Is Google going to improve the ebook business? - Page 3

mldavis2 · 12-06-2010, 11:07 AM

The entire purpose, for me, is to be able to read a book, period. Often, on vacation, I'm not near a WiFi connection. My K3 is not 3G enabled, either, because I don't need it under my current usage conditions. If Google is telling me I NEED a 3G to be able to access their content, I'm gone. More fees, less control, constant battery drain from online connection. Now with publishers setting retail prices (we used to call that price-fixing and the FTC in the U.S. calls that illegal), what is the advantage of giving up 'ownership' of the book at the same price? I must be missing something here ....

abookreader · 12-06-2010, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

I'm sure it will work offline, but the basic idea is that the "home" of your purchases is in the cloud (Google's servers).

and honestly that alone makes me a little itchy. If I buy a book, I want a copy of it on my device. I don't mind if Google or Amazon or whomever keeps a copy in their fluffy clouds available to me in perpetuity, but I'm going to want my own copy too. Let me download or I'm not buying.

I'm one of those people who liberate and back-up regardless.

I just think that any store who enter into the arena this late in the game is going to have to come up with something new and advantageous to the consumer in order to get us away from what we are already doing. I really don't see anything new here.

Pretty much every store already offers access to your books across devices. That isn't new at all.

Crusader · 12-06-2010, 11:17 AM

I think this is a great idea. More competition is never a bad thing. Hopefully Google has enough clout to get something done to geographic restrictions, or at the very least make it easier to find books that you are actually allowed to buy.

From what I've read they will provide a file download in DRMed ePub or PDF and other countries will be added as time progresses.

Quote:

Questioned about availability in South Africa, Morrison reiterated Google's intention to bring their newly launched eBooks service to the rest of the world internationally.

He explained that it's difficult to predict when each country could be brought online as it's a complicated process to co-ordinate with local legislation and publishing partners.

Morrison said that he wasn't aware of any local laws that might inhibit the launch of Google eBooks in South Africa.

leebase · 12-06-2010, 11:26 AM

It's both web enabled and apps for different platforms. I haven't been able to get the iPad app yet, perhaps it hasn't been approved yet by Apple. I must say, the web reader is fairly nice -- for a web reader.

I'll withhold judgment until I try out the iPad app. I'm not interested in "the cloud" for reading. Frankly, though, I don't see anything Google is bringing to the table that Amazon doesn't have -- except the ability to read your book via your browser. And that's not something I'm interested in

Amazon books are "in the cloud" too, for that matter.

Lee

starrigger · 12-09-2010, 11:50 PM

It seems evident from what I've read (I went through some of the Partners material, which was verbose and not as clear as I would have liked) that books will be both downloadable as from any bookstore, and also readable from the web. They already have almost all of my publisher-issued ebooks in the store, but I'm going to hold off a bit on trying to get my self-reissued books on there, until things shake out a little bit.

Not clear to me what they'll offer that other stores don't, but more competition for Amazon doesn't seem like a bad thing.

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12-06-2010, 11:07 AM	#31
mldavis2 Coffee Nut Posts: 410 Karma: 298350 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Missouri Device: Kindle 3; K4PC; Calibre	The entire purpose, for me, is to be able to read a book, period. Often, on vacation, I'm not near a WiFi connection. My K3 is not 3G enabled, either, because I don't need it under my current usage conditions. If Google is telling me I NEED a 3G to be able to access their content, I'm gone. More fees, less control, constant battery drain from online connection. Now with publishers setting retail prices (we used to call that price-fixing and the FTC in the U.S. calls that illegal), what is the advantage of giving up 'ownership' of the book at the same price? I must be missing something here ....

12-06-2010, 11:26 AM	#34
leebase Karma Kameleon Posts: 2,934 Karma: 26616647 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: iPad Mini, iPhone X, Kindle Fire Tab HD 8, Walmart Onn	It's both web enabled and apps for different platforms. I haven't been able to get the iPad app yet, perhaps it hasn't been approved yet by Apple. I must say, the web reader is fairly nice -- for a web reader. I'll withhold judgment until I try out the iPad app. I'm not interested in "the cloud" for reading. Frankly, though, I don't see anything Google is bringing to the table that Amazon doesn't have -- except the ability to read your book via your browser. And that's not something I'm interested in Amazon books are "in the cloud" too, for that matter. Lee

12-09-2010, 11:50 PM	#35
starrigger Jeffrey A. Carver Posts: 1,355 Karma: 1107383 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Massachusetts, USA Device: Lenovo Yoga Tab Plus, Droid phone, Nook HD+	It seems evident from what I've read (I went through some of the Partners material, which was verbose and not as clear as I would have liked) that books will be both downloadable as from any bookstore, and also readable from the web. They already have almost all of my publisher-issued ebooks in the store, but I'm going to hold off a bit on trying to get my self-reissued books on there, until things shake out a little bit. Not clear to me what they'll offer that other stores don't, but more competition for Amazon doesn't seem like a bad thing.

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