Harper Collins To Charge Libraries For Being A Library That Lends eBooks

I want to reserve judgment on this until we see where this goes. HarperCollins is gong to start charging libraries for licensing fees. That means they want taxpayers like you and I to pay for a service that some folks use on a regular basis.

As a taxpayer, I think libraries are great but I'm not sure I like companies to make money off of public institutions like this. And perhaps, HarperCollins is simply using this as a negotiation ploy or they're just afraid like every other old media about the new media future.

More at Greenjava.

Cheaper Readers Coming. Maybe Even Free And New Store Models

I've got three different Audible.com accounts. Essentially, if I sign up with Audible for a year, I got a $100 credit towards any MP3 player I wanted from Amazon. So can Amazon or Barnes and Noble essentially do the same thing with ebooks?

Subscriptions. If publishers can be persuaded to offer books at a lower price in exchange for volume or a promise of minimum cut, it is possible for ebookstores to offer subscriptions to books much like Audible is doing and give users a discount on compatible readers.

And with pricing dropping due to competing readers and stores, i wouldn't be surprised that prices may drop to $99 for the WiFi-only Kindle or Nook in 2011.

Bundles. An alternative for attracting readers may be to bundle books based on authors or series.

For instance, buy the whole Ender series, the buyer can knock off $25 of the Nook. Will this work? If SciFi doesn't fancy the reader, maybe the whole Jack Ryan series will get you $50 off a Kindle.

For years, game console makers, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony, have bundled hardware with selected accessories and games or services. Therefore, publishers of literatures like their video game counterparts would, should, be open to such an arrangement.

As booksellers, Amazon, Borders, and BN should do whatever is necessary to embrace the new ebook market. There is still a lot of growing to do. That means mistakes but it also would mean opportunities to experiment with new business models.

If you are offered a discounted or free reader from ebook sellers but in exchange, you have to buy books you're going to buy anyway, why not take it?


-- Post From My iPad

Despite iPad Success, eReaders Might Be Harder To Kill Off Than Expected

Maybe Amazon and Barnes And Noble are going about this the wrong way. Maybe Kobo Reader has it right after all. How so?

Maybe digital book readers should be a combination of the follow two factors that Kobo reader has:  simplicity and a relatively low price (though recently, the Kindle and Nook both had about $50 chopped off their retail price).  

Kindle/Nook Versus "Just Readers. Until the Kindle came on the scene, readers were fairly expensive and it was not easy to upload books into these readers.  Kindle made that iPod-like simple and has since been joined by Sony Reader and the Nook.  However, despite Amazon's claims of success, there is still no figure provided by Amazon about how many Kindles were actually sold and how may ebooks have been bought by Kindle owners since its debut.

But Kobo with its simple read-only device isn't shy about saying how well it's done in New Zealand.  According to Stuff, the first two batches of thousands of Kobo readers have sold out and a third batch is on the way in July.  And with books costing $10-15 (7.15-10.75 USD), this is cheaper than even what Amazon, BN, and Apple sells.

Kobo - Cinderella Reader? So what has made the Kobo such a large success?  It is more simple than the Kindle to install books?  First, the Kobo reader has no 3G or wireless access so the reader would need to buy books form a computer and then install it on the reader.  That might be cumbersome but it isn't any different from what many users do to sync media with Apple's mobile iOS devices for nearly a decade now.

What likely makes Kobo a success is that it just lets the user reader books.  It does not nothing else.  Just read.  And quite frankly, I, and likely many readers, find that refreshing.  I was not always impressed with the Kindle because it has a lot of features and yet it does none of them well.  Then along came the Nook and it was great to see the Kindle with a competitor and while it was based on Google's Android OS, my complaints against it was the same as that of the Kindle. It has features other than being a reader but none of them are easy to use.

Then the iPad came along but let's be honest. It's a great tablet and Apple has been hugely successful by selling three million iPads in just 80 days.  The complaints I had against the Nook and Kindle were solved with the iPad but the iPad isn't a great reader.  I've read only two books on it since I got it and I've got five others to read and I've been putting it off.  Plus, the iPad with its plethora of features, apps, and multimedia functions are a distraction.

