Amazon finally sells the Apple iPad itself. In stock w/ Amazon customer svc

Apple iPad is now being carried by Amazon itself rather than just through 3rd party carriers.

That second picture is of the $13.69 CrazyOnDigital Black Leather Case For Apple iPad, which is getting 4 out of 5 stars from 86 customers so far and apparently priced, retail, at $39.99.

The third picture is of the Apple iPad Keyboard Dock.

Added here, since many Kindle owners have iPads and many have been considering one for non-daytime-reading purposes.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Consumer Reports has some issues with 3G iPad streaming video

I posted this at An E-Reader World blog, but I am re-posting it here because many Kindle owners I know have bought WiFi-Only iPads and some had said they are returning them to buy the 3G cellular wireless iPad being released this week.

Consumer Reports writes about its tests with streaming video on the 3G cellular wireless capable iPad, which is being shipped to those pre-ordering earlier and will be officially available for others on May 7 -- for $629 for the lowest storage capability of 16G.

They speak to the issue of $15 vs $30 for a month's of cellular web-data from AT&T's 3G network on top of the added $130 cost for 3G capability of the hardware.

Most of us know that 3G cellular wireless will tend to be slower in real-world access speed than a strong WiFi system.  But I would have held out for the 3G capability for use when not near a WiFi hotpoint.  This report recommends against that.

Excerpts: notable points

3G was slower than Wi-Fi. Download and upload speeds were significantly slower than the Wi-Fi version, but still fast enough for routine Web browsing.

You can’t stream all sources on 3G.
  [ The ABC Player app does not support cellular apps at this time.]
  [CR's attempt to download a TV show over 3G from the iTunes store was also thwarted, with a message they'd need Wi-Fi or should use iTunes on a computer to buy the video.]

Video quality varied by app
[ The YouTube video was blocky and lacked detail.  Netflix was better but still softer ]

Video quickly eats into the cheapest iPad 3G plan
[ The $15/mo. plan can be used up pretty quickly -- a few Youtube videos, a short segment from a Netflix movie, downloading some small apps and buying a couple of books used up more than 30%.]

[They'll run more tests over the coming week.   but here's their take so far:]

You won’t want to buy the iPad 3G to stream videos; we encountered too many problems.  It might come in handy for Web browsing and e-mail, but odds are you already have a smart phone to do just that.  Unless you want to spend another $30 a month to browse on a large screen, we recommend a pass.

My take The 3G iPad does have WiFi capability too though, so it's still at least as useful as the WiFi-only model while giving some capability when away from hot spots, if you can justify the expense.

---

 See the ongoing Guide to finding Free or Low-Cost Kindle books and Sources
  Check often: Latest free non-classics, shortcut http://bit.ly/latestfreenonclassics.)

ABC7 /Consumer Report look at 9 readers for bookworm mothers. Collections for Kindle 1 maybe?

Now that things are quieter on the Apple front except for the Gizmodo Lost iPhone prototype story (the latest stories in chron order:  Cnet analysis;  Daring Fireball's John Gruber look at the laws;  Dilbert's take; Wired's team finds "finder";  and CNet finds helpers) with dramatic night visitations apparently encouraged by Apple, reporters are now writing about the Kindle again, without relating it to the multi-function iPad except to remember that the Kindle is a smaller, less expensive, dedicated e-reader for those who like that kind of thing.

Click on the picture at top left or here to see ABC7's videoclip of their news report in which they discuss what they and Consumer Reports found when teaming up to look at 9 different e-book readers, including the Nook, Kindle, Sony, and iRex readers, in order to make recommendations for Mother's Day.

The accompanying story by Ric Romero at KABC, Los Angeles, notes there's "a lot of misinformation" out there.  That's for sure.

They interviewed some people for the story and said that one person, Kate Lombardi, will be adding fewer books to her shelves, but she's reading more books than ever now that she has a Kindle. "It's made me look at books in a different way, and buy them in a different way, so I'm buying more," said Kate.

They found that while the iPad is backlit and people can continue reading in the dark, it weighs twice as much as most e-book readers.  And they noted that it's not easily readable in bright sunlight.  While it gets points for versatility and doing "most things pretty well,"  they found it "not the best choice just for reading e-books" per Paul Reynolds of Consumer Reports.

Rich Fisco of Consumer Reports, one of several testing the Nook, found the interface problematical in that the bottom LCD screen is "little" and is "all you get for navigating around, picking books, moving though pages, and typing in titles for searches and such."

Yes. ABC7 and Consumer Reports recommended the Kindle, a fact I'm putting in for the Kindle-edition readers as it takes longer to follow links on some image-heavy sites when reading blogs via the Kindle.

Much has been made recently of the idea that the iPad can cause insomnia.  Many of us thought this was almost surely not true.   A researcher at the UCLA Sleep Disorder Center told Eyewitness News that no study or research has been done that proves iPads cause sleeplessness.

HOPE FOR KINDLE-1 USERS FOR KINDLE ORGANIZATION/COLLECTIONS?
At the Amazon Kindle forums, 4greatscotts posted a response said to be from Amazon Customer support to the plea that Kindle-1 users also get some type of organization for their first-generaion devices, though the programming and instructions won't be the same because the cursor cannot go to places on the screen as the later model does, due to a slower screen and navigation through rows instead of individual words or alpha characters.
  Here's the posting by about this (no confirmation from Customer Support Team yet).

'Posted on Apr. 29, 2010 4:55 PM PDT
4greatscotts says:

Here is the response I received from customer service today when I asked if they were going to do an update for K1 owners.

We have heard from many of our Kindle 1st generation customers that you would
like to have a better way to organize your growing Kindle libraries.  We are
currently working on a solution that will allow you to organize your Kindle
libraries.

At this time we aren't able to provide you the exact time of when this update
will release, but I'd suggest you to continue checking back our website
regularly.

Thanks for using Kindle!

Best regards,

Prakash T
Amazon.com
We're Building Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company '

---

 See the ongoing Guide to finding Free or Low-Cost Kindle books and Sources
  Check often: Latest free non-classics, shortcut http://bit.ly/latestfreenonclassics.)

E-Readers with Web Browsers, and WiFi vs 3G cellular access

At the right is a photo of my Kindle being used to look up reviews at Costco before any purchasing decisions.

  (You can click on the picture to see the larger image.)

