Kindle Owners’ Lending Library – 21st Century Remainders Table

<img src="ImageHandler.ashx?id=fd27167c-f63a-4c69-82a0-2527ecd0e690&size=original" style="border-bottom: 1px solid; border-left: 1px solid; margin: 10px; width: 205px; float: left; height: 148px; border-top: 1px solid; border-right: 1px solid" />As much as I enjoy my Kindle Touch as an ideal device for readers on the go, I’m not always impressed by the offerings of what can be called its “incentive features.”   One of these, the Prime membership read-for-free feature called Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, is too much like a street vendor’s remaindered books table.  You can spend a lot of time looking before you find anything worth reading. At $79, I still consider my Kindle to be a bargain.  For anyone who wants to kill commuting time or kid-chauffeuring time with something to read, it’s great to have the grab-and-go selection.  I’m just not convinced that the Prime read-for-free offerings will prove to be useful without a better way to search for books.  The primary way to access Prime read-for-free titles is by browsing.  Neither amazon.com nor the Kindle store on the reader itself support robust filtering or search.  Online, you can try a search for a favorite author, then scroll through the results in hope of seeing the Prime icon that identifies read-for-free titles.  This works reasonably well if there aren’t many editions of a specific author’s works available in Kindle format.  I find, however, that there are few prize-winning or short-listed books.  For living authors, it’s more likely that any read-for-free title will be one of their lesser-selling works. Browsing read-for-free titles on the Kindle itself can be frustrating too.  Categories are general and include thousands or tens of thousands of books.  Even subcategories are not particularly illuminating.  The refine function is underserved by poor indexing.  For example, refining through Non-fiction > Education yields many self-help books in addition to books about education policy. A Prime membership may be worth it to you if you want upgraded shipping or enjoy the video downloads.  At this point, I don’t think the Prime membership fee is worth it for the purpose of accessing ebooks.
1/11/2012 1:27:58 PM
(JTD)

Paying Less Than $100 for a Kindle is Like Paying $1.29 a Pound for an Fresh Turkey at the Supermarket

<img alt="Turkey Loss Leader" src="ImageHandler.ashx?id=41b2a471-69f7-4d77-9e56-e46207eed3e3&type=image&size=original" style="height: 146px; width: 206px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 10px; float: left;" />Once you're in the store, you're sure to see plenty of other stuff you want to buy. Even more than selling digital content, I think Amazon wants to sell you a Prime Membership.  Once you’ve got the Kindle, it’s hard not to want that membership to get access to the Amazon lending library.  After all, you’ll get some free reading, plus some free video streaming to your PC or Kindle Fire (if you’ve gone that route) and no per-purchase shipping charges on two-day delivery of physical merchandise. Andrew Wassreiler at iSuppli has <a href="http://www.isuppli.com/Teardowns/News/Pages/Amazon-Kindle-Fire-Costs-$201-70-to-Manufacture.aspx" target="_blank">a nice write-up</a> of the materials and manufacturing costs of the Kindle Fire in one of iSuppli's Teardowns.    His article goes on to explain the model behind Amazon’s pricing strategy.  He compares it to wireless phone companies taking a loss on phone prices in order to win two-year service contracts.  Other articles have estimated the cost of delivering a $79 Kindle to be about $84.  No wonder they don’t throw in the power supply for the touch. At this point, Amazon is giving away the store.  Why wouldn’t you want to go to Amazon for your hard copy books (and toasters too) from them instead of schlepping to the local Wal-mart?  Are these deals too good to be true?  For the moment, I don’t think so.  I plan to enjoy them now, taking care not to replace all of my book buying with Kindle content.
11/23/2011 9:21:00 AM
(JTD)

Amazon Ebook Membership – a Vulgar Athenæum for the 21st Century?

