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Apple is Up to Something Publishers May Not Like (www.publishingperspectives.com)
As many have already noted across the Web, there are many things not to love about the iPad: the premium pricing, lack of an upgrade path, no flash…and the list goes on and on. Surprisingly, all these perceived flaws actually make the iPad become a better platform for reading. The two keys to this are the one big button — the inability to multitask — and the lack of support for Flash video. Without the ability to instantaneously surf away from the text, it actually ends up promoting the idea of using the device to read and to focus concentration on the text.
Coming Soon: Apple’s iPublish?
Apple is, if anything, the master of keeping it simple and, very often, attractive. And this is, I believe, one of the reasons that the launch of iBooks should give pause to many publishers. Now that Apple is in the “book space” with its own branded retailer, it’s only a short leap before they become publishers themselves.
Harvard Business had already been selling their books in Kindle format on Amazon, and noticed a strong market there.The new deal with Amazon includes 117 “Short Cuts” chapters drawn from ten Harvard Business Review Press books, and organized by how long they take to read — 10 minutes or 30 minutes. They will be exclusive to Amazon’s Kindle Store for three months. List price is set at $3.95, which Amazon will discount to $3.16.
Borders Group has cut another 164 positions at with job reductions coming in its corporate headquarters and distribution centers. Cuts in its store workforce are expected soon. In the newest round of cuts, 124 corporate jobs were eliminated at Borders’ Ann Arbor headquarters and other offices with 40 coming at its warehouses and distribution centers. The downsizing is a response to poor holiday sales and the closing of 183 outlets in the Walden specialty group.
