Wall Street Journal article on the Kindle and eBooks

[KindleDude]

It's at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122834809064877527.html. Its somewhat discouraging title is "Scratch that Kindle Off Your List," referring to the scarcity of supply, which it traces to Oprah's endorsement. It has some interesting comments on the eBook industry in general as well as the Kindle.

(Full disclosure: I was interviewed for this article but my interview was not used. But it's still -- or maybe as a result! -- worth a read).

[zelda_pinwheel]

very interesting article. i was particularly intrigued by this little quotation, near the end :

Mr. Mullin did say Sony intends to have an open platform "where you can access any content" from various e-booksellers or e-book sites, as well as the New York Public Library.

that sounds very interesting. i wonder how exactly they plan to implement that ? it will certainly help to make more content available for the sony, which is currently one of the biggest complaints it would seem.

[KindleDude]

Good point. Amazon is kind of the 800-pound gorilla, and Sony needs a strategy to keep up.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

very interesting article. i was particularly intrigued by this little quotation, near the end :


that sounds very interesting. i wonder how exactly they plan to implement that ? it will certainly help to make more content available for the sony, which is currently one of the biggest complaints it would seem.

ePUB and PDF support would seem to satisfy this requirement already. They are not likely to get mobipocket. What else do you expect them to get? Perhaps FBReader ported would give them practically everything else.

Dale

[zelda_pinwheel]

hm, i didn't think of formats in that context, although you may be right. i imagined more of a plateform to access content like an online store, somehow interfacing with other vendors and the library. i've heard a lot of people complain about the sony store, how it's difficult to navigate, doesn't have a very large selection, etc., so i was thinking more along the lines of partnerships with other content suppliers. but maybe it is a question of format after all. in which case, i have no idea what they could do in addition (epub is the most important step i think, for future content).