 Now that Spring Design's $360 Alex is out and the Barnes and Noble Nook has been updated to enable web-browsing (I tried it out the other day), it's a good time to review what the differences are between those units' web-access and the Kindle's.

  A good example is from an email sent me two days ago by a woman whose son is in Spain with his Kindle (Int'l version sold since Oct '09) and who had just sent her an email from his Kindle --

" He is riding on a bus in a very rural area between Madrid and their destination city in northern Spain. "

 As a U.S. resident with the International Kindle, his cellular wireless web browsing is enabled also, when travelling abroad, at no added cost (as Amazon's wireless costs in the U.S. are said to be considerably less expensive for the company than is possible in other countries right now, though Jeff Bezos has said he hopes to make web-browsing available globally eventually).
  The speed of access of the Kindle's experimental browser has improved in the last few months.

  I have tips on speeding up the access and a downloadable file with links to mobile-device optimized sites and a guide for that.

Almost two years ago, I was riding in an Airporter going across the San Francisco Bay Bridge and used the older, original Kindle to send an email to someone.  With the shallow keyboard, you will not want to send a long email, but you can send short notes.

  Many gadget sites don't know that this almost-anywhere web-browsing is possible with the Kindle but not for the Nook, Alex, Sonys, Kobo or iPad (although the latter's web access when you're near a WiFi hot spot is a lot more pleasureable and colorful).

A LISTING OF THE DIFFERENCES
  1.  Cellular Wireless access from anywhere - That's 3G cellphone-type access from anywhere you happen to be if there is a cellphone tower nearby (AT&T or Sprint for the Kindle, depending on the model).
  The bookstore can be accessed wherever you are while reading a book.
  For the Kindle, that's true globally as well, and residents of the U.S., Japan, Hong Kong, Mexico have general, unlimited web-browsing enabled, at no additional cost.
  Non-USA residents not in those 4 areas have 24/7 free 3G wireless access to Wikipedia on the Kindle.  The other devices are limited to accessing only their stores with that 3G access for downloading.

  The Kindle, Nook, and Sony Daily Edition all use cellular wireless for book-downloads from their bookstores and at no added cost to the user.  Book downloads are doable essentially anywhere.

  That is not doable with the Alex, the Kobo, most Sonys or the current WiFi-only iPad.  I've read that many current iPad owners are trading up to the later 3G model due in May.

  The $629 iPad coming out officially on May 7 will use 3G and that will also require an additional $15-$30 for any month that this type of access is used on the iPad.

 The Alex will not have this type of access either, on its first, current model, but it's planned for a later model.

Web-browsing (in addition) using the 3G cellular network access
Only the Kindle has this (in the 4 geographic areas listed above), and it's at no added cost.
I'll indent the next part so that it's clearer as it's about a unique feature.

This particular cellphone-style access to the full web instead of just to the bookstore means you can access Google or ESPN or NY Times, etc. (preferably in their mobile-device versions for speed) almost anywhere you happen to be, whether in a bus, in your dentist's waiting room, in the car (as a passenger or stopped), in any restaurant, etc.

  The portability factor is large with many.
You can also download books directly to the Kindle from a few other online book sites this way, detailed at the free-books page.

  What's unique about the Kindle's access is that if you're sitting, waiting somewhere (almost anywhere in the world) reading a book on the Kindle International, you can begin a highlighting of a word or phrase on the page, finish it with a spacebar and the Kindle copies that word or phrase into the search bar -- and then you can press the 5-way navigation button to the right until you see and click on "Wiki," which will take you to the Wikipedia pages that match the search phrase (your Wireless feature would have to be turned On of course).

 When finished, press the Back button, and you're back where you started on the page in the book.  The Wikipedia feature works for any Kindle International model, globally, with wireless access available in their area (most).

  2.  WiFi wireless access - This works when you are set up to use a WiFi network that is in your home, your office, or in certain hotspots you might find such as Starbucks or McDonald's.  You'll normally need to do a special connection to the network the first time, and if it has the minimal security recommended, you'd need the private code for it.  Sometimes it requires a log-on screen.
  Barnes and Noble Nook users would be able to use it at that store.

 This is the type used by the current iPad, and Alex. (Turns out the Kobo uses only either bluetooth or the simple USB cable method to get e-books onto it._

 The cellular-wireless iPad ($130 extra, or $629 total) will be ready late April for those who pre-ordered it, and the official release is May 7.  As mentioned, there are web-access fees ($15-$30) charged for any month you use that type of wireless for an iPad.  AT&T will provide the web-access.

  SPECIAL NOTE:  Apple has identified a WiFi problem in some iPads and they readily replace the iPad when you contact them.

  WiFi networks, although limiting you to local areas, are faster, generally, than cellular networks, for web-browsing.

NOOK web-browser upgrade
When I was at Barnes and Noble, a very helpful customer support person named Amanda (El Cerrito, Ca) took me through quite a bit of it.

  The Nook's newly enabled web-browser, although limited in where you can use it, uses the bottom LCD panel to 'Goto' the web.  When you get a webpage, the slice of it that you can see in that small window is in color, and when I tried a photo site, it was really pleasing to see that, even if you can see only maybe a 5th of the photo since part of the lower screen is still used for other things.

  The one thing that was somewhat problematical was that when I was on a webpage and wanted to go to another one and called up the GoTo or Location box and started typing the URL, the Nook's e-Ink screen above would flash and refresh after each and every keypress.  That was disorienting.  I spent only 20 minutes on it, but maybe there's a way to avoid it, or they'll fix that with the next update.

  If I'd never used a Kindle and known about its ability to use the web browser anywhere, I still probably would have bought it on the spot.  I saw it on the first day, so everyone was very 'up' about it and I enjoyed getting webpages on it.  The Nook is a great looking reader but, as a Kindle user, I still find it has too many menu steps and I don't enjoy controlling the top with the bottom controls on a separate screen, as it makes me feel as if I'm operating a remote control with accompanying mini-delays.  Nook owners have no problem with that though.

  My 2nd choice now would be the Nook, unless they improve the Alex, which has a full screen at the bottom, but it's $100 more expensive than either the Nook or the Kindle.

FUTURE COMPARISON OF MAJOR DEDICATED E-READER FEATURES
  I'll probably update this and will eventually do a a blog entry comparing the various features of the dedicated e-readers mentioned.  By then, there'll probably be another dozen e-readers out.