<img alt="Athenæum" src="ImageHandler.ashx?id=7c033cce-09da-4e55-b3fc-d9c865914594&type=image&size=original" style="height: 155px; width: 205px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 10px; float: left;" />Vulgar [vuhl-ger] adj. -- of, pertaining to, or constituting the ordinary people in a society: the vulgar masses. <hr /> Reportedly, <a href="http://blog.libraryjournal.com/ljinsider/2011/09/12/wsj-amazon-to-roll-out-netflix-like-ebook-lending-service/" onclick="window.open(this.href, '', 'resizable=no,status=no,location=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no,fullscreen=no,scrollbars=no,dependent=no'); return false;">Amazon is pursuing the possibility of providing an ebook lending service as part of its Amazon Prime program</a>.  If this program does take off at the current Amazon Prime annual membership fee of $79, it could be a modern version of 19th century athenæum membership (a type of fee-based private library membership).  However, at this price point, the electronic version wouldn’t be restricted to Boston Brahmin types as in the old days.  It would be accessible to many ordinary people. With the gutting of public libraries’ materials budgets, the wait to borrow a public library ebook copy of a popular title isn’t likely to continue to satisfy users of a medium that, technologically speaking, can provide instant access to content. If Amazon Kindle can provide both a rental service and the capability to borrow titles from public libraries via Overdrive, they’re in a great position to fill in some of the gaps left by the decimation of public library materials budgets. This may be fine for those able to spend a minimum of $114 for an ereader plus a $79 / year borrowing fee.  But I’m afraid that this apparent affordability will give budget cutters an excuse to widen the divide between information-haves and information-have-nots.  The less-privileged among public library users will be left with discouragingly long waits for access to books in any format.
9/14/2011 10:51:11 AM
(JTD)

E Cookbooks in Fits and Starts

<img alt="Nigella's Cookbook Collection" src="ImageHandler.ashx?id=ca7048fe-ab55-4e6e-98f7-8eba010d1463&type=image&size=original" style="height: 163px; width: 205px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 10px; float: left;" />While there are some real jewels of cookbooks available as ebooks, their publication is so sporadic and their pricing is so inconsistent that they aren’t likely to solve <a href="http://nigella.com/kitchen-witter/view/19th-august-2011-47" onclick="window.open(this.href, '', 'resizable=no,status=no,location=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no,fullscreen=no,scrollbars=no,dependent=no'); return false;">British domestic goddess Nigella Lawson’s storage problem</a>. After I recently purged a fair number of cookbooks, I thought it might be time to replace some of my favorite print copies with ebooks. I thought that at the least I would begin purchasing any new books in ebook format. I took a look at what was available in ebook format and was pretty discouraged that many of my favorite classics are not available as ebooks. Neither The Joy of Cooking nor The Good Housekeeping Cookbook is available. However, Mastering the Art of French Cooking is, for a few dollars less than the hardcover. In general, it seems there are no great bargains to be had in choosing ebook format over print when it comes to cookbooks. For most of the titles I checked, the difference is less than a dollar. I was surprised to find that Martha Stewart’s ebooks were discounted the most heavily – her latest Baking Handbook has a savings of about $6.50 when purchased as an ebook. No wonder Amazon has a note under most Kindle copy prices indicating that the purchase price has been set by the publisher. I can’t imagine that the cost of producing a back title as an ebook allows much profit for a publisher. The one real bargain I found in ecookbooks is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cooks-Illustrated--Cook-Library-ebook/dp/B001RF3U9U/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1314135370&sr=1-1" onclick="window.open(this.href, '', 'resizable=no,status=no,location=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no,fullscreen=no,scrollbars=no,dependent=no'); return false;">Cooks Illustrated’s How-to-Cook Library</a> at $9.99. The publisher must have produced it just to play around with the format. He can’t be making much money sales of it.  
8/23/2011 5:37:05 PM
(JTD)

