Here from Wall Street Journal (reg. may be required). Excerpt:
[The] program…will let customers purchase online access to books in a move that could be a more publisher-friendly alternative to Google Inc.’s online library project.
The Seattle online retailer announced two new programs Thursday. The first, dubbed Amazon Pages, allows customers to buy access to digital copies of select pages from books. The second service, called Amazon Upgrade, bundles the purchase of a physical book with online access to the complete work.
For instance, a customer could buy a cookbook and keep it on the shelf, and “also be able to access it anywhere via the Web,” the company said in a press release Thursday….
This is progress, but far from what we also need–stand-alone, take-anywhere e-books without burdensome DRM and proprietary formats and the other joys.
Reminder: OpenReader founder Jon Noring and I are not the biggest fan of DRM technology–my friend Rochelle has correctly described me as anti-DRM–but we’re open to compromise. That’s why we were so excited to learn of a DRM system from OSoft, which discourages piracy but lets you easily use your books on different machines without stringent limitations. If publishers insist on DRM, let ’em do it right! I won’t be happy until a system is troublefree enough to be Raccoon-friendly.
An aside: Happy wedding anniversary, Rochelle!
“The second service, called Amazon Upgrade, bundles the purchase of a physical book with online access to the complete work.”
I like the sound of this, but I think its success will depend greatly on the pricepoint they attach to it. It’ll also be interesting to hear what format these Amazon online books will be in.
Hi, Dan. Totally agree with all of the above. While the Amazon approach isn’t nirvana, it’s definitely a step forward. – David
I think this has some potential for serving that population of users who have the means for purchasing content. It will not serve users who are dependent upon the library. I fear that this type of initiative may be used by local and state governments to cut back on the access provided through the public library systems. Has anyone asked Amazon if this new type of access will be allowed for buyers in library purchasing plans?
dan said:
> It’ll also be interesting to hear what format
> these Amazon online books will be in.
well, amazon owns mobipocket, don’t they?
so, um, i think the answer is quite obvious…
indeed, that’s why they bought mobipocket…
-bowerbird