And that's where readers like Kobo are different and might find success.  The Kobo reader just let users read books.  And just like a book, it offers no distraction.  When BN released a 3G-less Nook last week at $150, I nearly pulled the trigger (I've already bought two Nooks for family members) on it.  But then the old complaints about it still exist.  Honestly, trying to browse the Web or play games on the Kindle and Nook is very maddening and suffocating.

Borders is currently offering the Kobo reader for pre-order in the US.  So for anyone looking for a dedicated reader that is free from half-baked features like the Kindle or the Nook or isn't in the market for a full-featured tablet like the iPad, I definitely encourage anyone in the market for a good digital book reader to take a look at Kobo reader.  

So I think Kobo and other readers should do well in the market long-term.  I also foresee a significant price drop in the next year or so.  At $150 (Borders price), the Kobo is a still mildly expensive so it isn't out of the realm of possibility to see a $25-$50 decrease in the retail price.  Heck, just wait until a Chinese company come out with a $50-$75 reader in the next year or two.  

Conclusion.  The iPad is a success and its the standard bearer for tablets.  The Kindle and Nook will try to add features because the companies that produced them will try to match them with the tablets feature for feature.  But at the end of the day, book lovers just want to read.  And that where Kobo and others will dominate.

More at Teleread, Stuff, Kobo, And Borders (Kobo's Page)

Note: I've included a link for Borders' Kobo reader page but I don't have any interest (ie. associate link) from any sale of the reader.

eBooks And Possibly Paying Taxes On Devices To Read Them

We believe that Amazon is doing quite a number on the number of eBooks since the Kindle came out. It's not sure just how the shift away traditional to digital copies has resulted with the number of ebook readers on the market. After stating they've sold 2 million iPads, Apple said 5 million books have been downloaded.

It's not known how many of those are free and what the percentage of the iPad owners have downloaded iBooks, Apple's dedicated ebook app reader. Still, it's quite impressive. Personally, I can't wait to see how much more growth Apple, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble can generate through 2010.

Barnes And Noble's Nook is a popular device and I imagine the bookseller, which based it on Android OS, will expand its usability and entice more people to its popular platform for reading. Recently, BN updated the Nook for Web browsing and added games as well.

Of course, it'll be a while before the Kindle and Nook matches the iPad in its multi-use and ecosystem. Therefore, I'm looking for near-term growth in ebook consumption from additional iPad sales and sales of other tablets running on Android and Windows through 2011. As of now, I'm not seeing the love from Amazon and Barnes and Noble on my G1. Plus, we'll see Google get into the game soon.

Taxing your iPad and Droid. During a brainstorming session, one of the "brilliant" (lots and lots of sarcasm here) idea is to tax mobile devices to save the print industry. Absolutely brilliant. Of course, some EU nations tax music players to save the music industry there.

Furthermore, Rassmussen Reports released some polling results showing very little support for this concept. So, tax devices that people when they exercise but, wow, don't tax our sugared and other high-calorie snacks. Brilliant guys.

More at Teleread.

How Borders & Barnes & Noble Can Survive eBooks

I'm working  up on a post about how big chain bookstores as well as much independent ones can survive in the world of eBooks.

A lot of it has to do with the fact that we are shopaholics and, more importantly, social creatures.

What do you personally think about traditional bookstores and the coming world of ebooks?  I think both can coexist.  After all, you can make espresso and tea at home but that hasn't put Starbucks or Coffee Bean out of business.

State of eBooks

Pretty much everyone is chiming on the ebooks situation.  Right now, you can buy an ebook from Amazon for $9.99 for most bestsellers.  This is also true if you were to buy them from BN to use with the Nook.

But with the introduction of a certain hardware from a fruit-oriented computer company whose CEo appears to have some sort of spell over the masses when he speaks, things have changed in the digital book market.  And it's made things very very interesting.

In the past, by that I mean last week, Amazon paid publishers $15 per book and sell it at a loss at $10 to it’s Kindle and Kindle app users like those on the iPhone.  The idea is to drum up awareness and bring folks over to the Amazon website where you can buy other things, including ebooks, that Amazon isn’t selling at a loss.

