Barnes and Noble announces upcoming eReader

[=X=]

Originally Posted by junkyardwillie

...How do they have the largest client base for a device that isn't even out yet?

Last I checked iPhones/BlackBerrys/PC/Mac have been out for some time. Which incidently is what B&N support.

Originally Posted by junkyardwillie

If everyone decided to buy their books from B&N then they would have the largest base as of now I really doubt they do and a lot of people don't like their pricing so will stick to buying through other non-Amazon sites, its a big jump to say they have the largest client base.

Point I'm making is to buy an eBook you have to have a device that can read the eBook. Right now B&N have the largest number of supported clients because they support the most devices to date. To say it's a big jump na the numbers are there.

Originally Posted by djgreedo

It's also stupid that I can buy a book off Amazon and have it shipped to Australia (at quite an extra cost to me) but I can't go on the Amazon ebook store (or Sony store) and buy the same book in electronic format and have it on my reader within minutes (and without an extra $10 for shipping) even though the technology is there.

Yes I agree that is just silly
=X=

[13xforever]

Originally Posted by khalleron

It's not the stores, it's the publishers that enforce the geographical restrictions. FW would LOVE to sell you books - but if the publishers won't allow it, then they can't.

Well, how comes that Open Domain books from Google are geo-restricted?

Originally Posted by djgreedo

I'm not American so I probably couldn't buy from Barnes and Noble if I wanted to, but the way these companies treat customers is really annoying me.

Technology makes it possible for anybody with access to the Internet to pay and download any book ever written (within reason) yet these companies cripple that technology to limit what can and can't be used on any given device. It's stupid.

Yes, but there's some nasty things like contracts and license agreements and other given rights. Which is understandable in most cases, but I must agree, that sometimes those restrictions doesn't make any sense.

Originally Posted by djgreedo

It's also stupid that I can buy a book off Amazon and have it shipped to Australia (at quite an extra cost to me) but I can't go on the Amazon ebook store (or Sony store) and buy the same book in electronic format and have it on my reader within minutes (and without an extra $10 for shipping) even though the technology is there.

On the bright side I've probably saved $100 this year so far on books I couldn't buy due to availability/format restrictions and Cory Doctorow has a new fan willing to pay for his books in future after having read some of his DRM-free stuff for free.

And this is mainly because of the legal acts that apply to digital IP in different countries (or lack thereof).

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by 13xforever

Well, how comes that Open Domain books from Google are geo-restricted?

don't ask, it's Google! Just turn the other cheek!

[uswings77]

Big deal it is! I spent some time uploading both apps on my iPhone and iPod just in time to discover that books from B&N cannot be "sold" outside the U.S.A. I know Americans are etnocentric, but this is ridiculous . Seriosly,I understand the reasons of such limits, but then the internet isn't necessary. Luckyly I had not yet bought the reader. Better luck next time.

[dpierron]

Originally Posted by 13xforever

Well, how comes that Open Domain books from Google are geo-restricted?

I guess it's because of the fact that copyright law (and in particular the laws that says if a work is in the public domain or not) are local... In some countries they are even stranger than in others - and I know what I'm talking about, being French

[djgreedo]

Originally Posted by 13xforever

Yes, but there's some nasty things like contracts and license agreements and other given rights. Which is understandable in most cases, but I must agree, that sometimes those restrictions doesn't make any sense.


And this is mainly because of the legal acts that apply to digital IP in different countries (or lack thereof).

Yeah, those things are understandable, but I still think they should be a thing of the past. Surely the only reason international rights exist is that the logistics of publishing on paper required localisation. That shouldn't matter any more (at least not so much - I know many books are re-edited for different markets, translated, etc.)

[Kali Yuga]

Originally Posted by junkyardwillie

They all want to try to make themselves the main hub by blocking out their competitors but if they were smart they would let everyone no matter what device you use download and read the books no matter if you want to read it on your phone, pc, Mac, eReader device or whatever....

Yes, I remember lots of screaming and hair-pulling over Apple using a proprietary format and DRM for the iTunes store. Apple is a bunch of idiots, I swear....

The e-book vendor's goal, by the way, is to tightly control and integrate as much of the user's experience as possible. If you control the reader, the store, and the delivery method, not only do you lock the user into a revenue stream, you also avoid having to deal with potentially unresponsive 3rd party vendors.

It's not a very open plan, and that has its drawbacks; but there is a method to it.

[junkyardwillie]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

Yes, I remember lots of screaming and hair-pulling over Apple using a proprietary format and DRM for the iTunes store. Apple is a bunch of idiots, I swear....

The e-book vendor's goal, by the way, is to tightly control and integrate as much of the user's experience as possible. If you control the reader, the store, and the delivery method, not only do you lock the user into a revenue stream, you also avoid having to deal with potentially unresponsive 3rd party vendors.

It's not a very open plan, and that has its drawbacks; but there is a method to it.

