weren’t any good on paper in the first place!

We want and need a common sense way to access, utilize and organize the information we have!

Ultimately, the winners in the digital reading derby will not be the maker of a device or the aggregator of content. They will be the companies that focus on what the consumer needs – making the right content visible, accessible and usable.