EReader Generation Gap

<img alt="EReader" src="ImageHandler.ashx?id=c18f4c07-2ab5-4f90-ba21-fd6277c74f02&type=image&size=original" style="height: 200px; width: 205px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 10px; float: left;" />The dedicated reader device vs. multitasking device debate reminds me of the height of the Mac vs. PC wars. The early adopter / true techno-geek types get really impassioned over this. I’m not sure that most existing consumers of traditional print content (books, magazines, and newspapers) care all that much about the nitty-gritty of the features. The next generation of readers might, as their young reading lives are so different than previous generations’. So many of the analysts weighing in on the Kindle-type reader vs. iPad debate are techno-geek types. They tend to have lifestyles that require integrated devices. They live in urban environments and spend a lot of time using public transportation and traveling by air. Of course they don’t want to carry a bag full of electronics. For eReader users who are readers first, rather than technology users first, there’s a point of diminishing returns on the bells and whistles. For us, the core utility of the reader tends to be having a comfortable reading experience, eliminating the need for physical storage space for books, and being able to carry a variety of reading materials. Lance Whitney, in CNET News, <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10253199-93.html?tag=contentMain;contentAux" target="_blank">writes about challengers to Kindle </a>“unveiling cheaper, more versatile e-readers, moving beyond books.” Another observer of eReader trends, a person who waits tables at Logan Airport, sees it differently in <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-18438_7-10252087-82.html?tag=mncol" target="_blank">her response to a different CNET article: </a> "I completely disagree. I wait tables at Logan Airport in Boston. I can tell you I see                    hundreds of people with e-ink readers, primarily the kindle. The people that are using            them vary in age and sex. I have served 80 year old women reading off of these. I can tell you they were not 'gadget enthusiasts'. They were/are reader enthusiasts. People who love to read books, and newspapers." There are many years of print content buying ahead for baby boomers and GenXers. While the next generation is almost sure to demand a different ratio of multimedia vs. print content for entertainment, it’s unclear that there will be enough people willing and able to tolerate the price point of the more sophisticated technology. I expect that Kindle and other eInk device sellers could have another pretty successful holiday season this year, in both devices and content.      
8/2/2011 10:40:56 AM
(JTD)

eTextbooks – Renter Beware

<img alt="College Bookstore" src="ImageHandler.ashx?id=131a5f43-10ba-4d7a-a957-f9d219504e6a&type=image&size=original" style="height: 148px; width: 205px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 10px; float: left;" />College students budgeting for the upcoming year might be happy to see that <a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110718005937/en/Students-Save-80-Kindle-Textbook-Rental">Amazon has announced the option to rent textbooks in Kindle format</a>. While it’s great to see another option coming to the textbook marketplace, early adopters of this method of acquiring textbooks will want to be careful. Amazon says, ”Kindle Textbook Rental offers the ability to customize rental periods to any length between 30 and 360 days, so students only pay for the specific amount of time they need a book." This isn’t exactly true for every title. I checked rental fees for Kieso’s Intermediate Accounting, 13th edition, and the longest rental period offered by Amazon is $61.31 for 122 days. The edition offered is another thing to watch. The most current edition of the Kieso text is the 14th. That edition is available in hardcover and a NOOKstudy format (for PC or Mac, not for the NOOK reader). Anyone renting will want to be sure to OK the edition with the professor before any return or trial periods end. Also make sure the professor doesn’t require any CD or other material that comes with the hardcover. Pricing and availability for etextbooks still is all over the place, both for rental and purchase. For example, the NOOKstudy version of the Kieso book mentioned (newer 14th edition) is available to rent for $122.50 for 360 days.  It seems like publishers are rushing to market and don’t have the kinks worked out. While students may find some value and convenience in etextbooks, the decision of what format to rent or buy is best made on a book-by-book basis.  
7/19/2011 4:21:32 PM
(JTD)

The machine can read! HarperCollins figures get ‘em early, and you’ve got ‘em.

<img alt="Frog and Toad" src="ImageHandler.ashx?id=cfe6d08c-5024-4e7f-9af0-8cd51649b5f5&type=image&size=original" style="height: 141px; width: 205px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 10px; float: left;" />HarperCollins has announced the launch of their I CAN READ series in digital format, available at the Apple iBookstore and Barnes & Noble’s NOOK Bookstore. Both formats offer full color, so they do make sense for illustrated stories. The idea, <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/i-can-read-early-reader-program-goes-digital-125067804.html">announced on PR Newswire</a>, is to “[take} children through the process of early reading together to advanced reading alone.” I suppose that early reading together will often mean together with the device, rather than together with a parent or teacher. They are marketing the new product with an audio read-along feature. I imagine the official line from the publisher would be that this new tool is intended to supplement, rather than supplant, the critical roles of parents and teachers in teaching children to read. I used the I CAN READ series with my own children, and I thought it was great. With classics like the Frog and Toad series and the Frances books the I CAN READ books provide terrific stories for cozy enjoyment, not just literacy tools. I think that providing distracting interactive features takes away, rather than enhances, the imaginative elements of the reading experience for children.  I’m pretty sure most young children prefer to hear stories read by their parents, not narrators.  The portability and storage benefits of digital books are something I embrace for adults and independent readers.  I just don't care for the potential to remove the human element from young children learning to read. So far, the digital titles are available only through Level 2 of the 4 reading levels in the series. More titles are planned for release by the end of the year.  
7/8/2011 8:45:45 AM
(JTD)

