So, AT&T and Verizon will release their own eBook Readers and sell eBooks. What does this mean for the end user.
Almost undoubtedly, they will adapt the Amazon role model... meaning give you a wireless connection that can ONLY lead to their eBook store. Despite the animosity thatAmazon has drawn over their totally restricted purchase of books ("Buy our device so we can hold you hostage and overcharge to our heart's content for eBooks) these two giants see phone revenue falling and want to bury Open Format.
What ever happened to competition and capitalism? To me, this Amazon model smells of monopoly... or maybe it just smells. Astak has prided itself on providing the largest variety of eBook sites where you can purchase books. Yes, we have a new website coming that will sell eBooks with a great selection (www.goEZebook.com) but we WANT you to go there to buy because the selection is good and the price the lowest. We are into some 12 formats on every device... so you can purchase almost anywhere. We list some 30,000 FREE eBooks, thru links, on our site. We are following the older model: create a better site that is fair and includes support for the end user (FAQ sheets and such) and let the end user make their own choice of where they want to be.
Next May 11 and 12, 2009, in New York City will be the annual IDPF show. It is really more of a speaking forum than a show... but anybody who is anybody in eBooks and eBook Readers will be there. This is where people like Googles eBook Project Manager, Adam Smith, will speak about the free eBook library they are offering. It is also where Adobe will speak about their expensive format: Digital Editions. This may not be the ideal venue for the end user but it is THE meeting place for the movers and shakers in the industry and striking up alliances. Michael Smith of the IDPF will speak about epub and what that means now and could mean if more would adopt it.
Also, the decision has been made: the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas (January 7-10, 2010) WILL have an eBook Pavillion for the first time. CES has finally noticed eBooks and the devices and is going all out to make it a mainstay.
Robert, I don't know if you can do anything about this, but what about starting to bug publishers now about releasing in formats you'll be carrying on the website? I really love the variety of formats available on the EZ Reader/Mentor line, and I'm positive that if the publishers actually understood the animosity they entail by locking their author's works down to the point that only a small percentage of the ebook readers out there can access them, they'd be taking a nice hard look at releasing in multiple formats and getting those books out in all the ebookstores. I'm anxious to see the new site when it's all done.
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