Oh goodie, the big day is finally here. According to a
report in today's Sunday Times, Google, along with their pals from the publishing industry, are planning to launch an e-book retail platform. Jens Redmer, director of Google Book Search in Europe, is quoted saying that the platform serves as an extension to
Google Book Search and targets customers who seek to have online access to e-books with their mobile devices such as the BlackBerry. Beside purchasing books you can also just rent them (such as a travel guide) or buy individual chapters.
My only question is about the usefulness of having online access to books. Mr. Redmer does not mention whether or not you can download purchased e-books and read them offline on your reading device. For me, the latter is a prerequisite for this project to succeed. Also: No comments about the supported e-book format.