digital content

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Latest Amazon Brainchild: Netflix for Books

But publishers are leery of idea

(Newser) - Amazon is chatting with publishers about starting a subscription-based digital book library—but publishers are reluctant to jump on the bandwagon. Under the Netflix-like proposal, consumers would pay a yearly fee to get access to the library, insiders tell the Wall Street Journal . Publishers, however, are concerned that such a...

Google Unveils Answer to Apple App Store

One Pass gives publishers bigger cut of revenues

(Newser) - A day after Apple showed off its content subscription service, Google has revealed details of its own. Called One Pass, the service will give publishers a bigger piece of the revenue pie: While Apple will take a 30% cut on sales from iTunes App Store subscriptions, Google wants just 10%....

iPad Is CD-ROM All Over Again
 iPad Is CD-ROM 
 All Over Again 
OPINION

iPad Is CD-ROM All Over Again

Apple's tablet is a throwback to the days of top-down content control

(Newser) - The iPad may seem like the next big thing, but “it feels like the second coming of the CD-ROM” to Cory Doctorow of BoingBoing . Content makers thought they could repackage their product in a more expensive form and remake media. But incumbents make bad revolutionaries, Doctorow argues. The iPad...

AOL's Latest Revival Scheme Sounds Awful
AOL's Latest Revival
Scheme Sounds Awful
OPINION

AOL's Latest Revival Scheme Sounds Awful

Chasing search terms is a bad way to produce content

(Newser) - AOL’s latest brilliant plan is to reinvent itself as an imitation of what Farhad Manjoo considers possibly the worst website in the world. New CEO Tim Armstrong recently unveiled his plan to make AOL a premier provider of “content.” It’ll have a computer scan search results...

Has Tweeting Ruined Reading?
 Has Tweeting Ruined Reading? 

Has Tweeting Ruined Reading?

(Newser) - The digital world has become so engrossing that David L Ulin finds it difficult to focus and read a book—not a good sign when you're the editor of the Los Angeles Times book review. "The encroachment of the buzz," from hours of emails to inane rumors across...

Dirt-Cheap Netbooks Might Save Media Industry
Dirt-Cheap Netbooks Might Save Media Industry
OPINION

Dirt-Cheap Netbooks Might Save Media Industry

Paying for content, not hardware, is the key

(Newser) - There might be hope yet for the media industry, “because the tech industry is screwed too,” writes Simon Dumenco for Advertising Age. With light, cheap netbooks squeezing the profit out of the hardware, makers are partnering with media providers (ie, Acer selling netbooks for $100, plus 2-year AT&...

New Site Helps Control Your Digital Legacy

(Newser) - How much is your digital self worth to you? At least one new website is betting it’s enough that you might want to pass on that value after you die, Mashable reports. Legacy Locker, which launches today, allows you to designate caretakers to take control of your YouTube videos,...

Kindle 2 Worth It for 'Serious Book Readers'
 Kindle 2 Worth It 
 for 'Serious Book Readers' 
PRODUCT REVIEW

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...

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