Glancing at your bulging bookshelf and then over at your slim reader might make you wonder if paper books will someday go the way of the dinosaur in favor of e-books. For a few reasons at least, hang on to those paper copies, as there are still some drawbacks to reading electronic fare. [More]
e-books
PayPal Tells E-Book Distributor To Remove Sexually Taboo Titles
By 2.27.12
The nice thing about cash is that it doesn’t care what you use it to buy. But the folks at PayPal apparently don’t want their service to be used for the purpose of buying e-books that reference certain sexual acts or behavior. [More]
Why Don't We Have Color E-Ink Readers Here In The U.S.?
By 1.12.12
While there are a number of full-color devices like the Kindle Fire or the Nook that are sold as e-readers, there is a segment of the e-book reading world that views them as dumbed-down tablets with too-bright backlit screens that suck up battery power. Many of these people have been waiting for a color version of the E-Ink technology used in all the non-Fire Kindles and a few other readers to eventually become a reality. Well, now it is, but you won’t be seeing it stateside in the near future. [More]
Gifting An E-Book From Kobo: No Book, No Help
By 1.3.12
Kris purchased the new biography of Steve Jobs through the Kobo e-bookstore as a gift for his dad, but here’s the trouble with buying an e-book: no one knows where it went, and no one at Kobo is capable of helping him. The Kindle version cost $3 more, but actually worked. [More]
European Officials Investigate Possible E-Book Cartel Involving Apple
By 12.6.11
In a page ripped from the script of Scarface, except switch out drugs for e-books and Tony Montana for Apple, European Union anti-trust officials are looking in to whether five publishers of e-books have colluded with the makers of the iPad, offering them lower book prices than they do for everyone else. [More]
When It Comes To Kids, Parents Pick Paper Over E-Books
By 11.21.11
We might be living in a digital world, but it seems paper children’s books still hold sway for parents over e-books. Because really, picture that lovely iPad touch screen with apple sauce fingerprints on it. [More]
Ikea Redesigns Bookshelf To Hold More Non-Book Items
By 9.12.11
Who needs a bookshelf with important, leather-bound books when you have so many other trinkets to store on shelves? Ikea is taking note of the move toward e-books and has responded to the increasingly electronic world by redesigning its BILLY bookshelf as more of a just, you know, things-shelf. [More]
Amazon: Kindle Books Outselling Dead Tree Variety
By 5.20.11
Piggybacking on last month’s Association of American Publishers announcement that e-books had overtaken print book sales, Amazon announced that, in the U.S., 105 Kindle books were selling for every 100 copies of the hard stuff it moved. [More]
Author Pirates Copies Of Own Books To Put Them In E-book Format
By 5.16.11
Most publishers and some authors believe online piracy robs them of potential income, but at least one writer has managed to turn the digital pilfering of his wares into a potential gain. He says he’s downloaded copies of out-of-print work with the idea of converting the files into legit e-books he can sell. [More]
E-Book Sales Get The Jump On Paperbacks For The First Time
By 4.18.11
Robots are taking over the world and soon we’ll all be slaves to technology! Maybe not, but e-books are finally surpassing sales of traditional hardcovers and paperbacks, according to a new report. [More]
Judge Rejects Google's Digital Books Settlement
By 3.23.11
A district court judge told Google its $125 million settlement with authors and publishers is invalid because it’s too favorable to the company. The ruling stalls Google’s plans to complete a massive digital library and bookstore. [More]
Libraries Launch Collection Of 80,000 Free E-Books
By 2.24.11
A group of libraries has gathered its resources to launch an e-book lending collection, filled with 80,000 entries, most of which are from the 20th century. [More]
Report: Apple Tells Sony It Can't Sell E-Books Through Its App
By 2.1.11
The battle over the e-book market has just gotten a little nastier. According to Sony, Apple is now telling some application developers that they can not create apps for the iPad and iPhone that would allow users to purchase content — or even be able to access content — that isn’t sold through its App Store. [More]
Author Claims To Manipulate Amazon Rankings By Buying Own Book Every Day
By 12.31.10
Authors, publishers and agents live and die inside — mostly die — by monitoring their product’s position on the Amazon charts, which are adjusted hourly. Thomas, an author who penned the Kindle book Wealth Hazards, says literary types should take a step back because the system is easily corrupted. He says he’s manipulated the system by buying his book 200 times and posting fake reviews hailing his self-described masterpiece. [More]
Google Oh So Close To Launching E-Book Store
By 12.1.10
Back in May, it was being reported that Google was planning on having its new E-book store up and running by the end of summer. Obviously that didn’t happen. Now the Wall Street Journal says Google Editions is likely to be a reality by year’s end. [More]
How To Choose The Right E-Reader
By 9.28.10
Sales of e-book readers, also known as e-readers, are way up and prices are dropping. Consumer Reports has tested a wide variety and has advice if you’re in the market for an ebook reader. [More]
Connecticut AG Investigating Apple & Amazon Over E-Book Price Fixing
By 8.3.10
Amazon’s Kindle e-reader is the online retailer’s top-selling single item, and the company recently announced that its sales of e-books has outpaced sales of hardcover titles. Meanwhile, Apple has jumped into the e-book market with both feet, selling titles for reading on its iPad tablet computers. But now the Attorney General in Connecticut has launched an investigation into the pricing plans that both companies have hammered out with book publishers. [More]
Amazon Now Selling More Kindle Books Than Hardcovers
By 7.20.10
Hardcover books have a lot going against them — they’re expensive, often unwieldy, easily damaged. And now Amazon.com, which first made its name by selling books at deep discounts online, says it sells significantly more titles for its Kindle e-reader than it does in hardcover. [More]