Microstyle: A Quintessential Offering to Add to Your Ebook

<img alt="Microstyle" src="ImageHandler.ashx?id=144bd7e6-3f96-4ef4-a978-0fd8e05cbbf7&type=image&size=original" style="height: 265px; width: 205px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 10px; float: left;" />Publishing mainstay W.W. Norton is moving further Into ebook era.  The Editor-in-Chief at W.W. Norton will shed his larger managerial role to become Editor-at-Large, in part due to his lack of interest in electronic publishing. I’m glad that he’ll remain to work on acquiring and editing books there. Norton is so much more than college anthologies. It’s one of the few remaining independent publishing houses, and it has a real focus on high quality writing. Norton has brought us Sebastian Junger and Patrick O’Brian, both favorite authors in my house. I was curious to see what Norton books already are available as ebooks, and came across the intriguing forthcoming book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Microstyle-Art-Writing-Little-ebook/dp/B0057QNZNG/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1309465407&sr=8-5">Microstyle: The Art of Writing Little</a> by Christopher Johnson.   It's described by the publisher as “a field guide for the age of the incredible shrinking message.” Johnson has a terrific conversational style and clearly has fun thinking and writing about language. Check out his website, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Microstyle-Art-Writing-Little-ebook/dp/B0057QNZNG/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1309465407&sr=8-5">The Name Inspector</a> for some musings on well-know company names including Amazon, Etsy, and Flickr.  
6/30/2011 4:29:03 PM
(JTD)

Swallows and Amazons Forever!

<img alt="Swallows and Amazons" src="ImageHandler.ashx?id=08266d54-1446-41db-a9e5-8ddc0debe1b6&type=image&size=original" style="height: 128px; width: 207px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 10px; float: left;" />A few months ago, I wrote of <a href="http://www.tabup.com/EBooks/TalkAbout/90c43397-83df-4b31-8d1e-479c434dd46a">my ambivalence about giving kids ereaders</a>. My biggest concern is that a child who gets used to reading on a device will become likely to balk at the idea of reading a print book and will miss out on too much great literature. The selection of ebooks for kids and teens is heavily skewed toward popular series books of the sort you see at Scholastic book fairs. I don’t mind some fantasy novels here and there, but there is too much dysfunctional “real-life” fiction. Where is the great narrative fiction that isn’t drowned by the over-use of dialogue? Where are some decent non-fiction books, including biographies, for kids? I’m interested to see how the market for children’s content will evolve. I’m really happy to see signs that the selection of children’s books might move well beyond the bestsellers to some of the more obscure children's literature. Seeing the Swallows and Amazons series available on the Google ebookstore gives me hope that kids still will be able to get the good stuff, even when they do make the switch to an ereader.  
6/16/2011 9:44:28 AM
(JTD)

Adieu, Globe Corner Bookstore

<img alt="Globe Corner Bookstore" src="ImageHandler.ashx?id=6abcd5f1-1cce-4e72-89f5-16978e2f1c8b&type=image&size=original" style="height: 118px; width: 206px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 10px; float: left;" />As much as I love technology and the internet, I’m really sad to learn that<a href="http://globecornerbookstore.com/blogs/2011/05/31/globe-corner-to-close-harvard-square-location/"> the Globe Corner Bookstore in Harvard Square is closing this month</a>. They’ll still be operating online and are negotiating a sale of that part of the business. I used to love to go to this store during two stints of living in the Boston area. I loved it so much that when people came to visit me, I would make sure to take them there as part of seeing Cambridge. In my early 20s, I felt sophisticated going there and I was excited for the people I cared about to experience the place too. I wasn’t making much money to spend on books or travel those years, but the Globe provided a glimpse of what could be. In many ways, guidebooks were the least of the store’s treasures to me. Even better was the selection of fantastic travel writing, histories of exploration, and geography-based cookbooks. The staff knew the inventory and clearly had their favorites. I imagined them all working and saving just long enough to fund their next adventure. Just so you know, the store wasn’t crushed by the internet or ebooks. The owner has some health problems and doesn’t want to keep up the pace of owning the business. Though I wasn’t able to buy a whole lot and haven’t been back in many years, the Globe Corner Bookstore is one of my fondest memories of Boston. Here are a few summer ebook recommendations based on books I bought at the Globe long ago (don't forget, the <a href="http://www.globecorner.com/welcome.html">Globe Corner Bookstore</a> website carries great maps, atlases, globes and other cool stuff that doesn't lend itself to ebook distribution!):           Adam Gopnik, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Paris-to-the-Moon-ebook/dp/B000FC1JVC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1307467309&sr=1-1">Paris to the Moon</a>           Rebecca West, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Black-Lamb-Grey-Falcon-ebook/dp/B000SEGMT6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1307467275&sr=1-1">Black Lamb and Grey Falcon</a>           Rob Humphries, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Rough-Guide-London-ebook/dp/B004KZQME4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1307466969&sr=1-2">Rough Guide to London</a>  
6/7/2011 1:28:47 PM
(JTD)

