Ebooks

[Cole Parker]

From an LA Times editorial:

E-books price fixing? Book 'em

C

[blue]

That's a better summary of the problem than the article I'd seen this morning. Thanks, Cole.

Amazon isn't necessarily any more immune than Apple. Both (and for that matter, Nook and other ereaders) want readers to use only their device and format. The .epub format and the .mobi format both allow DRM or DRM-free files, also. The .epub format is an "open standard," meaning it is open and available to anyone to learn and use.

Readers (people) are the real winners and losers in what happens among the companies jockeying for market share and control. What happens from the suit will affect us, the public, as readers or authors, editors, designers, publishers, and so on.

I use the Kindle apps and have purchased ebooks from Amazon. I use an iPad and have purchased a very few ebooks from the iBooks store. But my real preference is for ebooks that are DRM-free and platform-agnostic, meaning, they'll work equally well in any ereader device or app.

I'm trying to learn the .epub format for a job skill. Obviously, I'm a designer and editor and occasionally an author. So what happens when the case is decided, and what, if anything, affects Amazon too, is important to me. The publishing and ebook industry is in such a huge state of flux that it's almost impossible to say what's going to happen to any of it. It's entirely possible another major bookstore chain will go belly-up. Several publishers have announced they will be stopping hardback or paperback production and focus on ebooks. But ebooks are so new (or more accurately, newfangled) that most of the big publishers are not remotely prepared. This means an opportunity for startups and competitors. But like I said, the whole industry is in flux. Anything could happen.

Cats and dogs...living together.... Don't cross the streams!

[EleCivil]

Cats and dogs...living together.... Don't cross the streams!