IPADS AND OTHER TABLETS.  IPADS AVAILABLE AT AMAZON MARKETPLACE
  And now, other tablets competing with the Apple iPad are also gearing up for release, while the iPad is often out of stock at stores.  Amazon marketplace stores have new iPads at elevated prices for those who don't want to wait, but I'd check the quality ratings and number of ratings for the stores.

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See the ongoing Guide to finding Free or Low-Cost Kindle books and Sources
  Check often: Latest free non-classics, shortcut http://bit.ly/latestfreenonclassics.)

New Yorker piece on altruistic publishers and devil Bezos

This is an update to the earlier Amazon plays hardball to keep lower pricing option which gives a lot of details with sourcing of statements.

Today, FAIR (a media-watch organization established in 1986) comments on the New Yorker article by Ken Auletta titled "Publish or Perish: Can the iPad topple the Kindle, and Save the book business?"

That title will give a clue to the focus of the New Yorker Magazine's article (or maybe The New Yorker itself, which is sharing the financial plight of other publishing organizations).

"Can they... CAN they? "topple the Kindle" (Keep Hope Alive?) followed by, can they also "save" the book business - the two thoughts in tandem there.  But the idea of toppling another type of device came before the idea of saving the industry (or in connection with it).

  Already, many columnists have pointed out that the iPad and Kindle are two different animals -- one is a dedicated e-reader and the other has a multiple focus with an altogether different technology, dazzling for multimedia, but with an e-book reading display that many feel can fatigue the eyes in the long-form, serial reading area (from direct light to the eyes, not from refresh-rates), not to even mention the variance in Size and Cost.

 But these are factors raised by other authors when writing about the possibility of "toppling" another, altogether different device.

Note also that it's not even "Will they" (a fair question) but "Can they" as if that were a hoped for result.

  Even if the headline was done without thought, word-choices are often good indicators of underlying thoughts.

The New Yorker's Conclusions
I'll get on to fair.org's, as usual, informative and to-the-point commentary in a minute, but The New Yorker, as FAIR points out, gives a detailed history of the e-book pricing battles and then goes on to paint the publishers and Apple's Steve Jobs (even pulling in the cancer card of all things -- and as a survivor myself I think that was cheap) as rather saintly in their hopes to save publishing from Bezos.

  Apparently, from Auletta's telling, their main focus is to help authors, which is why they are pricing e-books 30-50% higher.  Well, there does have to be a way to try to justify the much higher pricing, which is causing e-book audiences to write in several device forums that they are not interested, thanks.

  The closing few paragraphs in the article actually quote mainly "Apple insiders" and they're quoted for the ending conclusions.

  As detailed by others and in my own (b)logged history of events ((1) Hardball and (2) Steve Jobs role), this is a rather rich, purple battle between 'ruthless' protagonists on all sides.

 They all want what's best for them (if it also benefits the consumer, that's appreciated by consumers).  That's what's missing from this article.

  But the story uses hearsay (no one named source) to paint only one of the three as "ruthless" while the others are just hoping to help authors and to 'survive.' They are of course victims doing their best.

WILL the Agency plan "save" publishing" ?
Let's ignore that raising prices that much in THIS economy will help no one survive.

  The key is 'selling' a book at all, and the current prices that the publishers and Steve Jobs have decided on will not be helpful.

Pricing Difference Example
  One example of what is going on here (and this is a repeat of the actual $-situation with regard to money going to publishers from which they are then able to pay authors -- although authors have had to take a percentage cut recently from some publishers):

' On a $26 publisher-set-list price book on a book that's currently a NY Times bestseller, the traditional wholesaler arrangement would have meant about $13 (approximately 50%) going to the publisher EVEN when the bookstore/retailer charges only $10 for the book as Amazon did, which treated bestsellers on the NYTimes list as loss-leaders.

As Steve Jobs inserted into his Agency agreements with the Big5 later, he later wanted, after all that, the ability to sell the 'hottest' books (apparently the first 10 of the NYT bestsellers) for only $10 and did get that. In other words, he did want to 'devalue' those (in the publishers' eyes, $10 was a devaluing) and got it.
  All bookstores would want guarantees from the publishers that if they went with Apple's agency plan (70% of bookstore selling price to publishers) other stores would not get the ability to sell lower.

So, now the Big5 publishers, on the $10 e-books, receive $7 with the Agency plan instead of the $13 that Amazon did pay them under the wholesaler arrangement, meaning there was MORE money for the authors from the older non-agency arrangement as they affected the most popular books.

 Control is the issue, of course, and the publishers hope Apple will always give them this, despite remembering history.  The latter needed to get a foothold in the e-books area and this way they did.  Who benefits or loses from this?  Probably consumers and authors.

 Yet the publishers carry on about wanting the authors to get more.

FAIR.Org's Commentary
FAIR's headline is (deservedly so) even more scathing than my words.
"Unlike Amazon, Publishers Understand Authors--and How to Rip Them Off"

  Jim Naureckas recently analyzed the New York Times article about a "threatening" Amazon in his piece NYT Exposes Amazon's Fiendish Plot to Sell Books for Less Money.

  In the current article, Fair.org's Naurecka writes:

' Amazon is depicted as controlling and mercenary... [with examples]

  Publishers, on the other hand, are remarkably altruistic: "Publishers' real concern is that the low price of digital books will destroy [brick and morter] bookstores, which are their primary customers," Auletta writes. But they're equally concerned about the well-being of authors '

However, Auletta's piece is, as I said, a nicely-detailed one, but the closing paragraphs, practically written by "Apple insiders," paints Bezos as wanting to destroy publishing altogether and take it all over by himself and Steve Jobs is just wanting a 'win-win' situation, because now he is aware mainly of his 'legacy' and his 'vision.'  However, as magazine negotiation reports have mentioned, publishers are trying to get Jobs to 'win' less now that they're talking details.

Auletta does end, after all that publisher/Jobs image polishing, with the words from a "skeptical literary agent"

' Asked about publishers’ efforts to raise prices, a skeptical literary agent said, “You can try to put on wings and defy gravity, but eventually you will be pulled down.” '

Nicely put, just as long as those are not painted as angel wings.

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1. See later follow-up article on Auletta's Live Chat about his New Yorker article.

