TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home

Archive for August, 2005

By Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti

Moderator’s note: You can hear a just-recorded podcast of Scott Sigler’s chat with his friend Mark Jeffrey, as well as Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti’s podcast overview of her article below. Meanwhile here’s the actual EarthCore podcast. A new podcast novel from Scott Sigler, incidentally, will be on the way in September–Ancestor. – D.R.

The Scott Sigler Q&A
By Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti

Scott Sigler has done what some would consider unthinkable–or, at the very least, enviable. He has taken his e-book and podcast of his science fiction story EarthCore and, now, has received a contract deal for a p-book, as we call it. Amazon is already collecting orders.

Sigler garnered an agent in 1999 after spending two years (’96 to ‘98) writing EarthCore. Since then he has gone from the earlier e-book edition to the p-book deal, which raises some questions to those loyal in the e-book community. Regardless, Sigler makes for an interesting and honest interviewee, filling in the gaps and answering the questions that are on the tip of everyone’s tongue.

Does Sigler see any conflict between an e-book and a p-book? Has he somehow been disloyal? we wonder. Absolutely not, he says–and in fact he is working on yet another book.

Read on, and you’ll see exactly what Scott Sigler and his book phenomenon, EarthCore, are all about. Here, we find Sigler by turns creative, smart, and above all, candid. (more…)

By David Rothman

MP3 link here. Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti’s written Q&A with Scott Sigler is on the way–by tomorrow morning, Eastern Daylight.

Hear her podcasts regularly by pasting the TeleRead audio feed into your podware. And remember, she welcomes feedback.

By Branko Collin

Sony will start selling its portable game computer, the Playstation Portable (PSP) in Europe and the Middle-East on September 1. Sony had originally planned to launch in March, but postponed in order to be able to reserve more devices for American buyers.

Meanwhile, Make Blog advises existing customers not to upgrade to PSP 2.0, as all existing mods will cease to function. Not owning a PSP in either incarnation, I couldn’t tell if this version dance has an impact on folks who would like to use the PSP for reading ebooks.

Earlier posts on Teleread discussed how to use the PSP for reading comics, for reading ebooks (specifically Cory Doctorow’s Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town) and what small generic ebook reading devices should be like in general.

By Branko Collin

The Escapist is a magazine about computer game playing and development that is published electronically (as PDF or HTML). It is atrociously formatted (the HTML does not fit my screen and does not scale, the PDF refuses to print), but its articles shine. It is published weekly, and seems to be no older than a couple of months, though ‘everybody’ is quoting from it like it has been around and established for a while now.

From the editor’s note: “This issue of The Escapist, “Dungeons and Dollars,” allows our writers to explore the various aspects of the economics of games. Greg Costikyan speaks to the serious issues facing the development community presented by the current structure of the production process. Mark Wallace delves into virtual commerce and why virtual is perhaps not the best term to describe it.”

By Roger Sperberg

Both Internet Tablet Talk and Postneo 2.0 reported this morning that the Nokia 770 had received its FCC approval. itT said “Expect the availability of the Nokia 770 any day now!” Both sites included a link to the application documents, including the 770’s user manual for those who read manuals when they can’t get their hands on the actual device yet.

By Roger Sperberg

In the Library of the Future, you won’t need any buildings to get your information or entertainment–it’ll be at your fingertips wherever you are. Your e-reader may even look like a book.

We invite readers to submit photos and ideas about what the Library of the Future will be like. Photos must be yours or be authorized by the photographer, whom we’ll happily identify. My contact info is here.

Photo by Daniel K. Gebhart, www.fotex.at. Used by permission.

By David Rothman

“The copyright holders are on the wrong side of history. Thanks to Google and to the many advances of the digital age, the whole rotten edifice will come tumbling down. The sooner the better.” – Graeme Philipson in the Sydney Morning Herald, via LISNews.

