e-book

Encyclopaedia Britannica drops print and goes digital only

Gone are the days of walking over to the bookshelf, grabbing an Encyclopaedia Britannica, and flipping through the pages to look up whatever piqued one's curiosity. The leather-bound print edition set of reference books is now defunct, the company announced today.

However, Encyclopaedia Britannica is also quick to say that this change isn't its swan song. Now, in the digital age, the company will focus on its online encyclopedias and educational curriculum for schools.

"In spite of our long history with print, I would like to point out that no single medium, neither books nor bits, is … Read more

Apple's iBooks reader with books and textbooks

iBooks is a stylish, crisp-looking, colorful e-book reader and storefront that runs on Apple's iOS devices. The latest version of the software includes support for textbooks, a new addition to the iBookstore for students.

As with other e-book readers, iBooks responds to the device's accelerometer and switches between landscape and portrait modes. Its controls disappear when unused, and a swipe (or tap on the left or right side of the screen) will cause the pages to turn. iBooks' page-turning is smooth and engaging, with page corners digitally curling toward you as you advance, but this behavior is only … Read more

Amazon surpasses 2 million Kindle Singles sales, report says

Amazon's Kindle Singles have apparently caught on with customers.

According to PaidContent.org, 2 million Singles e-books, which are shorter than full-length novels but longer than magazine articles, have sold in the 14 months they've been available. PaidContent, a digital-media news site, analyzed pricing for each e-book and estimated that Amazon may have generated $1.12 million in revenue for itself on those sales.

Amazon launched its Kindle Singles category last January. The company said at the time that it would take 30 percent of the revenue generated from the Amazon-vetted titles, which range in price from 99 … Read more

EU to e-book publishers: We'll settle--if you do as we say

The European Union is not too pleased with e-book publishers, but that doesn't mean it won't settle with them.

Speaking to reporters today, European Union Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said that his organization would settle with e-book publishers as long as they "remove all of our objections." Reuters was first to report on the news.

Almunia reportedly didn't tell the journalists about the nature of the objections, but confirmed that deals could be struck with e-book publishers Pearson, Penguin, and Simon & Schuster (which is owned by CBS, CNET's parent company), among others.

The … Read more

Apple: Kindle is no 'threat' in e-book market

Apple is fighting back against allegations that it has been involved in e-book price fixing to counter Amazon's dominance in that space.

In a court filing obtained by PaidContent yesterday, Apple argues that any claim that it views Amazon and the Kindle e-book store as a threat is nonsense.

Here's what Apple had to say in the court filing:

"Nor does this 'Kindle theory' make sense on its own terms. For example, if Amazon was a 'threat' that needed to be squelched by means of an illegal conspiracy, why would Apple offer Amazon's Kindle app on … Read more

Go feds! E-books are way overpriced

So Apple was conniving with the nation's big book publishers? At first blush, this probably sounded like the oddest coupling since Felix took up residence with Oscar. But strange bedfellows notwithstanding, that's the story out of Washington, where word is that the two sides colluded on a scheme to raise the price of electronic books.

Now it's payback time and book lovers -- e-book buyers, in particular -- ought to be cheering on the trustbusters.

Far be it for me to root for anything the government does, but in this instance I'll make a big exception. … Read more

Apple, book publishers face e-book antitrust lawsuit

The U.S. Justice Department plans to sue Apple and five U.S. publishers for alleged price-fixing on e-books, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Several of the parties expected to be named as defendants have already begun discussions with regulators to head off an expensive antitrust court battle, the newspaper reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Such a settlement would likely have a ripple effect for the industry, however not every publisher is engaged in the settlement discussions, they cautioned.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The publishers expected to be named in the … Read more

PayPal demands 'obscene' e-books be pulled

Mark Coker, the founder of e-book publisher Smashwords, got an alarming e-mail from PayPal's enforcement division last month. It was an ultimatum telling the company to pull certain books with "obscene" content from its inventory, Coker said in a blog post.

"Their hot buttons are bestiality, rape-for-titillation, incest, and underage erotica," he wrote. "PayPal gave us only a few days to achieve compliance otherwise they threatened to deactivate our PayPal services."

Smashwords isn't the only e-book publisher targeted by PayPal, according to the non-profit Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), similar emails were also … Read more

So how much is a fair price to pay for an e-book?

Remember how much money e-readers were supposed to save book buyers? It was among the big reasons why 20 million Americans decided to take the plunge.

So why is it that consumers are still paying through the nose for e-book titles that ought to cost a fraction of the price charged for the used hardcover version?

A lot of readers fuming over that question reminded me of their frustration in the aftermath of the latest flare-up between Amazon and the publishing industry. On Wednesday, more than 4,000 e-titles sold by Independent Publishers Group, one of the nation's biggest … Read more