Sony Reader Lives on with Rowling! - Page 11

fjtorres · 06-26-2011, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

But obviously, "acquire every possible customer" is not high on her priority list, or she'd be selling through Amazon and B&N.
.

The way she is going about it is more about "acquire every last penny".

Actually, I rather like how she is going about it, and I see no hint of the "greed" some are griping about elsewhere. In reading the reports, several things stand out:

- A book published in 1997 (contracted in 95-96?) has a contract with no mention of digital rights and, apparently, neither do any of the sequels.

- There has been no hint of conflict between Ms Rowling and her publishers over those rights, unlike the very public and judicial battles instigated by other publishers. Whatever negotiations took place were kept quiet and instead of an open bidding war, she chose to work with her publishers. In hindsight, it may very well be that the lack of ebook editions was due more to the need to discretely settle the issue of digital rights than anything else; it is only recently that ebooks became enough of a business to be worth the effort to settle the

- A lot of venues are presenting Pottermore as if it were a self-published effort, neglecting the involvement of and cross-promotion with her publishers and the big-time hired guns involved in the project. To me, Pottermore is closer to Microsoft's HALO WAYPOINT or the Universal theme park, than your typical author web site, and not just in size or polish. What's been described is more of an entertainment site that sells books on the side than any kind of competitor for Apple, Amazon, or B&N.

A worthy endeavor for Potter fans but hardly much of a lifeline to change Sony's position in the ebook business.

JSWolf · 06-26-2011, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fjtorres

A significant percentage, probably a majority, of Kindle owners got them because they work without a PC. It's not that it's onerous to plug in a cable; they just don't see why a portable reading device should require a mandatory accessory PC. So don't expect them to go out of their way to "fool around" with format shifting and sideloading. They've done without official Potter ebooks til now, they can do without them moving forward.

And yes, a lot of things can happen *long* before now and october.
Like Rowling, a Kindle user herself and openly fond of the wireless feature, clarifying that every reader means Kindle, too. And that she understands that 15 million-plus Kindle owners out there is not a market to be ignored or slighted.

I can see a lot of Kindle users asking what do I do now? How do I get these eBooks on my Kindle. They'll be lost without Amazon to directly send to them. But I am seriously hoping that there is no Mobipocket format for HP. That would not be so nice and for the HP books, ePub can do it. Mobipocket cannot.

JSWolf · 06-26-2011, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

There's hints of "working with Amazon" in some of the reports; it's possible that Amazon is working to accept .epub and maybe .lit as document types that it will convert for the Kindle. It may not have done so before now because it thought customers would be too confused by the concept of "we can only convert non-DRM'd ebooks;" two years ago, Amazon could pretend those had no notable market share.

No way will MS Reader be a format used. It's dead now.

Though, maybe Amazon will get Topaz versions. That would be a kick in the teeth for Amazon.

Ditchleyportrait · 06-26-2011, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I can see a lot of Kindle users asking what do I do now? How do I get these eBooks on my Kindle. They'll be lost without Amazon to directly send to them. But I am seriously hoping that there is no Mobipocket format for HP. That would not be so nice and for the HP books, ePub can do it. Mobipocket cannot.

Long live mobipocket!

JSWolf · 06-26-2011, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ditchleyportrait

Long live mobipocket!

Mobipocket was obsolete the day ePub came out and it's time for it to just die and go away. If that happens, ePub will be the format. But if Amazon does go ePub, I hope they don't decide on a different DRM.

fjtorres · 06-27-2011, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Mobipocket was obsolete the day ePub came out and it's time for it to just die and go away. If that happens, ePub will be the format. But if Amazon does go ePub, I hope they don't decide on a different DRM.

This is really important to you, huh?
That epub exterminates all possible competition?

Fair'nough, I guess...
Just bear in mind that it'll be a cold day in the amazon jungle when Bezos pays adobe for ADEPT.

I would politely suggest that the "format war" is a smokescreen and that the fight for ebook market share is a DRM war and that universal ebook interoperability will not come this decade or next. It may never arrive.

booklover6 · 06-27-2011, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ditchleyportrait

Long live mobipocket!

DMB · 06-27-2011, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I can see a lot of Kindle users asking what do I do now? How do I get these eBooks on my Kindle. They'll be lost without Amazon to directly send to them. But I am seriously hoping that there is no Mobipocket format for HP. .

What do you get out of this? Why are you bothered if Kindle users are able to get HP books in mobi format? How does that harm you?