Looking for an iFriendly Bag

<img alt="iPad Bag" src="ImageHandler.ashx?id=aa83b71d-d9c0-40c9-bc4f-de849b2e4ceb&type=image&size=original" style="height: 206px; width: 171px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 10px; float: left;" /> So, if you decide to go for an iPad or the Kindle DX (9.7” screen), it might not fit that well in a regular purse. But maybe you don’t want to haul a giant tote bag. If you’re a guy, you might want to have something to put your iPad in when you’re not carrying a briefcase. The bomber bag pictured at left is from Levengers. They’ve got a whole page of what they call <a href="http://www.levenger.com/PAGETEMPLATES/NAVIGATION/Preview.asp?Params=category=11-834|level=2-3">iPad-friendly bags</a>. Many of them are larger messenger-style bags, but they have a few small ones too. I wish they made this bag in black leather though. It looks perfect for carrying an e-reader, a wallet, a phone, and a few other essentials. Another likely candidate is this <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fossil-Grant-Top-Zip-City/dp/B0048LVBWI">Fossil City Bag</a>. It comes in three colors, including black, and is definitely gender-neutral, maybe even masculine. Still, how often are you hauling your e-reader to cocktail parties?  
5/25/2011 5:08:18 PM
(JTD)

Jetson-Worthy Ebook

<img alt="Pushpop Press" src="ImageHandler.ashx?id=92518c91-cabb-4c3b-88dd-023b3a95d3d3&type=image&size=original" style="height: 137px; width: 206px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 10px; float: left;" />     Whatever your opinion about Al Gore, check out <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/mike_matas.html">what Mike Matas and the designers at Pushpop Press have done</a>. This is amazing stuff, and Pushpop aims to make the platform scalable so that costs of publishing truly interactive content in an ebook form are kept manageable.  This isn't about choosing a plot line.  This is about embedding video, audio, graphics, and data into an ebook.    I love the access to underlying data in charts and graphs, but what's really fun is how you can sort the data.  Then, when you want to return to the text, you just "fold" the graphic in half and put it away. This is really starting to feel like <a href="http://www.ebookmagazine.co.uk/in-the-future-will-we-have-ebooks-or-just-ibooks-and-kindle-books/20111592">a space race between Apple and Amazon</a>.  When the iPad offers this kind of interactive technology plus the ability to toggle to a simple e-ink option for straightforward text, I think they'll have won.
5/17/2011 1:26:18 PM
(JTD)

Andrew Kessler, 'Monobookist'

<img alt="Ed's Martian Book" src="ImageHandler.ashx?id=0aee4c16-4d31-4a32-86e7-b8ba072e36e7&type=image&size=original" style="height: 144px; width: 206px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 10px; float: left;" /> It would be worth a trip to Manhattan just to see this.  Amazon may boast over 900,000 titles, all for one device.  Author Andrew Kessler boasts over 3000 copies of one title, and nothing else, all in one storefront in the West Village. The store is called Ed's Martian Book.  Kessler pulled together some life savings and the time and talent of some good-hearted people to help him in his effort to publicize his book, Martian Summer.   Click <a href="http://www.openroadmedia.com/authors/andrew-kessler.aspx">here</a> to see photos of the store and a access a link to buy the ebook version.  I love how the book is categorized under New and Noteworthy and New in Non-fiction and Aliens!  It also sounds like a good read by a creative guy.
4/29/2011 1:50:52 PM
(JTD)

Library Lending for Kindle!