It reminds me of the search revolution. MSN, Yahoo, Altavista all wanted to be the main hub for the internet giving you news, finance, shopping and everything else in one place thinking that if people can go to MSN for all their solutions they wouldn't bother with going anywhere else and you have consumers locked in. Then some "crazy" guys came around and said hey you know what we're going to focus on search and that's it, that was Google. They eventually crippled the other "portal-type" search engines and most of the other engines ended up using Google to power their searches because they were so far behind. Sure Google eventually had to create gmail and other apps that would lock in customers since all someone would need to do is to create a better search engine than Google's and everyone would leave but they initially pulled all the searchers to their website by building a better product than what was available.

The only way to properly lock in customers is to build a better product. Creating a place where anyone would be able to buy their ebooks from would be a better product than what Sony and Amazon do, instead B&N gives you more of the same. Eventually someone will come in whether its Apple (I doubt it because Apple's history is to lock in customers to their format and devices) or whoever and take the market from these companies and show them how it should actually be done.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by ficbot

...Canada and the USA are in the same publishing 'zone' so it baffles me that Amazon Kindle and B&N seem to be excluding Canadian customers. This whole zone thing needs to be done away with ASAP anyway, but the Canada/US thing is especially baffling because we are considered the same publishing region in the print world. This is totally a case of the companies making complications where none need exist.

For some books I've bought in print the rights were UK and Canada together and US separate as opposed to US & Canada together.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by MerLock

I don't own a Kindle but I believe Amazon uploads directly onto the device, ie. the Kindle or Ipod and there is no easy way to make backups of those files to your computer. Does B&N work the sameway?

You can download the books from Amazon's website to your computer and keep as many backup copies as you want. Direct downloading to the device is a convenience thing.

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by junkyardwillie

Creating a place where anyone would be able to buy their ebooks from would be a better product than what Sony and Amazon do, instead B&N gives you more of the same.

Originally Posted by B&N Press Release

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world's largest bookseller, announced today the launch of the Barnes & Noble eBookstore (www.bn.com/ebooks), the world's largest eBookstore, on Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com), enabling customers to buy eBooks and read them on a wide range of platforms

According the the quoted B&N press release, they seem to be doing just what you want. How is that "more of the same"? So far, it does not look like a Walled Garden like Sony and Amazon have set up. If you are referring to their initial use of the eReader format, since they already own that format, it sure would not be very smart of them to start out with another format that is the primary format inside a competitor's Walled Garden.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by =X=

As for the eReader vs ePUB, the biggest comparability issue is not the format but the DRM. Since they will keep the same DRM scheme changing from eReader to ePUB will be transparent, all they have to do is push an update and you have instant support to ePUB books and the process is hidden from the user.

I disagree.

The formatting limitations of eReader are a major difference. I like eReader, but I'm aware that it was designed for a 2.5" screen, and that basic purpose hasn't been changed. It doesn't flow around pictures well, the image limitations are laughable on modern devices, and it doesn't do complex formatting at all. I'm not sure if it's got a way to change fonts. It's great for reading novels, poor for technical manuals, useless for picture-heavy books.

I am, however, looking forward to the eReader DRM on ePubs, because I think the only way through all this mess of half-a-dozen common ebook types is to raise awareness of them, and that's not going to happen while companies can blithely say "you can read EBOOKS with our EBOOK PROGRAM!" The more variations, the more they'll have to acknowledge, "you can read ebooks of type x, y & z, but not a and b, on our program."

(I answered a question on another forum last week--someone had an MP4 player that said it read ebooks. The manual didn't say what type. Turns out, it only reads text.)

A single standard might be nice, but I don't think it's possible--we don't have a single standard for pbooks, either. (Hardcover, trade, paperback, magazine, pamphlett, cardboard children's books....) Better to raise public awareness of different ebook types, and let companies deal with customer preferences as they change.

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

I am, however, looking forward to the eReader DRM on ePubs,

That is what I am hoping for too! The eReader DRM method is not locked to a few specific devices, but locked to the person who purchased the book. That should open the way for a wider variety of ebook device vendors. There is also no hassle with your DRM if you buy a new reader device, like there is with MOBI DRM.
Since I only read fiction novels, I do not have anything against the eReader format itself, but it would be really nice if the Ereader DRM method is applied to a more complete ebook standard like EPUB.

[13xforever]

Originally Posted by dpierron

I guess it's because of the fact that copyright law (and in particular the laws that says if a work is in the public domain or not) are local... In some countries they are even stranger than in others - and I know what I'm talking about, being French

Leo Tolstoy is Russian writer, I'm Russian and I can't buy his works, because they're geo-restricted.

Originally Posted by HansTWN

don't ask, it's Google! Just turn the other cheek!

And I can download books directly from Google or from Sony's eBook store, so I'd say that this is all B&N's decision.

[lele]

I just can not wait to be able to purchase the plastic Logic device.