2. A discussion of the New Yorker Article and the pricing wars, on Stacey Cochran's Book Chatter,
with Fair.Org's Jim Naureckas and Kindle author Bufo Calvin.

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Reminder: the ongoing Guide to finding Free or Low-Cost Kindle books and Sources
  Check often: Latest free non-classics, shortcut http://bit.ly/latestfreenonclassics .)

Kindle for iPad ready + Early iPad reviews - Update

Amazon proved Peter Kafka wrong and delivered the Kindle for iPad app on the day the iPad goes live. Joe Wikert and Len Edgerly have both tweeted that their local stores have plenty in stock -- Joe's shop well-stocked with 400 of them. Mr. Gadget, Len Edgerly was in line before 5am to get his :-)
He later reported that there were a handful of people waiting in line.

I didn't do a blog entry on the iPad News-Gang of 4 who received the iPad a week ahead of time for early review, which allowed Apple to get their most trusted columnists' thoughts out early and spread by thousands of newspaper reports quoting usually their most positive thoughts in the headlines (especially true for the chosen quotes from the New York Times piece by David Pogue, whose report was a true pro/con look - see below.  Pogue has an entertainingly quirky sense of humor while getting to the heart of the gadgets he reviews.).

Gotta hand it to Apple's PR team on how they chose to start the word of mouth though.
  The most amazingly balanced report did come from Pogue, who reviewed it from the opposing perspectives of a person with 'techie' expectations as well as from one with a more 'common man' perspective.  So you get two angles on this from him and he's always straightforward -- he loves it, mostly, while definitely not impressed by it for book-reading or for typing, finding the screen keyboard a 'horrible experience.'

 I'll do a separate iPad-reaction report this weekend.

  Most of them did make clear that getting the wireless book-download-anywhere function which the "boring" and monochromatic Kindle made popular is not possible with the iPad unless you opt for the later model coming on April 24 -- the $629 minimum model (+ $29 for the adapter kit that provides a USB connector + fees for web-data acccess).

I was surprised that although all found it a bit heavy after awhile for book reading, while very dazzled by it for web-surfing (despite blank rectangles on many websites due to lack of Flash support), the book-reader part does not have annotation capabilities yet - you can't write notes to the book you're reading.

That will be a bit odd for students getting these, but one obviously-monied school is giving both new MacBooks and iPads to all students.  And the gist of the reports by The Four is that it's a great device (both beautiful and fast) for consuming data but not so much for creating it.  Most of the four wondered if people will have a good fix on what this new device will do for them while two were imagining it could kill laptops (which, in the present state of the iPad, is ridiculous with so much that is missing on this iPad Edition 1).

But it looks to be a beautiful leisure-type device for quick surfing and short emails. More later. Back to the Kindle App for the iPad.

NOTE that Amazon states "This initial Kindle for iPad release has been tested on the official iPad simulator provided by Apple."
  So, the app hasn't been tested on an actual working iPad yet.

From the press release last night, which mentions in each of the first few paragraphs! the 450,000 books available in the store, probably to point out the iBookstore currently has 60,000 - a figure that's said to includethe 30,000 Project Gutenberg books that are directly downloadable (no cost) to the Kindle but are not counted by Amazon as Kindle users gets those direct from Project Gutenberg.

'...The applets users select from over 450,000 books from the Kindle Store on iPad and features Amazon Whispersync technology that saves and synchronizes customers' last page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights across their Kindle, Kindle DX, iPhone, iPod touch, Mac, iPad, and more.

The Kindle Store is the only place to find tens of thousands of books added to the Kindle Store by authors and publishers using Kindle's self-service platform. Customers can search for a specific book or browse by genre or author, and can take advantage of all the features that customers enjoy in the Kindle Store, including Amazon.com customer reviews, personalized recommendations and editorial reviews.

Features of the Kindle App for iPad include:

* Automatically Syncs with Kindle and Kindle Compatible Devices: Amazon's Whispersync technology automatically syncs customers' last page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights across Kindle, Kindle DX, Kindle for iPhone, Kindle for Mac, Kindle for iPad, and more. Customers can read on their Kindle, read some on their iPad or Mac, and always pick up where they left off.

* Beautiful User Interface: The Kindle App user interface is tailored to the large size, look, and feel of iPad. The new user interface with bold colors, animation, and seamless user experience make Kindle on iPad a unique reading experience.

[ That's an interesting paragraph, no? ]

* Customizable Appearance: Customers can choose to dim iPad's screen within the app to make reading easier regardless of the ambient light or time of day. Readers can also choose from three different background colors and alter the font color and size to customize the reading experience and help ease the strain on their eyes.

* Page Turn Animation: Kindle App for iPad offers an interactive experience with page turn animation designed to replicate the look of a page turning in a book. Customers who prefer a simpler, unadorned reading experience can choose the "Basic Reading Mode" option and turn off animation.

The Kindle App for iPad is available for free from the App Store on iPad or at http://www.itunes.com/appstore. '

At the Kindle for iPad page, Amazon has added:
    ' Coming soon: Search and instant dictionary lookup '

I certainly hope those long-awaited features are on the Kindle for PC and Mac apps at the same time or before !

---

See the ongoing Guide to finding Free or Low-Cost Kindle books and Sources
Also, a page of links that confine searches to mid-range priced e-books.

Amazon won't be undersold on book pricing

The New York Times's Nick Bilton confirms what many of us suspected: that Amazon would not have agreed to a fixed pricing that allowed Apple, Barnes & Noble, or any other bookstore to offer a lower pricing than Amazon's despite Macmillan's insistence on higher pricing while Apple has negotiated a $9.99 pricing for bestsellers.

There were several news stories that asked if Apple might have 'burned' or 'undercut' Amazon by suggesting that publishers raise e-book prices, with four publishers then pressuring Amazon to go along with this because they'd have Apple to rely on based on Apple's recommendation of those higher prices.

MacNewsWorld, in an article Feb. 18, titled "Apple's E-Book Pricing Flip: Chaotic or Cunning?," wrote:

'Apple's reasons for the pricing change, if the report is correct, remain murky.  They could be evidence that Apple's gaming the market.  "Apple's trying to play both sides of the fence," Andrew Eisner, director of content at Retrevo, told MacNewsWorld.  "On the one hand, it's trying to appear friendlier to book publishers with its willingness to let them charge higher prices; on the other, they know they're going to be out there doing battle with the likes of Amazon and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), who already skirmished in a book price war late last year."

