The Egatz Epitaph

Survivre avec un minimum de dégâts.

Category: e-books

1.5 Million

Apple has released sales figures for the first month of the iPad, and publishers are taking note. Publishers Marketplace (no, I don’t understand where the apostrophe went) has reported significant sales of e-books during the initial 28 days of iPad. More significantly, Apple reported 1.5 million e-books were sold in the initial period. This isn’t […]

Google, Third Leg of the e-book Tripod

Just in case the publishing industry needed another Internet-era corporation to take the smoking gun from Apple’s hand, load a few more rounds into it, and fire a couple of more times into the lifeless body of the “The Book of Dead Trees,” Google has stepped up to the plate today. Unlike Apple and it’s […]

The Ethicist on Multiple Formats

Randy Cohen and his alter ego, the Ethicist, recently weighed in on a the ethics of pirating format number two if you already purchased format number one. In this case, surprise, surprise, we’re talking about e-books. As a consumer who has bought music, for instance, on an original album release, a cassette release, a CD […]

Doubting the iBookstore?

If you’re doubting the way consumers are pushing the publishing industry, witness the numbers released by Apple. In just a few days since the release of the iPad, the facts are: 450,000 iPads sold 600,000 iBooks downloaded That’s a weekend and perhaps a couple of days. The dollars are speaking. The trees are rejoicing.

Copyright Permissions and Micropayments

Marc Aronson recently published interesting thoughts on the cost of copyright reprints, e-books and micropayments. With permission costs spiraling out of control, many publishers have encouraged authors to not include excerpts of poems, song lyrics, or photos in their work. Authors can’t afford these costs when self-publishing, of course. Publishers themselves are throwing darts blindfolded […]

iBooks Application Available

Weighing in at 18.1 megabytes, Apple’s iBooks application is now available for download to use on the iPad. It’s users’ gateway to the iBookstore, where readers can purchase books and periodicals. Aside from most Americans essentially being unable to read anything longer than what can fit on a milk carton, can anyone explain why iBooks […]

Steve Jobs Changes the World Again

Despite all the iPad hype, very quietly, Jobs has done it again. When it comes to writers, we have much to be thankful for regarding Apple CEO Steven P. Jobs. Famously, his vision and ability to identify quality enabled him to observe computer interface developments created at Xerox PARC. He built his own, superior version […]