* Posts by kwnewton

3 publicly visible posts • joined 23 Jul 2009

Apple vs Amazon in ereader format smackdown

kwnewton

Remember the average reader

It sounds like you think that Apple could sell more books because they use a standard format. I don't agree, unless you limit "books" to be kids' picture books or complicated nonfiction books full of charts and graphs and hyperlinks. Otherwise, in 99% of novels, I don't think the format matters that much. Amazon sells more books because they make it easier to find, buy, and read them. The average reader doesn't know or care that there are different ebook formats. He or she just wants to read.

Behind the Kindle, under the iPad: an unholy alliance

kwnewton

Books and eReaders are evolving together

The article quotes Kobo's spokesman: "The next step," Cameron told us: "Is to form a meaningful social community around people's e-book browsing and purchasing habits — the ability to 'tweet', add notes, and share passages, for starters."

It might be Kobo's next step, but the Kindle already has that ability. You can opt to see what passages others have highlighted, or tweet your own highlights. I find that it's really not something I want to do, though. I think nonfiction readers might be more interested in that kind of functionality. I just want to read the story.

I agree that who will be the "middle man" is an important question. Another is, do ebooks need a middle? Tech savvy authors could really produce their own books. There might not be a uniform business model in the future. But I think the real potential for books morphing is seen on devices like the iPad where a book can be an app. I should hope novels would survive pretty much as they are, but nonfiction and children's books have the potential to evolve into something that's not really a book.

iRex Digital Reader DR1000S

kwnewton

Interesting device-- almost more of a tablet PC than an eReader

I wonder how this will stack up against the Plastic Logic document reader when it comes out. PL are being very copy about the price.