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NEWS ABOUT: ebooks

Why the Kindle Stinks

(Newser) - Nicholson Baker wanted to like the Kindle, honest. But when he unwrapped it and began to see what all the fuss was about, he "tussled with a sense of anti-climax," the prolific author writes in the New Yorker. Things never improved. He slams the e-reader for having a... More »

Amazon Goes Orwellian on Kindle

Company deletes customers' downloads of 1984, Animal Farm

(Newser) - Amazon turned into Big Brother this week after mistakenly selling pirated copies of George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm to Kindle users, Ars Technica reports. The company, without warning, remotely deleted the books from customers' devices after discovering the publisher didn't have the rights to sell them. Customers who lost... More »

How the Kindle Could Kill Book Publishing

...if an Apple e-reader doesn't kill the Kindle first

(Newser) - With the Kindle, Amazon's Jeff Bezos may be poised “ to do to book publishers what Steve Jobs did to the music industry,” writes Adam Penenberg in Fast Company: rapidly create a market from nothing and use it to rule over publishers with an iron fist, perhaps even “... More »

Competition Spurs Amazon to Slash Kindle 2 Price

(Newser) - Amazon has lopped $60 off the price of its Kindle 2 ebook reader in a move that looks like an effort to gain iPod-like dominance in an increasingly crowded market, Melissa Perenson writes in PC World. The Kindle is way ahead of the competition, but Sony's ereaders are gaining traction,... More »

Schwarzenegger Seeks Switch to E-Textbooks

Paper is expensive, says governor; so are computers, say critics

(Newser) - Arnold Schwarzenegger wants kids—and California’s budget—to stop lugging around paper textbooks, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The governator is advocating a switch to digital textbooks, in an effort to cut the $350 million the state spends on old-fashioned hardbound tomes each year. But critics worry that... More »

Simon & Schuster to Sell Ebooks on Scribd.com

(Newser) - Simon & Schuster is going to put about 4,500 book titles for sale on a relatively new website that caters to e-readers, reports BusinessWeek. The publisher, which handles authors such as Stephen King, Mary Higgins Clark, and Dan Brown, said the ebooks will be available starting tomorrow on... More »

Kindle Rival E-Cooler Not Ready for Prime Time

1.0 version shows plenty of promise, but check the fine print

(Newser) - British company Interead's lighter, cheaper Kindle rival is intriguing but not ready for the big time yet, David Pogue writes in the New York Times. One huge plus is that books bought on Cool-er can be resold or shared, Pogue writes, but the device went from idea to finished product... More »

Authors Want Boom Lowered on Book Pirates

Book piracy balloons with growth of e-readers

(Newser) - A surge in book piracy has followed hot on the heels of the growth in ebooks, the New York Times reports. Publishers trying to stamp out unauthorized editions online say the ease with which books can now be copied online make their efforts little more than a game of "... More »

Amazon to Roll Out Kindle for Textbooks

(Newser) - Amazon will unveil a bigger new version of the Kindle tomorrow, designed to handle textbooks and periodicals, the Wall Street Journal reports. Amazon already has deals in place with several textbook publishers for content, and with various universities, including Princeton, Reed College, and Arizona State, to get the device into... More »

Why E-Books Are as Big as Gutenberg

(Newser) - The e-book revolution won’t “be a simple matter of trading ink for pixels,” writes futurist Steven Johnson in the Wall Street Journal. Books have become “the dark matter of the information universe,” walled off from our new hyperlinked, Google-indexed frame of reference, but that’s... More »

iPhones Turn Into Kindles, With Free App

Amazon hopes to corner iPhone's eBook market

(Newser) - Amazon’s widely praised digital book reader is getting a second home on the iPhone, reports the Washington Post. Amazon is launching a free Kindle app today that has most of the Kindle functions. Though it won't have the Kindle’s ink-and-paper-like screen, the iPhone version will allow users to... More »

Authors Can Silence Talking Kindle: Amazon

(Newser) - Amazon has bowed to pressure from the Authors Guild and will allow authors and publishers to disable the controversial text-to-speech feature on its Kindle e-reader, the Los Angeles Times reports. Authors contend that the function essentially turns the e-book into an audio book, a contract violation. “They created a... More »

Kindle 2 Worth It for 'Serious Book Readers'

(Newser) - Amazon’s new Kindle e-reader offers vast improvement over the previous model, writes Walter Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal, and “is finally a pleasure to use.” Faster page-flipping, sleeker design, tons more memory, and a digital audio feature are just some of the advances. But hardware is... More »

Grisham Shelves His Opposition to E-Books

Author nears deal to offer 22 bestsellers for Kindle, other readers

(Newser) - One of publishing's last major holdouts has decided it's time to kill his opposition to e-books, reports the Wall Street Journal. John Grisham is close to finalizing a deal that would make all of his 22 bestsellers—including new legal thriller The Associate—available for Amazon's Kindle reader and all... More »

Kindle 2 Is a Whole New Book

(Newser) - The Kindle 2 e-reader unveiled by Amazon today is great if you love computers, Tom Leonard writes in the Telegraph. "Wafer-thin," it's more "fragile bird" than book and boasts a tiny keyboard perfect for the i-Pod/Blackberry crowd. But the clear, no-glare screen and grayscale display are... More »

Kindle Leads Boom in E-Books

(Newser) - Amazon is widely rumored to be releasing a new version of its Kindle e-reader next week, and the e-book industry appears to be growing, Fortune reports. Sony is pushing its own device, Google has opened up access to millions of books online and for download to mobile devices like the... More »

In Tough Times, People Dust Off the Library Card

Even amid budget cuts, the institutions are expanding offerings

(Newser) - As the economy lightened wallets last year, people in search of jobs and entertainment turned to a long-lost concept called a library, reports the Washington Post, spiking DC-area circulation by 23% in the last half of 2008. And although budget cuts are hitting libraries hard, they're still finding ways to... More »

iPhone E-Books Can't Match Kindle's Catalog

Convenient apps have attractive interface, features: Mossberg

(Newser) - E-book applications for the iPhone are a source of competition for dedicated reading gizmos like Amazon’s Kindle. After testing two popular e-book apps, Walt Mossberg finds that both have attractive features, but currently can’t match the 200,000-strong catalog of digital books—especially new bestsellers—available for the... More »

Burn Your Kindle, Readers Need iPhone

Consumers jilt e-book readers, download titles to smartphones

(Newser) - They’ve only been around for a few years, but digital book readers may already be going the way of the Walkman. In increasing numbers, tech savvy bookworms are downloading their favorite titles onto smartphones like the iPhone for a fraction of the cost, BusinessWeek reports. For travelers, “bringing... More »

Recession Shreds Publishing Industry; Is Literature Next?

Until outfits learn to cope with digital challenges, it'll be a tough go for writers

(Newser) - The publishing industry has been battered in the past month, as large houses hemorrhage editors and consolidate divisions, leading some to wonder if literary publishing will ever be the same, Jason Boog writes on Salon. The list of ills is long: too-high advances paid to a dwindling number of sure... More »

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