Now because Apple is offering publishers the freedom to set their own market price, some are calling this the agency model, the publishers felt like they’re in a better position.  With Apple taking 30% and the publishers taking 70% but with them calling the shots, the publishers feel now there is value in the books.

Having said all that, the publishers will be making less money with Apple’s model than with Amazon’s.  Apple is looking at $13-$15 a book. After Apple’s cut, the publishers will rake in $9.10 to $10.50 a book, less than the $15 that Amazon currently pays the publishers.

How does that make any sense?

See, with Amazon setting the price at $10 a book for the market but at a loss of $5, the publishers were afraid Amazon will come back one day and ask for a lower wholesale price.  As in lower than $10.  And if they don’t capitulate?  Well, Amazon can pull their books as they did last week with one publisher who didn’t agree with Amazon’s model during negations (Amazon eventually back off).   

But now, that’s all changed.  That threat has been removed.  On the iTunes app store or any app store, publishers can price their books at market price rather than one set price. 

On the short run, it definitely means the next Tom Clancy or Dan Brown book will cost $15 instead of $10.  But the hope is that over time, that price will come down as sales drop.  That’s what we hope will happen.

There's still a  lot of sorting going on.  We'll know more after the iPad goes on sale.

Note:  Tom Clancy?  Sorry, my bad. 

Reading On A Smartphone Is Good Enough?

A friend sent me a great article from the NY Times about ereading and whether people will be reading with their iPhones or Kindles.

I had some time to think about that since I ordered my first reader, Barnes and Noble's Nook.  I won't get it until early December.  I eagerly anticipate it's arrival and I can see myself get a lot of mileage out of it.

Nevertheless, the mobile device I carry with me, whether it is my G1 or iPhone, will almost certainly be with me 24/7.

The NYT article doesn't take sides but I decided to provide a little more meat on the subject.  It's an interesting one.  It's also quite important because our reading behaviors can ultimately decide what publishers and tech companies do.

Lots more at Onxo Mobile Society.

More at NY Times.

BN's Nook - Worth Reader But Not For Everyone

I ordered the Nook today because I do a lot of reading on my iPhone and having a dedicated reader will let me save battery power on the iPhone.

Still, why did I not get the Kindle 2? Well, for a number of reasons one of which being that I did not like the design and feel of the Kindle 2 even if it was a great improvement over the original Kindle. I'm not saying the Kindle 2 isn't a good reader. It's just not one for me.

The Nook, while not perfect, is closer to what I want. And the Nook running Android help as I have experience with the OS, owning a G1 and all.

Still, I want to be honest with the mobile warriors who read this journal. The Nook has some severe limitations. One that quickly comes to mind is the limitation BN puts on wirless access (no browsing) despite running on Android. As such, it is a feature the Kindle 2 users can brag about.

I've left the meat of the matter about the Nook, Kindle, and ereading at Mobile goodness. BN brought a lot to the ebook market with Nook. I only hope that BN will unleash the Android power within and let Nook serve as a part-time tablet.

More at Mobile Goodness. Perhaps, we'll see another Android reader in the near future without BN's artifical limitation. Even better is if Apple give us the iTablet already.

GoSpoken - eBooks for Mobiles

Meet Gospoken.com, a site that offers ebooks for mobile phones. Alright, there are ebooks already for mobile. For instance, ereader apps have been around in app stores like iTunes for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

However, I just happened on while reading about mobile ebooks. I was like what's that? Ebooks are suppose to be mobile. But Gospoken works differently.

For instance, it support a wide range of mobile phones and devices. You sign up, pay for the book, and download it onto your mobile. Once you purchase the book, you can also read the book on your PC via the browser

Oh, Gospoken also offer audiobooks. Kind of cool, eh? And if you think reading a book on a smallish screen isn't for you, don't tell the millions of Japanese mobile warriors who access novels and stories on their cell phones on a daily basis why they commute to and back from work and during lunch hours and breaks.

So, if you're not ready to jump into the smartphone or mobile device market and crave mobile reading, this could be your answer.

