Writers and Editors

Sep 03, 2009 7:18 AM EDT

"Debut pricing" for ebooks: a better idea than withholding them (Mike Shatzkin, The Shatzkin Files, 8-23-09) and Debut pricing: my idea, great idea, unfortunately can’t work (Shatzkin's follow-up entry). In a follow-up story, also on ebook pricing, Shatzkin writes, about the race for market domination:"Epub is probably the publishers’ best defense against Amazon and the Kindle. With all other device manufacturers able to coalesce around a non-Amazon standard, we have a situation analogous to the VHS-Beta conflict of the 1980s and the Mac-Windows duke-out of the late 80s and early 90s. On one side, we have a standard that remains closed to enable “control” (Beta, Mac, Kindle.) On the other side, we have a wide-open standard to enable multi-player use (VHS, Windows, Epub.) In the two cases we know about because they are historical, the consensus was that the “loser” of the numbers race (Beta and Mac) provided a superior technological performance. Kindle does not seem to have even that element in its favor. Whether you use something larger that does e-ink (Kindle, Sony Reader) or something you’re carrying anyway that is backlit (the iPhone or any other smartphone) is a matter of personal preference. But does anybody doubt that a world full of hardware creators will soon make a device that is similar but demonstrably better than the Kindle?" Read this if you're trying to figure out which device to buy, or whether to wait.

- PM

Nov 12, 2009 5:59 AM EST

Amazon Kindle for PC E-Book Software. "Amazon's Kindle family gained a new member today with the arrival of the free Amazon Kindle for PC reader app," writes Yardena Arar, of PC World, in the Washington Post (11-12-09). "And while I'm not a big fan of reading books on computer displays, I have to admit that Kindle for PC handles the basics of its job well. But it lacks a few features--most significantly the ability to create your own notes--found not just in Kindle hardware but also in the Kindle for iPhone app." A helpful review of the pros and cons of using Kindle software on your computer.

- Pat McNees

Jan 10, 2010 1:30 PM EST

Apparently the two places to find out what's really going on in the e-book world are TeleRead (news and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics), which has a good blog, and MobileRead (excellent forums "for mobile geeks seeking information and advice for keeping their gadgets happy"). Thanks to Rich Adin for that (and check out his new blog, An American Editor

- PM (thanks to Rich Adin)

Oct 23, 2010 9:33 AM EDT

Insights about the current state of the ebook market (Mike Shatzkin, 10-21-10, discussing the "agency model, wholesale model, and what is being called the 'hybrid' model, but which I would simply call 'a mess that won’t be sustained.'" He discusses why publishers are fighting to keep ebook prices high and what publishers (and Amazon) can't say, and why the survival of bookstores is threatened.

- PM