The Kindle 3 was released to much Amazon fanfare late last week; in the sea of iPad and general tablet news at the moment I wonder how many people have even noticed. My girlfriend didn’t know what a Kindle was until tonight, and I really don’t know how this has happened. I can only assume that I’ve been right every time I thought she wasn’t really listening to me. She’s been mocking my iPad cravings for a little while now (I maintain it’s not iPad-lust (iLust?), but borderline-usable-tablet-lust, it’s just I happen to think that that’s a very narrow category...

 Where I buy a print book often comes down to convenience (which store is closest), pricing, availability (is the book in stock?) and loyalty programs (e.g., member discounts).  The choice of a brick-and-mortar vs. an online store adds in the component of urgency; do you need the book today or can it wait till tomorrow? I'm buying ebooks almost exclusively now.  In fact, I can't even recall the last print book I bought for myself.  Although I ditched my Kindle on day one with my iPad, I do most of my book reading in...

The big news this week in eBookland was Amazon’s announcement that ebooks outsold hardcovers 1.8:1 in the last quarter. That set tongues awaggin’ and has prompted hundreds of articles, blog posts, and comments, now including this one. So that raises the question: Who’s on first? One of the best comedy routines of all-time was Bud Abbott and Lou Costello’s “Who’s on First?” routine and Amazon’s announcement brought the routine to mind after many years of having been forgotten. For those of you unfamiliar with the routine, here it is: Isn’t this really the story — and value — of Amazon’s announcement? As many...

If you’re holding on for a price cut to the Australasian version of the Kobo eReader, prepare to be disappointed. What?! But wait – isn’t there an eReader price war going on? Yes there is – overseas. The Kindle 2 and Nook have both added features and offered substantial price cuts, but Borders management say that the Kobo eReader won’t be following suit, at least not on a permanent basis. Kobo eReader supply dramas Mooching around the Australian Booksellers Association Conference & Trade Exhibition shindig at the Brisbane Hilton yesterday, I ran into REDgroup Retail’s Group Communications Manager Malcolm Neil. Why do you care?...

As I re-read this recent NY Times article about Google's possible role in the ebook retailer world I started thinking more about how the whole marketplace could shake out. It's important to note that Google Editions is a program that's been talked about for a couple of years but still hasn't materialized. The latest rumor is it will launch very soon...pretty much the same rumor that's been around the last couple of years! Nevertheless, at some point I'm convinced Google will produce an ebook retailing platform and it's sure to have an impact on our industry. Google Editions...

WHICH KINDLE SOFTWARE VERSION IS THE ONE FOR YOUR KINDLE? No one outside Amazon knows, I imagine. But as long as you have Kindle software update v2.5.x (the "x" meaning any number), you can use the new Kindle features such as Collections, Pan & Zoom, Sending of highlighted passages to Facebook and/or Twitter, etc. The Amazon Kindle software-update files currently on their servers for download are all labeled v.2.5.2 within their long filenames and should be chosen for the Kindle model you have, which is explained there. See Intro and Guide to Software version v2.5.x for information on: 1. how to...

How many hours do you spend sitting at your computer for work and pleasure? How many hours are you willing to spend reading an ebook on your work computer? How many additional hours are you willing to spend to search through ebook websites to find an ebook to read? I find these latter two questions to be the ones that haunt me as I try to find an ebook to buy and read. I broached this topic in an earlier article, Finding the Needle in a Haystack of Needles (II): eBooksellers, but didn’t really delve into the problem of reading on...

I have “bought” more than 400 ebooks since I received my Sony Reader as a gift 2.5 years ago. I put “bought” in quotes because about half of the ebooks I “bought” were free ebooks; the other half I paid for. But I’ve noticed a significant downward trend in my buying of ebooks in the past few months, and I have finally realized why that is occurring: frustration with the ebookseller experience. Before someone jumps up and says how wonderful and easy the buying is at Amazon with the wireless downloading to the Kindle and the 1-click payment system, let me...

Publishing consultant Mike Shatzkin made an interesting observation yesterday in an exchange that he and I had on his IdeaLog blog: We should long remember that in the Spring and early Summer of 2010, prices of ebooks actually went *up*. I don't think we'll look back five years from now and see that as a frequent occurrence. He and I agree that rising ebook prices probably won't be "a frequent occurrence" over the next five years. But even though he was basing the comment in part on my data showing that the number of Kindle store bestsellers priced above $10 had grown...

Resource Shelf has this great tip. Quoted in full: Here’s one to share with others either on your library web site, blog or directly to users when they visit the library. The Internet Archive/Open Library and Amazon.com/Kindle have created a cool and useful service for Kindle owners who use (or should be using) the Open Library (OL). The Open Library is an “initiative” of the Internet Archive and through a partnership with Amazon.com allow some public domain titles accessible in the OL to now be sent directly to a Kindle device (with just a couple of clicks). Of course, transmission fees may apply. The...

The promise of the digital era lays in its growing ability to shed old limitations and obstacles. However, there are many problems which must be addressed as our societies enter this new epic period. I have recently finished reading William Easterly’s excellent book “The White Man’s Burden.” In it he argues that foreign aid must take on a more decentralized form in order to allow for verifiable results. At this point you may be asking yourself: how does this all tie in with e-books? I believe that e-books are a rare combination of traditional media with its depth and substance...

Total first-week ebook sales for Steig Larsson's instant bestseller The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest amounted to nearly 30% of all units sold, according to a report today from Publisher's Marketplace. The popular subscription-based book industry website's mid-day newsletter is reporting that "Knopf Doubleday spokesman Paul Bogaards says their internal figures show an approximate first week sell-through of 425,000 units--which includes 125,000 ebook editions." If we do the math for ourselves, this translates into a 29.4 percent ebook share of the title's total sell-through, which would be by far the largest percentage yet reported for ebook sales of a major trade...