Kindle 2.0 is scheduled for first quarter of 09. Or so says Techcrunch.
I agree with Michael Arrington. Why is Amazon controlling the production of the Kindle? Why not license the technology, provide the digital content for Kindle devices, and let Asian tech manufacturers innovate on a wide range of Kindle devices.
Does Amazon really want to be in the hardware business? Their whole interest here is selling as many digital books as possible. Plus, if Amazon were to give up control of the device’s form factor, maybe we’d get some innovative tech company interested in designing a sleek Kindle that looks and feels as sexy as the Sony Reader or even a MacBook.
Like a lot of things that Google announces, this announcement came and went in less than a 24 hour news cycle. On September 8th, Editor & Publisher wrote about a Google deal with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the St. Petersburg Times, and the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph to digitally publish thousands, if not millions, of old newspaper articles that aren’t currently available online.
This makes a ton of sense. How many of those articles are earning revenue for publishers now? I’m sure the Google ad revenue will be small initially, but it could certainly grow over time into a nice revenue stream.
I was struck recently about the lack of access online to newspaper articles more than a few years old. I grew up in Macon, Georgia and went to high school in the 1980s. A few months ago I was looking online for some articles about Vex, a local punk band, that played in Macon in the mid-80s. But, with the exception of a few very, very obscure music sites, it was like the band never existed – online that is.
It’d be nice to have full and unfettered access to newspaper articles from not only 20 years ago, but 40, 60, 80, and 100 years ago.
The new Xbox Experience – the revamped Xbox Live UI – is scheduled to launch tomorrow. How much you want to bet that they have server issues and download queues a hundred miles long tomorrow? Not sure when companies will grasp the need to improve launch day experiences. I read that the queues to access the new World of Warcraft expansion – Wrath of the Lich-King – was several hours long the day that it launched.
Regardless of tomorrow’s performance, it should be up and running fine within a few days or weeks.
I am excited to see the Netflix streaming functionality featured in the new Xbox Experience, but what’s with the funky avatars? Why rip off Nintendo’s Wii when there’s so much cool technology out there for modeling faces and bodies?
What took them so long? It’s sad that it took an economic crisis of historical proportions to make book publishers realize that they need to get serious about marketing the joy of reading and books.
According to Publishers Weekly, Random House has spearheaded a holiday advertising campaign touting books as great gifts – and not necessarily marketing specific authors or titles. Let’s just hope that this effort isn’t half-hearted and forgotten in a few weeks.
The American Library Association has had it’s long-running Celebrity Read posters – using celebrities to tout the joys of reading. Also, the AAP has it’s similar Get Caught Reading campaign.
Why haven’t book publishers done more to brand the experience and pleasure of reading? There has been lots of handwringing and prognosticating about the shrinking attention span for books amidst the Web, video games, TV, movies, etc.. If book publishers want to defend, and hopefully expand, their piece of the media pie, then they have to be proactive about marketing the pleasure of reading.
The Random House Books=Gifts program is a web-based campaign of display ads featuring prominent authors touting the joys of reading and giving books as gifts. Initially, the campaign will feature Random House authors, but there are plans to expand beyond that.
Also, MJ Rose, novelist and expert book marketer, has started a new holiday campaign – featuring book jacket images and the message to buy books as gifts. If you’re a blogger, consider featuring an image from Rose’s campaign.
Again, though, publishers shouldn’t forget these efforts once the economy recovers. And, to me the important thing here is that publishers should look beyond their obvious audience – existing book lovers. Digital advertising on book related sites is preaching to the choir.
If publishers want to expand their market, they need to think creatively, i.e. market fantasy-science fiction novels on video gaming sites, market street lit on music/rap blogs, etc.
The New York Times wrote about Google’s recent settlement, or proposed settlement I should say, of the Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild.
Obviously this gives Google the right to display scanned books and sell ads against those books. And, I’m assuming that there’s some kind of rev share with the authors for that advertising. Or is there a one-time payment?
Here’s the question that I have. Will authors or authors heirs or estates or literary executors, in many cases, be able to get a digital file from Google once Google scans that author’s book? Will those authors have access to the digital files so that they can sell their work digitally in other places – Kindle, Sony Reader, Fictionwise?
Once Google has the scanned book and has the potential to make advertising revenue on that scan, will they be amenable to sharing that digital file with the author? Or will they complain that sharing digital files would be too convoluted – too many authors, too much hassle?
There’s gold in them thar backlists. The beauty of the Kindle or any other digital reading device is in the backlist potential. I’m a huge mystery fan, but right now I can’t walk into a bookstore and buy every Ed McBain 87th Precinct book or Donald Westlake’s Richard Stark novels. The Kindle’s infinite bookshelf will ultimately pay large dividends for Amazon and make Chris Anderson have happy dreams re: the long tail.
