Google will start flogging digital books by July

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Het begin van het einde voor de fysieke boekwinkel?
Zal ook van prijsverschil afhangen.

Groet / Cees

Google will start flogging digital books by July
Lifeline for smaller bookshops
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1623824/google-start-flogging-digital-books-july
By Asavin Wattanajantra
Wed May 05 2010, 12:52

INTERNET SERVICES OUTFIT Google will launch its digital bookstore by the
summer, finally opening the way for e-books to live up to the hype.

Announced at a publishing industry panel in New York, Google's online
book store will at last deliver on a vision that the company has been
working on for years.

One of the major hurdles was a class action lawsuit that the Authors
Guild, the Association of American Publishers and other authors and
publishers filed against Google over copyright. That was settled last
November, leaving the way open for Google to pursue its plans for
offering digital books online.

Dubbed 'Google Editions', one of the main differences between this and
the Apple and Amazon bookstores is that Google will allow the
competition to offer their own catalogues through the service.

And according to Google's Chris Palma, users will be able to read books
using a web browser, which will mean it won't matter what e-reader
device you have.

This could be the key when it comes to getting people to take up reading
digital books, as buying an expensive e-reader or Ipad type device
simply to read books does seem expensive.

It also will mean that publishers won't have to rely on the Apple and
Amazon to sell books, and leaves it open for even small retailers to
have a digital book selling service available.

The book trade in the UK like all forms of high street retail is slowly
being eroded, but this might be the shot in the arm that it needs.

**********
Dit bericht is verzonden via de informele D66 discussielijst (D66 at nic.surfnet.nl).
Aanmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SUBSCRIBE D66 uwvoornaam uwachternaam
Afmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SIGNOFF D66
Het on-line archief is te vinden op: http://listserv.surfnet.nl/archives/d66.html
**********