Or, Apple could be wracked by internal dissension. "It sounds like there could be several different people working on this, and I wonder if Steve Jobs was involved at all," Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, told MacNewsWorld. "It does seem like the change is kind of fast, and it's scaring all the publishers." '

  After the ensuing brouhaha with Macmillan's John Sargent insisting on his $15 new e-book pricing, the NY Times found that Apple had inserted language into their "Agency" agreements that the publishers, whom they'd encouraged to raise their pricing, would have to allow Apple to sell e-books for $9.99 once they hit the bestsellers list.

  What?  Yes.   They'd be allowed to do what has been Amazon's policy all along.  Note all the Amazon Kindle marketing about NY Times bestseller books for $9.99 since the birth of the Kindle.

  So, we're to think that the publishers had no idea of the $9.99 bestseller-provisions going into their 'Agency' agreement with Apple?  If they weren't aware, then Apple inserted these in a later version.

At any rate, I'd opined in the comments-area here that Amazon's lawyers would have added language to ensure that Amazon would not be undercut by any other book-selling entity   (if any new changeover to the Apple-style "Agency" agreement effective March 2010 had been signed or finalized with Macmillan so soon after the iPad launch and corresponding Macmillan deal with Apple's Steve Jobs).

 In fact, the NY Times wrote at the time that there was "likely" some kind of language to protect Amazon plus a bit more:

' So what did Amazon hold out for?  The company would not comment, but it is likely that Amazon demanded that no other e-book vendors, such as Apple, get preferential access to new titles, or any kind of pricing advantages.
  Amazon may also have negotiated terms into its agreement with the publisher that would allow users of Kindles or Kindle software to lend e-books to each other. '

Today's NY Times article by Bilton makes it clear that Amazon hasn't been standing still in this area:

' Amazon...is determined not to be out-priced by Apple or any other rival.

Since December [before the iPad launch], Amazon has been pushing publishers to sign a new round of legal agreements that would guarantee that the Kindle price for their content is always the same or lower than the price on other electronic reading devices, such as the iPad or the Sony Reader.  The clause, a variation of a legal concept known as “most favored nation,” would guarantee that Amazon’s customers would always get the best price for electronic versions of magazines, newspapers and books. '

What I didn't know was that "many e-publishing contracts with Amazon are still in a month-to-month cycle as the publishers negotiate to try to gain more revenue or more control over their content."  For some reason I had just (wrongly) assumed they were yearly or at least quarterly (which Macmillan's appears to be).

The article also notes Amazon's more complex negotiations with newspapers and magazines, which has to do with the "tiny slice" of revenue (typically 30%) for the publishers.   I've written earlier that insiders have been quoted as saying that Amazon shares the rest of the revenue with the wireless providers, who deliver the subscription content on a daily (or more frequent) basis.

  Despite subscription-publisher discontent with the Amazon contracts, some are considering signing the new Amazon contract while offering for the iPad a free, limited application for their content, as they'd rather not lose their current subscribers on the Kindle.  Also, the publishers have not been ecstatic about their current negotiations with Apple.

When the Kindle can display richer types of media (probably near the end of this year), subscription publishers could then, Bilton writes, release a paid product that looks and works the same across multiple devices.

Kindle DX review from Gadgeteer

I've noticed in my rounds that people are still buying Kindle DX's despite the iPad's expected release in March for the WiFi network version though the cellular-wireless 3G one is not due until June.  The interest is still there, despite the iPad's lowest-step basic model being only $11 above the DX, but I think some reasons are:

  1. The type of screen. For people interested in reading books rather than surfing tidbits on the web, many have seen the difference between an admittedly unexciting grayscale screen with sharply etched-looking text that can be read outdoors and without light shining into the eyes (it was never about "refresh rates" as a NYTimes article's quote mentioned the other day) and the laptop style LCD screen -- when having to read sequential text for prolonged periods of time.
  I'll add a link here for some photos of mine with web and PDF content in both portrait and landscape orientation.

  2. Cellphone-style wireless access to information sites, free 24/7 even if slow.  There is nothing slower than something that doesn't exist.
  The fact that with the Kindle, in the U.S., there is no extra fee for a cellular modem for the wireless, nor any monthly data charges.  And outside the U.S., there is at least free Wikipedia for Kindle International users who just want more information on what they're reading, wherever they might be (many don't have home WiFi networks).
  If you have a smart phone with web-access and monthly data plan, you won't need this for web lookups, though Wikipedia access from a book you're reading on the Kindle can be useful.

  3. Outside the U.S., Apple is not currently selling e-books from their iStore even if someone buys an iPad (and many will).   Nor have they announced they will be selling e-books internationally in March or June.  They just haven't mentioned it.  This is of importance only to people who would buy a gizmo specifically out of a desire to read e-books on it.  The iPad would still be fun, even with all the missing features and connectors.

  4. The iPad's missing pieces, as listed here.  It's dampened enthusiasm, overall, as seen in columns and comments, even in the U.S., although I think subsequent models will add those items.  As mentioned, the item will still be popular with Apple fans and people who just want to surf and do email while watching TV.  But most of us know what buying a basic lowest-rung model means - it's missing something you'll wish you had after paying quite a bit.  Apple device buyers seldom put the budget first - it's quality and capabilities that are key.

GADGETEER REVIEW
So, today I saw yet another Kindle DX review, this one actually more like a detailed report, one of the most through I've seen (I usually ignore them now, seeing DX reviews as 'old news').
  But this article will be useful for (1) DX owners who want to become more acquainted with what it can (or can't) do and (2) for people who wonder if it would really be something they'd want (or not).
  There are many photos in the review that act as guides and there are also video clips showing how to use a feature or showing how fast/slow the feature might be.
  They're silent videos but they show the steps.  The review is by "cobinrox" (whose first name is Robin) and it's well worth a read.

 While going through it, I saw that there were some questions, and some observations made by cobinrox brought other things to my mind, so I wrote a fairly lengthy comment on it.  Some parts of that might be of interest to people reading this blog, so I'll include the full comment (with links added) here:

' A lot of really good work you put into this. Probably the most thorough report on the DX that I've seen. Very helpful !