Note: I've got a G1 so I was not able to try it. However, if you're one of the lucky folks who has a phone supported by Gospoken, try it and let me know how it is. They've got free books you can download. In fact, you can download excerpts as for free.

BN Gets Back Into eBook Market; Kindle Can't Catch Break

Last week, we reported how Amazon stole back some books it sold to Kindle owners. It will come back to haunt them. Believe me. It's not the kind of news that you want if you're trying to promote your ereader to the masses.

Well, that just got more difficult as Barnes and Noble just announced their intentions to get back into the eBook market that it had started but abandoned because of demand and, though they will never admit it, higher ebooks prices than what users pay for traditional books.

And prices will be what count for most folks I know and especially in a recession. Even the rich and super rich as affected so it says a lot for poor folks like us. So, Kindle's recent price drop is a good start (now starting at $299), it'll need to go lower when Barnes and Noble along with ereader partner,

Right now, go to BN's eBook site and it'll tell you to come back Summer 2009. Well, the press release helps explain why it's summer and we've seen nothing yet. So, what are to expect? Keep in mind that BN bought Fictionwise who bought eReader.com earlier. So, there's been a lot of activities in the eBook market.

• 700,000 books - world's largest ebook store - to reach 1MM shortly
• 700,000 public domain books from Google.
• Works on Macs, PCs, the iPhone platform, Windows Mobile, RIM smartphones
• Upgraded version of ereader software coming. Free books as well.
• BN app for the iPhone includes ability to buy products directly from BN.com
• Support for ePub e-book standard. This is most excellent.

Great. What does that mean for mobile readers? Competition to start. Not just on book prices but also hardware. BN entered into a deal with Plastic Logic to use its reader.

Kindle and Sony eReader has had the market all to itself and while it's good to see the Kindle's price drop, it is still much considering it main function to to serve as a digital book reader. The DX is nice but at $489, only the select few can afford something like that.

ZDNet article writer said it best. He had been planning on getting an iPod Touch until this announcement. He was not thinking about getting a Kindle. Why? Because an iPod Touch can do more than let the user read books. More than that, he neglected to say it has something to do with the price of Kindle.

But we're all assuming that BN's reader will be priced competitively. If not, who cares? We've got mobile devices and smartphones to use. As long as BN and Amazon start hammering each other on ebook prices, I'm cool with just that.

Note: I had also been planning on upgrading my iPod Touch later this year when the new model comes out with the iPhone 3GS' internals. What I'm waiting for is the fabled Apple tablet. Absent that, BN's reader jumps ahead of Kindle given the prank that Amazon pulled last week.

Mobile Reading

A while back, Steve Jobs said America has stopped reading when asked about ebooks and Kindle.  Well, it appears that is not quite so true given the number of ebook readers and standalone ebooks that are available for Apple's mobile platform.

And it's only a matter of time before they appear on Blackberry's app store and Android Marketplace.  Even with the dearth of apps for Android, there are already a couple of ebook and file readers.

So, I'm wondering when we will see e-ink like technology for regular mobile phones and mobile devices like Blackberries.  

With tens of millions if not hundreds of millions of mobile readers world-wide, be it on the iPhone or others, it makes sense that some sort of LED screen should be made available for mobile devices.  Because right now, as popular as the iPhone is for reading (some folks have argued the Apple's app store may have sold more books than Amazon has with Kindle), the iPhone and iPod Touch's screen was never made for ebook reading because due to power consumption.

I've taken my iPhone for reading at Starbucks for a couple of hours.  It works well and there more than enough juice just for that.  But it certainly will not last days like regular e-readers.  The Sony reader can last through 7500 pages turned.  Kindle can "last days" of use.  I doubt the iPhone will last a day of reading.

Perhaps with publishers who seem to embrace ebooks more and more, mobile device makers will realize the importance of reading to mobile warriors.  And with respects to Apple's head honcho, it appears that people still do read.  A lot.

Link:  Wired

Coming To A Cell Phone Near You: Books

I look after my fellow mobile warriors.  And when there's something cool, I want to share it with you.  The five you read who read Onxo posts on a daily basis knows that (three of you being imaginary).

