Simon & Schuster and Hachette Book Group to Implement Embargo on eBooks
Sony Reader, Nook, Kindle
What a disappointment for those who wake up Christmas morning to find that Santa left an eReader in their stockings! Publisher Simon & Schuster has announced it will delay the ebook publishing of 35 titles* coming up next year. Publisher Hachette plans to implement a similar embargo for new titles.
I have to agree with the Eric Garland quote in the WSJ
“In the Internet age you don’t enjoy the same degree of control,” said Eric Garland, CEO of BigChampagne, LLC, an online media measurement company in Beverly Hills, Calif. “You can’t create artificial scarcity by withholding content in one form and making it available later.”
This is a step in the wrong direction. I understand the book publishing industry’s desire to control ebooks is based on fear of piracy and lost money. This attempt to tighten control wont help, in fact it may drive piracy to develop sooner and spread faster. They need to take a closer look at what happened to the music industry and acknowledge they will not be able to control ebooks the way they hope. The sooner they do that the sooner they can start working with ebooks in a successful way.
On a personal note, while I do look longingly at the Nook, I’m still waiting to buy a device. I believe I should be able to load an ebook I purchase onto the device of my choosing, I don’t care where I buy it or if I check it out from the library.
By the way PC World put together their list of Why E-book Readers Make Bad Holiday Gifts before this embargo announcement.
*I couldn’t find the names of all 35 titles, but it does include “Point Omega” by Don DeLillo, “Courage and Consequence” by Karl Rove and “House Rules” by Jodi Picoult
Recommended reading:
- Major Publishers’ e-Reader Embargo Strategy Straight From Tired, Old Play Book
- Two Major Publishers To Hold Back E-Books
- Some Publishers to Delay eBook Releases
- Are we due a wave of book piracy?
- Local Bookstores, Social Hubs, and Mutualization
- Some half-formed thoughts on one future for bookselling
- My ebooks and DRM talk from O’Reilly’s Tools of Change for Publishing from Cory Doctorow
- DRM Holding Back Ebook Growth
Vooks = Books + Online Video = Tranliteracy
A vook blends the text of a book with video into one story. I’m fascinated by this new this new multimedia approach to books. I have no idea if it will be successful, I can’t really see the appeal for fiction, but for something like a fitness or other how-to books I can see having a video as an advantage for demonstration. Think of all the how-to videos on YouTube. You get the advantages of text and video in one.
Part of my fascination is due to the great example of transliteracy this provides. It is providing information through multiple media formats. We often see text in videos or on images. We are used to seeing videos embedded on websites and blogs. This does seem like the next logical step. But I wonder if it will really take off, maybe for a small market
I’d like to see this affect ereaders, they can display text and images, and we are all waiting for color, why not video too?
- Curling Up With Hybrid Books, Videos Included
- What is a Vook and will it change how you read?
- Books + Online Video = Vooks: Watchable, Readable, & Very Cool
- Apple Tablet Books Need to Be Better than Vooks
The Nook from Barnes & Noble – I Want One, Here’s Why
I’m more excited about the Nook than I have been about any other ebook reader. This might be the one that finally gets me to buy one. Why?
8 Reasons You Can Finally Love Ebook Readers (Thanks to Nook) from Gizmodo
- It’s cost-effective even with Wi-Fi, native PDF support, an SD slot and that crazy second screen makes it seem out of the Kindle’s league.
- Lending and Sharing – 2 week loans to you can lend to tons of different devices: Mac, PC, iPhone, iPod Touch, PC, Mac, BlackBerry, or Windows Mobile (soon).
- Free in-store reading - take the Nook to any of Barnes & Noble’s stores and read one ebook, for free, each time—the same way you might wander into the store, pick up a book and read it for an hour or two. (I do this!)
- Head-turning looks
- Android – two things to be excited about when it comes to Android. First is the legit apps, which B&N seems open to. Second the more illicit possibilities: The Nook both runs Android (which we already know is easily and enthusiastically modified) and has a microUSB jack, which should make for easy hacking
- The second screen - a keyboard and Cover-Flow-esque browsing in color without the awkwardness and lethargy of e-ink, allows for multitasking. You’ll be able to read a book and control your music at the same time, and because the music browser will be on the LCD screen, it won’t look like e-inked crap.
- Battery Life – 10-days and it’s replaceable!
- Both 3G and Wi-Fi
From the New York Times Live Blog: Barnes & Noble Unveils E-Reader
The digital books in Barnes & Noble’s e-bookstore are available in either epub or Adobe Pdf format. Customers who want to buy books in those formats from other digital bookstores may do so and transfer them onto the Nook, but those who want to buy e-books directly from the device will be connected to Barnes & Noble’s own bookstore.
From the Wall Street Journal Live From the Nook Launch (Don’t Call It a Kindle)
Digits commenter provides useful info: Derek writes, “Just bought 2 online – Per invoice ‘Expected Ship Date: November 30, 2009′.”
I have just one question – Will they play ball with libraries?
See more:
- Watch a video demo Barnes & Noble Nook Up Close: Yep, It’s Real Nice
- Compare to the Kindle
- Barnes & Noble Compares Nook to Kindle 2: Biased But Fair
- Barnes & Noble Unveils Kindle-Killing, Dual-Screen ‘Nook’ E-Reader (Updated)
- Pre order one
- Nook is Coming: Barnes & Noble’s Kindle Killer
New ebook reader to watch – the Cooler
I love the idea of an ebook reader, but I have problems with Amazon’s Kindle, foremost being price and inability to load my own content on without sending it through Amazon. I’ve been playing with the Sony Reader the last week or so but I don’t love it either. Since I want to love ebook readers I’m on the look out for anything that might improve them. The Cooler is an interesting venture in the market. It’s sleeker and well, prettier, it comes in 8 colours including ruby red, vivid violet and hot pink, you can view jpg, pdf, txt, and mp3 files right to it yourself. Its not without its problems, only one navigation buttons and books in the cooler store are more expensive than Amazon Kindle Books, although the selection seemed good. Overall its compares to Sony’s version than Amazon’s.
More Reviews:
- Cool-er eBook Reader Review
- Hands on: Cool-er eBook reader review
- Cool-er ebook reader: is this the iPod for books?
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