Now I am forced to buy from one store!!!

[gravescp]

I have been reading ebooks for some time now, on many devices. Unfortunally I just have my first experience of device and bookstore competition not helping the consumer.

Let me be clear that I am used to the format wars. Get a ebook in one format and you are stuck unless you break the DRM and convert. Now, however, a new book comes out on one device (in this case the iPad) and it is unavailable in the US on another device (in this case the kindle). That is wrong!

I have many ebook reading devices, and I am happy that ebooks availablility is on the rise" and with multiple ebook stores competition is starting to drive the industry. But these exclusivity agreements hurt us all. If I have 3-5 ebookstores to choose from don't force me to use bookstore 1 instead of bookstore 2 because of where I live! You know who doesn't do that…bit torrent, limewire, the pirate bay.

Exclusivity contracts will lead users to find choices that work for them. This is the reality of the music industry that has all but abandoned DRM, it will happen to the movie industry, and eventually the publishing industry. Just for once can you not fight it but embrace it. Your content is what we want to enjoy, and we want to pay for it, but on our terms not yours.

Competition, legal or otherwise, will eventually take us to this place. For once can't we just start there and you can maintain the good graces of your customers.

Sorry for the rant

[pholy]

And they are both the stores that you are buying from... iBooks and Amazon...

Just because I haven't bought their hardware. Oh, well, plenty of other books in other stores.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by gravescp

Now, however, a new book comes out on one device (in this case the iPad) and it is unavailable in the US on another device (in this case the kindle). That is wrong!

If the book in question is a title from Penguin or one of it's labels then hopefully Amazon not having it will be a short term problem. Penguin is still "negotiating" with both Amazon and Ingram Digital. No idea what the hold up could be. Since Amazon accepted agency pricing from the other four agency publishers I'm thinking it might be over something other than price (some have said Penguin wants Amazon to hand over more customer data than Amazon wants to, no idea if that's true though).