So, here you go.  Simon And Schuster is bring about 500 books to your cell phone, even if you don't have a smartphone or mobile device like the iPhone or G1.  Now, I have a confession to make.  I like to read.  Wow, that felt good.  And I'm sure a lot of folks out there do as well.

Why is this significant?  I'll get to that.  First, this is what will be made available.  According to RCR Wireless, some best sellers like "The Secret", the popular Star Trek books, Buffy, and CSI will be among those that will be made available for download.

I tried it on the desktop browser (http://wap.global-reader.com) and the page told me access only from a mobile browser.  So, I tried it with my iPhone.  I took some screen shots to show what we're getting into.

I'll take a more in depth look at this on the Samsung Trace to see how well it works.  Oh, I should warn you that there are charges for the data download if you don't have a data plan.  So you might want to consider getting one before going forward with this.

I took some screen shots of what it looks like on the iPhone.  One of the books available for free is the Bible.  The other being a German-English dictionary, I picked the Bible.

So far, the books look like they cost $9.99 each.  For for folks who happen to be writers, Global-Reader has a link where you can send in for more information about publishing your best sellers.

With 3.3 billion phones with some sort of Internet access, this is a large untapped market for reading materials like books and magazines.  I think this is the right move to make.  The cost is not so prohibitive given the books are already available and may not even need to be formatted for small screens that exist on most phones.  After all, the Japanese have been using their mobile phones to read novels for years now.  According to the NY Times, five of ten top novels in Japan originated as novels on mobile phones.

The market is there.  People still like to read.  Make it accessible and affordable and millions of eye balls will read to find out if the Borg will ever beat Picard and the pesky crew of the USS Enterprise.

Source:  RCR Wireless

Note:  If you're an iPhone user, you have many options with apps like eReader and Stanza.  But if you're of the Web 2.0 kind of guy or gal, check out textonphone. They've got tons of free books on there.  Even books that should not be there because of copyrights.  But what do I know.

Mobile Tip: Ebook Savings Through Sunday

Yesterday we brought you tips on making free calls using SIP to certain Verizon, T-Mobile, or landlines that are not connected using the old school system.  I hope you like it.

Here's another kind of saving if you like ebooks.  Right now through Sunday, Fictionwise is offering a 50% rebate credit on future transactions - they're playing off the $700 billion bailout plan (I know...geez).

So, if you buy something for $10, they'll charge you $10 now but you'll see a $5 rebate on your micropay statistics in your account.  You can use this towards a future purchase.

I tried it first to make sure it works.  And it does.  So, how was it?

I bought 9 books from Fictionwise, including using up the micrpay rebate value (you can use it right away on the next transaction), the value of these books is $69.91.  However, I only spent $46.94 with $4.50 to spare.  How much would this cost if I had gone to another source?

• $78.94 - saved $32 if I had gone to Borders
• $72.92 - saved $25.98 if I got these books from Amazon
• $55.91 - saved $8.97 if I had downloaded these books to Kindle

Not bad.  I might pick up more books by Sunday.  You can read it on WM, Palm, your laptop, and the iPhone or iPod Touch. 

Note:  the rebate dollars are only work if you have enough to cover the cost in your cart.  Fictionwise has not trained their shopping cart to take partial values yet.  It's who I've got $4.50 left over in my micropay account.  So, once you've earned enough to use the micropayment to pay for your books instead of Paypal or credit cart, a button will appear for you to use micropayment.

Have fun reading this weekend!

Can Apple Make America Read Again?

Can Apple Make America Read Again?  Maybe.  According to Forbes, Apple may have overtaken Kindle with respect to the number of folks using iPhones to read ebooks.  I encourage heading over to look at it a bit.

At the same time, we will examine a bit on who people are not reading ebooks as much.

I'll give you a clue?  "$".  There you go.

More at On Apple .

Mobile Entertainment - Ebooks (Free!)

I hope I didn't mislead when you read the word "free".  Well, it really depends on what you're looking for.