A few comments:
1. The reflection you showed. Doesn't that come from the flash on your camera when taking a picture? My DX is matte finish and doesn't show much of a reflection unless a light bulb is right over it

2. Weight of holding it, with cover
I agree. As a result I don't use the cover when reading. Also, M-Edge has a 'Platform' cover for the DX, which lets you just sit it up on your lap or on a table.  Photos of that cover in use for my smaller, 6" Kindle are at this page, and I did buy the version for the DX also.  I usually just use it at a table

3. Yes.   .mobi and .prc files do have the same viewing and annotation features as the Amazon Kindle books - it's essentially the same format but without Amazon's digital rights or book-identifying numbers on them as they are downloadable from elsewhere. So, yes, the zoom feature works on images in those also.

4. True.   mp3 files are played in the order in which you put them into the Kindle's 'music' folder.  Primitive.  But that would allow you to read an mp3-book with multiple separate chapters (or you can get a free utility to combine mp3 files and also save the combined mp3 as encoded-32k which will usually make it all smaller).

  Some say that you can put an mp3 in the 'audible' folder or in the 'documents' folder and then play it on-demand. But if you do, it'll play as foreground material and you can't read a book at the same time that way.

5. Annotations: if you haven't tried it yet, go to http://kindle.amazon.com and sign in.  You can go to the bottom left of a list and ask that ALL those for a book be shown on one page.  I've added a sample of what you'd see (from my own Amazon Kindle page.

6. Web browsing -- since [the reviewer likes] the CNN news feature, try the free download of my file with several mobile-unit-focused websites.  Go to http://bit.ly/mobiweb.  There's a guide to faster Kindle web-browsing in that section too.

7. Absolutely right re folder organization or the lack of it (though we can choose to see only Books or Personal Documents or  Subscriptions [Periodicals] -- sorted by title, author, most recent).  Kindle support has written on the forums and Facebook that they expect an update for organizational capability will be due by the summer.

8. My books that have figure boxes etc. (I have history books) -- these usually have a link.  If they do and you click on one, then you press the 'Back' button to get right back to where you were before the "link-jump" via the 5-way button.

9. When paging ahead or backwards, doing a search for a word or content you're looking for can help.  Press 'Back' button to get back to where you were after looking at the various results. I sometimes set the location numbers back or ahead.

10. No, the iPad won't be allowing multiple screens. It can't multitask at all, which is odd for a web-browser.  No listening to Pandora FM while web browsing or reading a book.  Some say the iPad music playback can't be done at the same time either but I don't know if that's true.  The iPad also doesn't have USB ports or Flash support.  [On the Kindles, you can listen to mp3s on the Kindle while reading, though it takes more battery use.]

Thanks again for this helpful page. I'll let people know about it. '

Photo credit: Gadgeteer

Macmillan hard cover books return

NY Times: Macmillan Books Return After Dispute.  Brad Stone and Motoko Rich report on the end of negotations, though it's not clear what was successfully negotiated.  

They write:

' So what did Amazon hold out for?  The company would not comment, but it is likely that Amazon demanded that no other e-book vendors, such as Apple, get preferential access to new titles, or any kind of pricing advantages.
  Amazon may also have negotiated terms into its agreement with the publisher that would allow users of Kindles or Kindle software to lend e-books to each other. '

Emphases mine.  The words 'likely' and 'may' are used to mention concessions, the concepts of which wouldn't have come from thin air.  It seems the NYTimes probably got SOME kind of word but isn't free to say so outright.

Also, while hardcover books are back, the Kindle edition copies have not shown up as of mid-Friday evening.

OTHER NEWS REPORTS - Follow links for full stories
1. Why (And How) Apple Killed The $US9.99 Ebook

' Publishers joining Apple’s iBooks store are turning their back on Amazon and its vision of the flat $US9.99 ebook. Apple forced the music industry to charge 99 US cents per song, so why are they helping publishers set their own prices?

To screw Amazon. '   [From Gizmodo.com]

2. Apple iPad Helps Publishers Get Better Price from Amazon

' Gizmodo reports that the move could mean the end of the $9.99 book.  The conventional wisdom is that publishers will set the ebook prices first proposed by Apple—from $12.99 to $14.99.  I suspect that Penguin and Simon & Schuster will follow suit and that Amazon will be forced to migrate to the agency model and match Apple pricing.'   [From beforeitsnews.com]

3. Epicenter The Business of Tech Panacea or Poison Pill:
    Who Gets to Decide About $10 E-Books?

' Hachette has become the third major publisher to publicly denounce Amazon.com’s $10 e-book model.  It joins Macmillan and HarperCollins in what seems now like the death blow to a price point that had less to do with the inherent value of the content than it did with finding a magic number readers could not resist in droves. '   [From wired.com]

It's Friday night and Len Edgerly's The Kindle Chronicles weekly podcast is up, with the final part of the 2-part interview with Forrester's James McQuivey, a vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research.
  The first part is at Len's The Reading Edge podcast, which reports on all e-readers -- this last week's podcasts being especially germane, as mentioned in the last blog entry here. Part 1 of a 2-part interview there is titled "Amazon Brings a Knife to a Mud Fight."
  In Part 2 James McQuivey also shares his thoughts on the Apple’s new iPad's place in all this as well as what the next Kindle may shape up to be.

The Apple iPad: What's missing? More to consider

I have a longer list of things that should be considered before deciding to replace the purchase of a new laptop or netbook with the Apple iPad.
Many will want to have the iPad at any rate, for what it can do, but this way they're prepared for what is missing.
Before making the iPad the main laptop, be prepared for:

1. No multitasking capability (it may come later).
2. No flash (that means no videos from Hulu, JibJab, ESPN, Disney, Netflix, etc.)
3. No webcam
4. No real keyboard for heavier writing tasks although you can get a wireless keyboard (using Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR) -- which has made some think that an all-in-one laptop might be preferable in some cases.
5. No hard drive. The base unit gets 16 gigs of solid state memory for a device advertised as making heavy use of video, so you'd not be storing many videos on it. I think most would want at least the 32-gig option, for $730, and those who could afford that will likely just choose the 64-gig one, for $830.
6. Basic file transfers require the same procedure as the iTunes syncing-transfers of iPod files via computer.
7. No SD slot
8. No ethernet connection (I used this a lot in hotels on a 3 week trip in November.)
9. NO USB port (discussed everywhere, but one person in a CNet forum explained that there is an optional SD and USB adapter for the 30-pin dock connector, which allows USB transfers. Another person said that what's included is "Just a dock to USB cable - meant to synch to other computers"
10. No drag & drop for file transfers then. As with the iPod, the iPad must be sync'd with a main computer as the primary content management system for the device.
11. The back side or bottom is not flat, as there's a hump. When you lay it down to type, it'll move some.
12. Though the ePub format is used for books, the DRM (Digital Rights Management) apparently is not via the usual Adobe method (used by Sony, Barnes & Noble (Nook), and Astak and several other ereader makers) -- it's via Apple's own proprietary method -- meaning, buyers should know that it's, like Amazon's, not compatible with other systems despite the 'ePub' label.

