When the book lending and periodicals-on-free-apps announcement came out and referred to "many" newspapers and magazines to be available on our Kindle apps for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, it didn't really occur to me (but it should have) that some will decide not to allow that kind of sharing. And there are understandable reasons too, though it's possible Amazon could offer more incentives to interest publishers who already have irons in the fire with the Apple mobile devices.
Staci D. Kramer reports that the Wall Street Journal, a top-selling newspaper on Kindle (UK: K3), is "opting out."
CEO Robert Murdoch has been quite loud about what she calls his (understandable) preference for "a more publisher-centric digital distribution alternative," and this new Amazon Kindle feature would, she points out, "run counter to his goals of more, not less control, over his publications’ digital distribution." On the other hand, Apple has not been overly forthcoming, either, in Murdoch's eyes, with the customer information he wants.
When she asked the New York Times whether they plan to take part initially, their reply was only, "We’ll be announcing our bundle details when we launch the details of our paid model." Theirs is the most popular Kindle newspaper.
TIME magazine, top-selling magazine on the Kindle, was just as non-committal.
On the other hand, she feels it "might make sense for other publishers who are less interested in brand-building on devices and/or more interested in selling subscriptions than in trying to provide a bundle."
Amazon mentioned we'd see something in "the coming weeks" so we'll know soon.
Kindle 3's (UK: Kindle 3's), DX Graphite
Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources. Top 100 free bestsellers.
Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.
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