tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872447660964013545.post5903310427805035952..comments2024-03-18T22:39:50.137-07:00Comments on A Kindle World blog: The Kindle Chronicles interviews Amazon's Jay Marine re Library Lending, etc.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05109282436243758435noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872447660964013545.post-81855604276280470822011-05-11T08:43:38.880-07:002011-05-11T08:43:38.880-07:00Mike,
I did read that about iFlowReader. They p...Mike,<br /> I did read that about iFlowReader. They put all their resources into going Apple IOS.<br /><br /> They have the same option that Amazon does -- they can just be on the iPad (which actually benefits Apple as you point out) without giving the option to sell outside the app from a link within the app. <br /><br /> iFlowR can give their web address but not link to the book, I imagine, and people wanting one of ther books can just go independently to their website. But they're choosing to fold instead.<br /><br /> I also think anti-trust issues are involved here with Apple.<br /><br /> Re Amazon, people know how to find Amazon and they don't need to sell with a link from within the app for Apple.<br /><br /> iBooks cannot be read on ANY non-Apple devices of course.<br /> And Apple discourages development for cross-platform. How they get away with this is beyond me.<br /><br /> In the meantime, Kindle books can be read on almost everything.<br /><br /> Re the library lending, these are going to be downloaded from Amazon as Kindle-formatted books, straight.<br /><br /> They're not taking in ePub books though. So, if other store ebooks are readable on a Kindle eventually, it would have to be via the Android app process, and Amazon app store would need to allow other e-reader stores, apps.<br /><br /> Otherwise, we agree for sure.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05109282436243758435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872447660964013545.post-46547437290626964842011-05-11T08:17:25.184-07:002011-05-11T08:17:25.184-07:00My Kindle with Special Offers should arrive today,...My Kindle with Special Offers should arrive today, and it'll be interesting to see how quickly a judicious use of those special offers will cover its cost. $10 for a $20 gift care is simply $10 gratis for anyone who buys regularly from Amazon.<br /><br />The bad news is a story yesterday at Teleread.com. Here's part of a statement released there by the developers of iFlowReader:<br /><br />"Thank you for being one of our valued customers. We are writing to you today to make a very sad announcement. BeamItDown Software and the iFlow Reader will cease operations as of May 31, 2011. We absolutely do not want to do this, but Apple has made it completely impossible for almost anyone but Apple to make a profit selling contemporary ebooks on any iOS device"<br /><br />http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/a-sad-tale-iflow-reader-shutting-down-they-say-apple-killed-them-how-to-preserve-your-books/<br /><br />They go on to describe the specifics of how Apple drove them out of business. With their developer's markup the industry-standard 30%, there was no way they could afford to give Apple 30% of each ebook sale. That is bad news. I can't see why, come the end of June, the same Apple policy that has driven iFlowReader from iOS won't do the same for Amazon's Kindle apps.<br /><br />Fortunately, the nastiest guy doesn't always win. With Amazon now opening the Kindle up to library checkouts and with Apple beginning to drive competing ebook readers off iPads, we now face a real possibility that six months to a year from now the once tightly closed Kindle will be far more open to ebooks than Apple's mobile devices. That is truly strange. Six months ago my list of iPad advantages included "able to display commercial ebooks from multiple sources" versus the Kindle's "only able to display Amazon's commercial ebooks."<br /><br />That transformation would be particularly true if Amazon decides to use their email-document- to-a-Kindle feature to allow third party ebookstores to transfer their ebooks to Kindles, with Amazon taking perhaps 10% of the price. Amazon has already transformed the Kindle from an Amazon ebook reader to include library books, something I thought would never happen. This move would open Kindles up to ebooks bought from other retailers and isn't really any different from all the retailers who now sell through Amazon.<br /><br />Of course, that wouldn't keep iPads open to Kindle apps if Apple decides treat them like it has treated iFlowReader. Amazon can't control Apple's policy. It can merely reward or punish it. But in one move it would give Kindles an enormous competitive advantage over iPads for serious readers. Buying a Kindle would mean being able to get ebooks from almost any source, including ebook-of-the-month clubs and professional distribution sources for professionals such as physicians and lawyers. And it's the serious and professional readers where the money is.Mike Perryhttp://www.inklingbooks.com/noreply@blogger.com