(Attention-conservation version: The major publishers have done a deal with Apple whereby they'll be selling books on an agency basis rather than the wholesale model that's got them into such trouble with Amazon et al.)
(Short attention span version: Amazon is spooked.)
I see why: I just bought a Kindle because I'm in English grad school: http://jseliger.com/2010/01/18/buying-a-kindle-why-didnt-i-t... and realize that I'd rather have a Kindle than buy another ~$200 worth of Nortons and so forth. Two days of using it shows what the Kindle is missing: iTunes for documents, especially because .pdfs still don't play nicely on the Kindle. The closest substitute I've found is Calibre at http://calibre-ebook.com . It's not good enough or well-thought out enough and probably never will be. I'm tempted to start trying to produce an iTunes replacement, but I'm not good enough too.
This leaves a very wide hole for Apple, even leaving aside the hardware issue.
Comments
The situation isn't necessarily as bad as my essay implies. One of the commenters posted this link:
http://www.idealog.com/blog/apples-disruption-of-the-ebook-m...
(Attention-conservation version: The major publishers have done a deal with Apple whereby they'll be selling books on an agency basis rather than the wholesale model that's got them into such trouble with Amazon et al.)
And then there's this:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/20/amazon_royality/
(Short attention span version: Amazon is spooked.)
(Short attention span version: Amazon is spooked.)
I see why: I just bought a Kindle because I'm in English grad school: http://jseliger.com/2010/01/18/buying-a-kindle-why-didnt-i-t... and realize that I'd rather have a Kindle than buy another ~$200 worth of Nortons and so forth. Two days of using it shows what the Kindle is missing: iTunes for documents, especially because .pdfs still don't play nicely on the Kindle. The closest substitute I've found is Calibre at http://calibre-ebook.com . It's not good enough or well-thought out enough and probably never will be. I'm tempted to start trying to produce an iTunes replacement, but I'm not good enough too.
This leaves a very wide hole for Apple, even leaving aside the hardware issue.