EowynCarter · 06-27-2011, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMB

What do you get out of this? Why are you bothered if Kindle users are able to get HP books in mobi format? How does that harm you?

Having more than one format (and /or DMR), prevent customer from going from kindle to something else, or something else to kindle.

If someday I'll fell like I want a kindle, I'll be unable to easily keep my books...

What do we get out of this ? Having the kindle user realizing the format issue and complaining at amazon, and hopefully, some reaction from amazon. (Yeah, one can dream...)

DMB · 06-27-2011, 08:51 AM

So it would be OK for Kindle users to complain about the existence of ePub?

Sometimes format wars end in the victory of one format over another. I doubt if that's going to happen any time soon with ebooks. Both ePub and mobi might be superseded eventually by a completely new format.

In the meantime, why can't we agree that there are different choices for ereaders? We all have different criteria by which we make the choice of reader. It's a pity that there are incompatible formats, but I think we can live with it without desperately hoping for the defeat of one we don't personally use.

EowynCarter · 06-27-2011, 08:52 AM

Quote:

So it would be OK for Kindle users to complain about the existence of ePub?

ePub is the most wildly used. It makes more sense to got the way than going full mobi.

Oh, question, how would amazon switching to epub hurt amazon customers ?

DMB · 06-27-2011, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

ePub is the most wildly used. It makes more sense to got the way than going full mobi.

Oh, question, how would amazon switching to epub hurt amazon customers ?

If my K3 no longer read the books I now have, I would be annoyed. I expect many Amazon customers would join me on that.

In practical terms, I have yet to find an ebook I want that is not available at Amazon but is available elsewhere in ePub format. One of the reasons I chose the Kindle was that I already bought most of my books from Amazon, so it was convenient. But, of course, having bought the K3 I also have books from places like Gutenberg in mobi format, so I wouldn't want to have to change them.

As things are, we made our choices and bought the readers that best suited us. I don't wish for one format to thrash another in the format wars any more than I wish for the demise of readers I haven't chosen. A common format would be lovely, but getting there would probably be painful.

EowynCarter · 06-27-2011, 09:21 AM

Quote:

If my K3 no longer read the books I now have, I would be annoyed

A bit a wishpersync power and voila

And yes, this is annoying, that's why it's useful to have one format.

Quote:

A common format would be lovely, but getting there would probably be painful.

But worth it.

Quote:

As things are, we made our choices and bought the readers that best suited us.

You are happy with your kindle now, but will you be happy forever with it ? Same with me, i don't feel like using a kindle right now, but what if that changes in the future ?

Sil_liS · 06-27-2011, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMB

If my K3 no longer read the books I now have, I would be annoyed. I expect many Amazon customers would join me on that.

I don't really understand your way of thinking. I mean you said before:

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMB

Both ePub and mobi might be superseded eventually by a completely new format.

So you are expecting the mobi won't be around forever.

cfrizz · 06-27-2011, 12:08 PM

DVD players started out with 2 different versions that were incompatible. When Pioneer finally came out with a multiformat machine, I finally got a dvd player.

Hopefully someone will eventually build a multiformat ereader which can serve everyone. Until then I will stick with the readers that can read the most formats, ie epub, pdf, txt, rtf, etc.

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06-27-2011, 08:51 AM	#160
DMB Old Git Posts: 958 Karma: 1840790 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Switzerland (mostly) Device: Two kindle PWs wifi, kindle fire, iPad3 wifi	So it would be OK for Kindle users to complain about the existence of ePub? Sometimes format wars end in the victory of one format over another. I doubt if that's going to happen any time soon with ebooks. Both ePub and mobi might be superseded eventually by a completely new format. In the meantime, why can't we agree that there are different choices for ereaders? We all have different criteria by which we make the choice of reader. It's a pity that there are incompatible formats, but I think we can live with it without desperately hoping for the defeat of one we don't personally use.

06-27-2011, 12:08 PM	#165
cfrizz Wizard Posts: 1,571 Karma: 36389706 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Quincy, MA Device: Samsung 54A, Kobo Libra H2O, Samsung S6 Lite	DVD players started out with 2 different versions that were incompatible. When Pioneer finally came out with a multiformat machine, I finally got a dvd player. Hopefully someone will eventually build a multiformat ereader which can serve everyone. Until then I will stick with the readers that can read the most formats, ie epub, pdf, txt, rtf, etc.