To Beat Apple, Amazon Needs to Let Publishers Win
The Kindle clearly isn’t going to compete against the iPad based on functionality. Its main selling points will have to be a superior reading experience thanks to its E Ink display, and a lower price tag. The sooner Amazon changes its business model to take advantage of the latter strength, the more successful it will be in weathering Apple’s challenge.
The last paragraph of this article just nails it. There is a big market for the Kindle, even in the wake of the iPad, if the next generation Kindle settles in around $150 and is only focused on delivering to its users one thing - an awesome reading experience.
Preview: Instapaper on iPad
Without a doubt, one of the first apps I will download to my iPad.
How to Scan a 200 Page Book in 1 Minute:
The system, developed by lab members Takashi Nakashima and Yoshihiro Watanabe, lets you scan a book by rapidly flipping its pages in front of a high-speed camera. They call this method book flipping scanning. They told me they can digitize a 200-page book in one minute, and hope to make that even faster.
This is unbelievable. There are so many applications of the technology, not to mention how it could accelerate moving legacy print books into ebook formats.
Read the original article: IEEE Spectrum: Superfast Scanner Lets You Digitize a Book By Rapidly Flipping Pages
Reading with Clint, Shawn, and Roger
I started this site because I wanted to talk about the ways we are seeing technology improve how we discover and consume long-form content even though we are in an environment that is dominated by short-form content and “information snacking”.
So there’s probably nothing truer to my goals than for me to pass along some recent long-form articles I’ve read and mention the role technology played in them, right?
- The Movies of Clint Eastwood - David Denby, The New Yorker. This is an amazing article discussing Clint Eastwood’s career as both an actor and director. A must-read if you are a Clint fan. (Found via @longreads on Twitter, sent to Instapaper via Tweetie, synced to my Kindle via Ephemera)
- iPhone’s Missing Feed Reader - Shawn Blanc, shawnblanc.net - There are two types of people in this world. The first, are enthralled by the prospect of a 1,000 word article discussing the spectrum of RSS readers on the iPhone, and the second — if they understood what you were talking about — could not imagine why you would spend any time reading something like that. I’m in the former category and have to give Shawn Blanc props as he really outdid himself on this one. I loved it. (Found via NetNewsWire on my iPhone, sent to Instapaper, then synced to my Kindle via Ephemera)
- The Essential Man - Chris Jones, Esquire. What a terrific profile on Roger Ebert. This article came out before the Oprah interview, and before I read it I didn’t know really anything about his recent issues other than a general awareness he was sick in some way. Great read. (Found via @longreads on Twitter, sent to Instapaper via Tweetie, synced to my Kindle via Ephemera)
A final comment: What is so great about these three articles is that technology (Twitter, RSS, @longreads in particular) not only drove the discovery, but also the consumption (Instapaper + Ephemera + Kindle). I know I would not have read any of these if my “technology reading eco-system” wasn’t working for me.
Good stuff. Enjoy.
B&N eReader for iPad Coming Soon
We’ve been getting lots of questions from customers, so we wanted to confirm that we will soon be adding a new B&N eReader for iPad – continuing to fulfill our promise of providing consumers any book, any time, any where. Designed specifically for the iPad, our new B&N eReader will give our customers access to more than one million eBooks, magazines and newspapers in the Barnes & Noble eBookstore, as well as the existing content in their Barnes & Noble digital library. (That includes eBooks and content customers have downloaded to their nook™ eBook reader.)
So my iPad will have the iBooks store, a Kindle store, and B&N store? It certainly looks that way.
That said, Apple restricts commerce within iPhone apps so for example, the Kindle user is launched outside the Kindle app if he / she wants to purchase a book. I have to imagine this will continue to be the case with the iPad; which means that no matter how the interfaces compete with each other, iBooks has an inherent usability advantage over other e-reader apps.
Why the Apple iPad won't cannibalize the Kindle e-reader
A bullish view from Freescale Semiconductor on how improved technology and lower prices will drive the dedicated e-reader market.
Looking for Your Next Book? Try Bookseer.com
I believe bookseer.com has been around for awhile now, but I never stumbled across it until this weekend. If you’re looking for that next great book, this site couldn’t make it simpler.
All you have to do is plug in the name and author of recent book you’ve read and it pulls a list of recommendations from Amazon and LibraryThing.
I’ve used the LIbraryThing recommendation engine in the past, but I forgot how darn good it was. It’s eerie. In addition to new books that are right on target, you’re guaranteed to see some books come up in its recommendations that you’ve already read or are already on your “to read” list.
Is that True Compass in the new iPad ad that debuted tonight? It sure is. It’s hard to imagine that its prominence both in the ad and the January iPad launch isn’t a jab at Amazon given the controversy around its delayed release on the Kindle.
Len Edgerly Launches Kindles for Kandahar to Provide Free Kindles to Armed Forces
Len Edgerly has launched Kindles for Kandahar, an initiative to provide soldiers deployed abroad with free Kindles.
This is such a great idea. As a former Army officer, I can really appreciate how amazing it would have been to have a Kindle during a deployment. It is a perfect solution for troops who are in need of leisure activities, yet are space constrained.
You can click through to the link above to get more info on how to donate.