<img alt="Kindle with Special Offers" src="ImageHandler.ashx?id=0d6678f1-3cb0-456d-aef4-aced566306db&type=image&size=original" style="height: 158px; width: 206px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 10px; float: left;" /> <a href="http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1552678&highlight=">Amazon announced</a> that it’s working with Overdrive, the most common ebook vendor in public libraries, to make its ebooks available through subscribing libraries. Kindle users will be able to choose from thousands of titles formatted for all generations of the Kindle and check them out for a limited lending period. This announcement comes just weeks after the introduction of the lower-priced Kindle with Special offers. Clearly, Amazon is serious about getting Kindles into the hands of more users before Apple develops the technology that will allow toggling between eInk and video display on the iPad. For readers who have not yet purchased an ereader, the combination of expanded public library access and low price adds to the appeal of the Kindle with Special Offers as an introductory device. With a Kindle available for just $114, a user could test drive and get a lot of use from an ereader without investing too much money either in buying the device itself or in building a personal library with purchases from the Kindle Store.  
4/20/2011 12:16:05 PM
(JTD)

Amazon Wants to Buy You for $25

<img alt="Kindle with Special Offers" src="ImageHandler.ashx?id=9d8c3cba-73c1-47ca-b74e-631e06b28464&type=image&size=original" style="height: 156px; width: 206px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 10px; float: left;" />     Amazon is offering its lowest price ever for an eReader. Of course, there’s a catch. You have to be willing to submit to ad viewing. I suppose it’s no worse than buying a television for the purpose of viewing commercial programming.      I’m really tempted, and I have to admit that this price point caught my attention. So does the promise of offers like $10 for a $20 Amazon gift card. This <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/technology/12amazon.html?scp=1&sq=kindle%20advertising&st=cse">New York Times </a><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/technology/12amazon.html?scp=1&sq=kindle%20advertising&st=cse">article</a><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/technology/12amazon.html?scp=1&sq=kindle%20advertising&st=cse"> </a>quotes a Forrester analyst speculating that the Kindle with Special Offers could be a test-run for Amazon’s entry into the tablet market. That’s fine, but at this point, I don’t need my eReader to be a tablet. I can decide before I leave the house if I would prefer to read or use a computer. If I want to read I really do want eInk, but I also want the larger screen of the 9.7” Kindle DX (bonus—upgrading to a DX also allows you to play music while reading).  And I prefer it at an eReader price, not a tablet one.      With the technology and pricing of eReaders continuing to improve, I doubt I’ll bite just yet. I want to see what Amazon will do with the Kindle DX pricing going into the end-of-the-year holiday buying season. Right now, the DX’s price point is $379 vs. the iPad2’s $638. Apple recently <a href="http://taintedgreen.com/green-gadgets/apple-may-boost-the-ipad-s-e-reader-cred-by-adding-e-ink/001005/kr-13">applied for a patent</a> for a system that will toggle between an eInk and a video display while using the iPad. eInk would make the iPad more appealing, but it’s a pretty pricey eReader if that’s your primary use.      C’mon, Amazon. Bring the price of the DX down a bit lower, even with ads, and I’ll go for it.  
4/12/2011 11:11:17 AM
(JTD)

Harry Potter eBooks on the Horizon

<img alt="Harry Potter" src="ImageHandler.ashx?id=375f696a-9ef1-4727-be32-006cfbb5c95e&type=image&size=original" style="height: 126px; width: 206px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 10px; float: left;" /> Harry Potter fans will be thrilled to know that J.K. Rowling apparently has had a change of heart about publishing electronic versions of her beloved fantasy novels. <a href="http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/2011/04/03/harry-potter-author-jk-rowling-set-to-give-green-light-to-ebooks-and-rake-in-100m-86908-23035230/">Rowling's spokeswomen says the author is actively considering the eBook format</a>. Industry experts estimate she could earn up to 100 million pounds from eBook sales, on top of the 620 million pounds she's thought to have made from the series already.  I suppose that's enough temptation to get Rowling over her fears of electronic piracy.  It's possible that the availability of the series could have an impact on eBook reader sales too.       
4/4/2011 3:08:35 PM
(JTD)

Kindles for Kids?