Also, I've seen that many haven't understood that the $499/$500 base version of the iPad does not include cellular wireless access (the type of wireless used for the Amazon Kindle's book downloads). It has only WiFi, usually on home and office networks.

The cellular network type of access will be an additional $130, plus whatever data plan is chosen, and the ones they offer are good.

However, the $15/mo. data plan, for no more than 250M of data per month, would cover mainly email needs and not video ones.
  So it's more likely most would need the $30/mo. option, which is still only half the cost of most netbook contracts with Sprint and Verizon, and the iPad does not require any term contract. What you don't use in a month is pro-rated and credited.

For comparison with the Kindles, which do have (slow) cellular wireless access to the Net (for free, and that access has been its unique feature for the last two years), the prices used should start with the iPad's $630 pricing as the base cost for cellular network access (though you can choose to go without the convenience of that form of wireless).

  Then you add the data plan you choose. That's either $180 or $360 per year, but you don't have to stay on it for a year.

Again, the $499 base price is for only WiFi access - can't use it out on the streets unless you find a hotspot with AT&T WiFi, other free hotspots, or paid access.

Internet reaction to the iPad, due to the reasons above, hasn't been entirely positive, to understate it, but a good number of people I've read on forums (including those with Kindles) do want this for its couch web browsing feature. Most do not plan to use it as an ereader for long-form book reading.

Most people discussing this on forums don't consider the iPad, at this point, an e-reader that should be compared yet with current dedicated e-readers because basic functions haven't been announced or demo'd.
  Also, it's viewed as not on a par with e-paper type displays like e-Ink, as the reading is done on a transmissive LCD display (sending light directly into your eyes) rather than the more eye-friendly reflective e-paper screen (reflecting light it gets back to you). As I've said, there's quite a difference for many, including me.  But, aesthetically speaking, the iBook app's representation of a book is otherwise beautiful.  I may get one, depending on what the coming tablets by other vendors offer.

Thoughts on the iPad from an e-book reader point of view

Besides loving to read on e-paper technology with its clarity and on the Kindle with its well-thought-out, direct reading & study features, I also love doing the Web on my 10" Samsung Netbook  (NC10-14). So the thoughts are on that also.

Re the e-reader, the Apple team was apparently given two weeks to put that together, unless I mis-read the transcript. It's made to look as if you're reading a physical book, but there were no words I saw in the live blogging transcripts (Wired, Engadget, CNet) about the e-reader functions for Searches, inline-instantly-accessible dictionary, highlighting, notes, etc.

The Amazon Kindle Store
The article last night from Engadget quoting WSJ: Apple wants e-books to be $12.99 or $14.99...for best sellers turned out to be right.

Steve Jobs wants the publishers to charge more (which is how they will get more from the deal with Jobs) than is charged at Amazon for the bestsellers (!) Then, both publishers and Apple will be happier, but what about the book-buying customers? Why would customers buy from iTunes store or iBook store rather than from Amazon in that case?

Also, if - as Jobs said - the iPad will work with all apps that currently work with the iPod (a great feature) and then the Amazon Kindlestore itself, with its lower prices for best sellers, will be available on the iPad, why would people choose to pay more at the Apple store for a best seller?

I imagine that the Apple store will offer all kinds of bonuses for buying from their store, credits to get this or that. But people tend to go for the best price, direct. Still, Apple customers are very loyal so those may go with the Apple store, but I doubt that very many would.

So, the Amazon Kindlestore would get that many more buying customers -- those who had not bought a Kindle before or who had read Kindle books only on their PCs with the free Kindle for PC app.

E-Reader Dictionary and Annotation Functions
From the photos, the iBook effect is very pretty, but I couldn't see from the photos that it will be sharp and clear in the way an e-paper display (e-Ink and others) is with a screen that's not putting light into your eyes. I guess it'll be left up to developer apps to add the searching and annotation functions? They weren't mentioned and are key.

And those who want a clear e-reader without dictionary or annotation tools can get one for about $200 with the pocketable but very readable Sony PRS-300, though it has no wireless access.

iPad vs the 6" Kindle International
More on the above when I get to Apple's decent pricing for a Web tablet -- but as pricing for an e-reader-plus, the iPad won't threaten the Kindle International ("Global") as the lead e-reader for people who want to read books comfortably (size and clarity of text on screen) at a reasonable price for both the device and the books themselves.

Every day there's a column on the Net written by a columnist who had resisted ereaders for the usual reasons (look, touch, smell) succumbing to the reading experience of the Kindle. People who love to read books are the target audience for the bulk of dedicated e-readers, rather than whose who want to surf and be visually entertained.

The DX, though, will have to be given PDF editing tools and ePub reading capability for it to be chosen in academia, not that there is editing of PDFs for the iPad at the moment either.

McGraw-Hill
We also get a clue as to why the McGraw-Hill exec was so forthcoming in that CNBC interview last night despite non-disclosure agreements normally made and respected. They weren't part of the 5 publishers highlighted today as getting with the entire program, though obviously they'll participate in some way.

iPad vs Netbooks
Some points that come to mind when Steve Jobs put down netbooks (with commenters on the live blogging sites writing back that netbooks are actually faster and more powerful than the iPad w/o a need to buy and carry add-ons to make it more worthwhile):

Jobs isn't targeting business-use laptops but I don't see that most of us who love our small but 10"-screen netbooks will want to get this, as we have 160G to 300G hard drives to store the videos he was showing and a real keyboard plus touchpad to do mousing chores. And it can do many things at once.