If you're looking for the latest modern works, then my deepest apology.  However, if you're looking for great works whose copyright have expired (at the very least, in the United States), then let me introduce you to the Gutenberg Project.  If you already know a bit about it, I hope there's something in it for you as well.

The Gutenberg Project is one of the hidden treasures of the Internet.  With over twenty-five thousand books, they are free for you to download.  You can download them as html or txt.  There is also an option to download entire CDs or DVDs worth of some of the best work in literary history.



You can read the interesting history behind the project and about the man, Michael Hart, who started it all in 1971.  The project consists the hard labor of volunteers who worked tireless to make this possible.  At the rate of 50 books a week added to the collection, foreign books are also being added (French, German, Chinese).



Along with its international affliates, there are over one hundred thousand books available for your mobile devices.  We're not going to find  Clancy's Jack Ryan but we'll be able to join Tom Sawyer through his adventures.



For me, the original dynamic duo, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. James Watson lives in my iPhone, Zire 72, and on my iDisk where I am always welcomed at 221B Baker Street.



I highly recommend giving it a try.  Mark Twain.  Burroughs.  Dickens.  A bit of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells for you scifi buffs.  And if you like it very much, you can get involved as a volunteer or make a small donation.



I hope you enjoy it.  Ah...it's like traveling back to high school English during your junior year again.  I suppose it's one way to relive high school again :)



Note:  Besides being able to download all the works from GP, there are now audiobooks available as well.  I also recently discovered that they've got digital music sheets as well.

Mobile Warriors DO Read

Awhile ago, a certain CEO of a former fruity computer-oriented company turned fruity consumer-electronic-oriented company proclaimed that Americans just do not read anymore.  When interviewed by NYT in January after he introduced the Macbook Air at Macworld, Steve Jobs was quick to dismiss the concept of Kindle.  

In fact, so quick that he pointed out that forty percent of Americans read only one book or less a year.  I don't know but knowing one hundred and twenty million Americans read no more than one book a year isn't something I keep readily in the back of my mind unless I know I was going to be asked about that.  

Unless Jobs and Apple had thought about it.  My money is that they've thought about it a lot.  Only a year before Apple came out with the video iPod, Jobs had said no one was going to be watching video on a little screen.  Personally, I did not think people bought it the first time and no one is buying Jobs' thoughts on ebooks either.  



Apple is planning something for the reading public.  What I want to know is what the other sixty percent of Americans are doing?  I'm willing to bet that some of that sixty percent don't read at all and that some of the same sixty percent (one hundred and eighty million) read quite a bit.  



I REPEAT:  Apple is planning something for the reading public.  At part of the launch of the App Store for the iPhone 2.0, a few of the apps were actually ebooks that were being sold for $0.99 each.  In fact, that may be what Apple has planned.



Selling individual books as an app through the App Store is certainly a good idea.  Publishers will have the ability to create their own app and sell it as an ebook.  Apple would get their thirty percent cut of the ebook and no negotiation with publisher/author may be necessary.  Treat everything as an app.  Let the market settle on the price.



As time goes on, we'll see an entire section of the App Store dedicated to ebooks.  



I think it can work.  I don't know how many people actually enjoy picking up a book or a mobile device to read a book but I'm guessing quite a bit of iPhone owners do read.  How do I know that?  Fictionwise servers have been slowed to a crawl as iPhone owners download previous owned ebooks (which I will be doing) and likely bought new ones as well (which I will also be doing).  



So, Mr. Jobs.  There are quite a few of us who still do read.  Make it as easy to buy ebooks as it is to buy music from iTunes and you've got another market to dominate.



I am predicting that Apple have spoken with or are in discussion with publishers on bring their material over to the App Store.  Look for a way in future versions of the iPhone SDK for publishers/authors to add ebooks with just a click or two.  



Note:  I have been downloading and buying ebooks on my Zire and Windows Mobile devices for years.  It's time for the publishing market to focus on the smartphones and millions of mobile users who will read if the books and other works are easily accessible.  



Another Note:  More and more Americans are taking public transportation as energy prices increase.  That means more time on buses and trains.  It also mean more time waiting for the buses or trains.  I'm sure a few of them will give reading a try.