<img alt="Happy Readers" src="ImageHandler.ashx?id=cdc74ed4-d52f-4f83-825a-e686b41a383a&type=image&size=original" style="height: 154px; width: 206px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 10px; float: left;" />      Last month, Julie Bosman wrote about <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/05/books/05ebooks.html?scp=2&sq=kindle%20harrison&st=cse">e-Readers for kids</a> in the New York Times. Benefits mentioned by parents she interviewed included not having to lug books back to the library and easy access to books (with so many classics available for free).      With prices now mostly in the $150 range, e-readers are cheaper than video game systems. They do seem pricey to give to picture book lovers though. Barnes and Noble’s NOOKkids picture books are designed for the NOOK Color ($249). That's an expensive device for the kindergarten set.  Tweens and teens are likely to be content with less-expensive text-oriented design. For an older kid with a well-established reading habit, I can understand why the readers would appeal to parents.      I do feel concern that e-readers could introduce a kind of disconnect into a family’s reading culture, especially before the older teen years. My kids love going to the library and picking out old favorites from their own shelves. The selection is manageable for them. At the library, once they pile two or three books into their arms, they stop to think about how much they can manage to carry (and read!). They love to sit in the cool chairs while they decide which ones are worth taking home. They’re interested in my selections too and ask me why I picked what I did. Downloading an e-book isn’t likely to foster that shared experience.      The other big concern I have is that if children become accustomed to using an e-reader, they’ll eventually reject reading printed books. While the volume of e-books for children is increasing, they may miss out on material that isn’t popular. The New York Review Children’s Collection is not available for e-readers. Neither is Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons series. These types of books are so important to the maturing reader, rich in syntax and deep in human emotion. They build the endurance for deep reading that kids need as they go on to high school and college. But then, I don’t agree with the philosophy that anything a kid reads is better than nothing.  Nothing simply is not an option.
3/25/2011 12:11:36 PM
(JTD)

Twain Might Convince Me

<img alt="thick" src="ImageHandler.ashx?id=c2f5155f-4407-40d8-bb59-f7d16a96dadf&type=image&size=original" style="height: 136px; width: 206px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 10px; float: left;" />     I’ve been reading the hardcover UC Press Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 1, and it’s just about enough to convince me to get an e-reader. At over four pounds, it makes for uncomfortable bedtime reading. It’s not the kind of book to haul around for something to read while waiting for an appointment.      And yet if I were to purchase this book (the ebook is not yet available through the library), I would want it on a shelf for my family to grab. In the years ahead, my kids will be reading Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. They would never remember that Mom was reading that thing forever on her e-reader. They will remember the day I checked it out at the library. If it’s on the shelf in the living room for the next half-dozen years, it’s size and familiarity is likely to spark their interest enough to page through it.      Even trendy twenty-something Brooklynites haven’t given up on hardcovers. “Feel it . . . it’s sturdy and formidable,” <a href="http://www.theawl.com/2011/03/brooklyn-is-hardcover-book-country">one pointed out to a reporter for The Awl</a>. Even the young seem to recognize the impermanent nature of materials loaded onto an e-reader.      A book like Twain’s has reminded me that there still are works deserving of heft in spite of the physical inconvenience.      
3/21/2011 11:46:09 AM
(JTD)

HarperCollins Introduces Planned Obsolescence

<img alt="Due Date" src="ImageHandler.ashx?id=64c7e253-ae0e-4311-8742-16aeee514127&type=image&size=original" style="height: 154px; width: 206px; border-width: 1px; border-style: solid; margin: 10px; float: left;" />HarperCollins is trying to make ebooks a target of planned obsolescence, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/business/media/15libraries.html?hp">introducing a self-destruct feature after 26 checkouts from a public library</a>. The company, on its <a href="http://harperlibrary.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/03/open-letter-to-librarians.html">Library Love Fest</a> marketing website asserts that “twenty-six circulations can provide a year of availability for titles with the highest demand.” While this is true, it’s also true that many of the titles with the highest demand continue to have a high rate of circulation after one year. HarperCollins ignores public libraries’ use of book leasing plans such as McNaughton to meet library users’ demand for popular titles. Most people don’t realize that many libraries use book leasing to mitigate the costs of making many copies of the most popular titles available to the public. HarperCollins could give libraries the option to purchase one copy that expires (after a use number that more closely resembles physical book wear) at list price for every 3 to 5 “expiring” copies at a discounted price. This would be a truer representation of the fairly efficient model for providing copies of best-sellers currently in place in many libraries.  
3/15/2011 11:55:16 AM
(JTD)

Congratulation on creating a new tab for your group EBooks.

Congratulations on your new tab! You’re halfway to solving your group communication problems. Now, invite others to share in the discussion. Whenever you post to your tab, everyone gets the message.
3/8/2011 9:02:57 AM
(JTD)

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