List of problems for the iPad vs the netbook audience it wants:
1. No multi-tasking possible
2. No flash (!) for the Web? But Jobs has been adamantly against using it.
3. 1 connection for USB port capability if you buy a special adapter
4. Storage ability not at all great for a WEB device - especially for people with laptop-use like the photographers who thought they could travel with the iPad and store their photos on it while being able to view and edit later at 64G storage, tops, at a cost of $800+.
And still photos do not begin to take the storage space of videos. Video hounds tend to want to keep many videos on at once.
5. Some commenters said it's too big for your pocket, too small for meaningful work or even play.
6. A physical keyboard means extra$ and also extra weight to carry.

For some reason, people did not expect just a giant iPod.

Pricing
The pricing, as I said, is very good for a web-device if you want one.
From the transcript:

11:22 Here are the options:
Wi-Fi only:
16GB $500
32GB $600
64GB $700

Wi-Fi + 3G:
16GB $630
32GB $740 Should be $730
64GB $830

It’ll be shipping in 60 days; 90 days for 3G models.

What's smart, and attractive, is the no-contract price of $15/mo. for 250M of data
(but it's a useless amount data for most though a few can stay under that and some will not realize they can't).

Even $30/month for unlimited cellular wireless is good because most netbooks sold on 2-year contracts with Sprint and Verizon (the netbooks are sold for $150 avg) require a $60/mo. for those 2-years for ALMOST unlimited wireless.

This part would be a coup were it not that AT&T who will provide this has been asking users not to use the wireless so much as they can't handle the capacity in a few cities. So what will they do now?

BASE price then, before add-on wireless keyboard, covers, cases, webcam (which almost all notebooks have, built in) for the 3G wireless is $630, with only 16G storage for a device that was shown doing streaming video that some will want to keep (and on their netbooks they can), and a plethora of other things.

So the most PRACTICAL starting point is really 32G at $740 $730 (the transcript is off by $10; thanks to Batman for the correction) - before the data plan is added. Kudos for the lower starting points for those who can live with the limitations on a data-gobbling device.

In the iPad's Favor
A point in the iPad's favor: Most netbooks equipped to have 3G access instead of just WiFi WILL cost $40 (ultra limited access) to $60 per month with the requirement that buyers pay this amount for 2 years. With the iPad there is no contract needed for the lower pricing of $30/mo. for 'unlimited' access (when AT&T is able to handle it).

My Take on the iPad
My take: Elegant Jack of all trades, Master of none in a lighter, but far less flexible package than a netbook. And so far I think it will suffice for e-reading for people who are not that keen on reading entire books often, but who read mainly in spurts and are interested more in newspapers and magazine reading and haven't yet bought an e-reader due to lack of interest.

Those who do want to read many books on one dedicated device but who were waiting to see what the Apple is like before buying an e-reader will look at $259 for a many-featured, efficient e-reader like the Kindle, or the Sony or even the Nook (though the Nook is currently extremely buggy in the most basic operations after update 1.11 and so inefficient that it's hard to say how it will do long-term, but readers who haven't used more direct, capable, and reliable e-readers will enjoy the Nook because it does have the best screen contrast of the e-readers, looks great and is priced well).

The Kindle-Killer hopes
For now, there is still no "Kindle-killer," as many gadgeteers like to say, where the $259 Kindle Int'l is concerned, coming as it does with free 24/7 Net access in the U.S., Japan, HongKong and Mexico for text-based lookups and with, at the least, live Wikipedia access at no cost, globally, in addition to an excellent e-paper reading experience.

The key is with long-session sequential text reading vs the random reading done with newspapers and magazines. LCD screens are not doable for most with that kind of reading focus.
I can leave this low-white-tuned desktop screen bleary-eyed, with almost blurred vision, and go read on the Kindle and then remain awake for hours caught up in the reading, with no strain on the eyes and my vision back to normal.

Amazon needs to work on the Kindle DX to make it more attractive to business and academia.
Again, ePub format support is required as is the editing of PDFs for those two target audiences.

For people like me (and there are many) I favor reading on the DX because of its extremely vivid clarity and the ability to read PDFs very well (web-info is usually offered in PDF format) while it handles illustrations in books with far better detail than the smaller e-readers. The Kindle's annotation tools and webpage support for those annotations + the design of their dictionary use are prime, and it remains to be seen how the iPad will handle these areas later as well as the effect on the eyes for any long-session reading.

That's it for now :-) Comments from others are very welcome, of course.

---

Photo Credit: Wired.com

Apple tablet to launch in February, at $800++ ?

This is an UPDATE to the last two entries about the continuing rumors about an Apple tablet or iPad.

  Earlier stories with details about the rumors & hoped-for features:
1.  Apple Tablet Challenge to Kindle Delayed, It's Said - August 19, 2009
2.  Apple Tablet announced early Sept? Yr-end release? - August 14, 2009

9to5Mac's Seth Weintraub reports yesterday that the Taiwan Economic News carried some parts information on Apple's possible Tablet.  I first saw this reported on teleread.org and the image is from the 9to5Mac story.

The Taiwan Economic News story by Steve Chuang reports that Apple will launch "its newest tablet PCs (curiously worded) next February" and that

"The tablet PC features a 9.6-inch screen, finger-touch function and built-in HSPDA (high speed download packet access) module, and adopts a P.A. SEMI processor chip and long lasting battery pack, selling for between US$799 and US$999."

That would be before any Web data-access charges.

Firms specifically mentioned include:
1.  DynaPack International Technology Corp.- "has been exclusively contracted to supply up to 300,000 units of long lasting battery packs a month."

2.  Wanshih Electronic Co., Ltd. "is expected to absorb around 70% of Apple`s orders for mini coaxial cables for the tablet PCs."

3.  "...Layers Scientific-Technics Co., Ltd. and Wintek Corp. will supply power chokes and touch panels, respectively..."

A commenter points out that the pricing seems logical because ""Without contract (monthly fees), an iPhone 3GS 32GB costs 675 € [$986 U.S.] (in Belgium."

CNNMoney/Fortune-Brainstorm Tech's Philip Elmer-DeWitt calls Steve Chuang "a reporter with a pretty good track record on the supply chain beat."

 They also include some thoughts about the parts vendors.
Reaction to the rumored price-point ($800 to $1000 is not exactly enthusiastic.