By David Rothman

Details from EContent Magazine. Excerpt:

OverDrive provides its own CD-burning software. But while the list of supported portable mp3 devices contains 500 different brand names, it is remarkable that the ubiquitous iPod, arguably the most popular mp3 device out there, is conspicuously absent. [NYPL publicist Tim] Farrell calls the Apple/Microsoft incompatibility “unfortunate,” but doesn’t see it as having a negative impact on the program’s success—in the first week alone, 85% of eAudio holdings were loaned. Steve Potash, president of OverDrive, Inc., agreed, citing the fact that the eAudio demographic—typically users in their mid-40s—isn’t the same for iPods. Says Potash, “According to our surveys, approximately one-third of users listen to the files on PCs, one-third download them to mp3 players, and one-third burn them to CDs . . . people want to download and listen in their car.”

By David Rothman

“If a standards war breaks out, the loser could be everybody. Without standards, we may not have an e-book industry.” – Then-Microsoft exec Dick Brass speaking to Wired in 1998.

Actually Dick was close to right. Domestic e-book sales are in the tens of millions, a speck of the tens of billions that p-books sell. OpenReader, anyone? Later this week I’ll do that essay on how Microsoft could honor Dick’s vision–and how OpenReader could benefit Adobe and other companies along with Microsoft.

By David Rothman

Details from Boing Boing. Also see CNET.

Yes, Adobe’s PDF-related software in its present form is hell on many e-book buyers, but I see some real opportunities for the company if Microsoft continues on its present path and if Adobe will change. Via Windows Vista, Microsoft is sucking up to Hollywood and at the same time trying to lock customers forever into its DRM, not merely Windows alone. Do hi-def video fans really want to buy new monitors just to please the the DRM-crazed MPAA and help Bill G’s cashflow? Voila! An opportunity for a powerful Microsoft competitor to gear up on the operating system front!

So maybe it’s time for a giant like Adobe to do something radical and collaborate with the open source community and perhaps Sun not just on text- and Web-related software but also in the OS area. Would Sun’s existing arrangements with Microsoft get in the way? I don’t know. But Adobe would do well to check out the partnering opportunities there and at other companies, such as Rat Hat or even little Linspire. One might even be acquisitions fodder. So, in the apps area, might Corel. (more…)

By David Rothman

Details from P2P.net.

By Roger Sperberg

In publishing, people are still trying to make the old business models work. In an era of electronicity that just doesn’t work.

What about the Gizmondo model? It’s the new handheld game machine that has camera, GPS receiver, surfing, music player, IM, and so on. (It’s released in the U.K., coming in October to the U.S.) It sells for two prices — $233 and $414 right now. With the lower-priced model, according to Eric A. Taub in The New York Times, “up to three short full-motion commercials will be sent to Gizmondo users each day. The commercials will not interrupt any other activity, but when they play, the unit cannot be turned off.”

Every e-reading device will be capable of playing video and will access the internet. Maybe publishers should think like the networks and use books to gather audiences that they sell to advertisers. Then who would worry about “piracy”?

By David Rothman

So, will e-books eventually enter the mix? Meanwhile this could be Good News for audio books. (Via New York Times.)

By David Rothman

Details from the Inquirer via Robert Webber. Also spotted in the Webber blog: Vendors are keeping too many rights, by Dan Gillmor.

By David Rothman

The deadline: 12 a.m. PST, Wednesday. Go to Download.com. “Simply e-mail registerme@opera.com to obtain a registration code.” Normal price for adless desktop Opera 8: $39. (Found at KnowProseSE and Digg.)

By David Rothman

…the Samsung X1 might be one way to go, weighing just 3.75 pounds despite a 14-inch screen.

My own preference for e-books would be a tablet or PDA. But each to his/her own. E-books aren’t the only reason for buying portables, and the big screen might appeal to some, especially on such a light machine. Fourteen inches would be on the large side for e-books, of course. But double-column software like yBook could help address that issue. (Via Chip Chick.)

By David Rothman

I’ve kicked Adobe, Microsoft and the others around–pointing out the problems with PDF and the rest. Now, how could those companies thrive with an OpenReader alternative? I’ll be doing an essay in the next day or so and also pointing to a rather clueful blog coming right from the belly of the beast at Adobe (yes, there is some hope there). Robert Scoble, you’ve met your match in the Reaching Out Department.