What Format Will Be Standard For E-Books?
Written by Andrew King
Saturday, 21 November 2009 09:05
(Not Yet Rated)
| After a couple of years of almost complete domination by Amazon, it looks as if the e-book marketplace is about to see some stern competition. We may even see even the replacement of the Amazon Kindle | |
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reader as the market leader.
by AndrewKing After a couple of years of almost complete domination by Amazon, it looks as if the e-book marketplace is about to see some stern competition. We may even see even the replacement of the Amazon Kindle reader as the market leader. There are a large number of manufacturers who are getting ready to launch new e-book reader hardware - some before the end of 2009, some early next year. The launch of no fewer than three new readers has been confirmed by Sony. The Sony Daily Edition reader - due to launch in December 2009 - is probably the most significant of these. It will have touch screen controls, 3g wireless connection an |
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zon Kindle reader as the market leader. There are a large number of manufacturers who are getting ready to launch new e-book reader hardware - some before the end of 2009, some early next year. The launch of no fewer than three new readers has been confirmed by Sony. The Sony Daily Edition reader - due to launch in December 2009 - is probably the most significant of these. It will have touch screen controls, 3g wireless connection and will let users borrow e-books on loan from participating lending libraries. Other manufacturers such as Barnes and Noble, Apple, Microsoft, iRex and Plastic Logic all have new readers planned for release in the near future. However, as important as the technical specification of the various reader devices is likely to be, it may not be the deciding factor. At the moment, the ability to choose an e-book from Amazon's huge range of available titles is a huge advantage for them. There are over 300,000 e-books available for the Kindle on the Amazon website. The trouble is that you must buy your e-books from the Amazon store. Further, if you subsequently decide to change your reader to a different type, then you are currently unable to take your e-books with you. Possibly this option may be made available in future, but currently it's a case of Kindle reader, Kindle e-books. Put it another way - it's a closed system. Most of the other manufacturers seem to be lining up behind one common format - ePub - which is different from that currently used by Amazon. This would give users the freedom to transfer e-books from one reader to another and also afford them more choice when deciding where to buy their e-books from in the first place. If this move goes ahead, and it seems likely that it will, then it's not out of the question that what is currently a feather in Amazon's cap, their huge collection of Kindle books, may become a liability. Of course, it would be within Amazon's pow |
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zon Kindle reader as the market leader. There are a large number of manufacturers who are getting ready to launch new e-book reader hardware - some before the end of 2009, some early next year. The launch of no fewer than three new readers has been confirmed by Sony. The Sony Daily Edition reader - due to launch in December 2009 - is probably the most significant of these. It will have touch screen controls, 3g wireless connection and will let users borrow e-books on loan from participating lending libraries. Other manufacturers such as Barnes and Noble, Apple, Microsoft, iRex and Plastic Logic all have new readers planned for release in the near future. However, as important as the technical specifica |
| After a couple of years of almost complete domination by Amazon, it looks as if the e-book marketplace is about to see some stern competition. We may even see even the replacement of the Amazon Kindle reader as the market leader.
by AndrewKing After a couple of years of almost complete domination by Amazon, it looks as if the e-book marketplace is about to see some stern competition. We may even see even the replacement of the Amazon Kindle reader as the market leader. There are a large number of manufacturers who are getting ready to launch new e-book reader hardware - some before the end of 2009, some early next year. The launch of no fewer than three new readers has been confirmed by Sony. The Sony Daily Edition reader - due to launch in December 2009 - is probably the most significant of these. It will have touch screen controls, 3g wireless connection and will let users borrow e-books on loan from participating lending libraries. Other manufacturers such as Barnes and Noble, Apple, Microsoft, iRex and Plastic Logic all have new readers planned for release in the near future. However, as important as the technical specification of the various reader devices is likely to be, it may not be the deciding factor. At the moment, the ability to choose an e-book from Amazon's huge range of available titles is a huge advantage for them. There are over 300,000 e-books available for the Kindle on the Amazon website. The trouble is that you must buy your e-books from the Amazon store. Further, if you subsequently decide to change your reader to a different type, then you are currently unable to take your e-books with you. Possibly this option may be made available in future, but currently it's a case of Kindle reader, Kindle e-books. Put it another way - it's a closed system. Most of the other manufacturers seem to be lining up behind one common format - ePub - which is different from that currently used by Amazon. This would give users the freedom to transfer e-books from one reader to another and also afford them more choice when deciding where to buy their e-books from in the first place. If this move goes ahead, and it seems likely that it will, then it's not out of the question that what is currently a feather in Amazon's cap, their huge collection of Kindle books, may become a liability. Of course, it would be within Amazon's power to change the situation by making their Kindle books compatible with whatever format is defined by the industry, either by the use of a translation facility or by adopting the new standard. Whether or not Amazon are able to retain their current dominant position, it looks very much as if the e-book market is going to have some strong competition in future and that industry standards will be put in place sooner rather than later. All of this is excellent news for consumers. About the Author: Learn more about theAmazon Kindle reader and find out how to get free Kindle books direct from Amazon's website.
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