Scholastic is the latest publisher to phase out downloading, meaning ebooks already purchased might become unreadableScholastic, the publisher of such children's book juggernauts as The Hunger Games and the Harry Potter series, announced recently that its Storia ebook shop would shortly be "transitioning" to a streaming model. What this means for its readers is that books they have already purchased might become unreadable. According to Scholastic's website: "The switch to streaming means that ebooks you've previously purchased may soon no longer be accessible." In one of those brilliant physical/digital metaphors that seem to sum up all of the confusion of virtual cultural objects, the site also says: "You may be able to continue using your ebooks by making sure to open them on a bookshelf at least once by 15 October."Unlike some previous depressing episodes in ebook licensing that also hit UK readers, such as Barnes & Noble's shutting-down of its ebook store Fictionwise in 2012, or Samsung's abrupt closure this year of Readers Hub, when many lost not only their books but also their notes and highlights, Scholastic is offering a year to claim refunds on lost books. Given the continued prevalence of digital rights management (DRM) software, intended to prevent digital piracy, this story is likely to continue for a while. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
All of those Amazon Kindle sales -- and, presumably, sales of competitive ebook readers from Barnes & Noble and Apple -- have made an impact at publisher Simon & Schuster. The CBS unit says Q1 digital sales doubled over the previous year, and now represent 18 percent of the company's the... Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Monday nights Sandra Boynton book event at the Barnes & Noble on Manhattans Upper East Side looked like a pretty normal book signing--normal for Boynton, the bestselling childrens book author, anyway. Toddlers and slightly older kids, some dressed in pajamas, crammed into the event space,... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-05-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barnes & Noble Inc. is stepping up their e-reader offering, upping the NOOK Color experience to rival those of tablet computers like the iPad and Motorola Xoom. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-04-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A free update is bringing the ability to install various paid and free Android apps, though only those that Barnes & Noble approves. The new software also offers improved browsing, the Froyo version of Android and support for video content within books. Even with the update, the Nook Color... Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent booksellers may have dreaded Borders's arrival in New York City in 1996, but it was Barnes & Noble that tried to keep its longtime rival out by leasing every available 40,000-sq.-ft. space on its home turf. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sitting at a table in a Barnes & Noble in St. Petersburg, Fla., T. J. Waters was signing copies of his book Hyperformance when a fan standing in line with the eBook version walked up and said, Its too bad you cant sign my Kindle. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon is dropping the price of its Kindle e-reader to $114 as it faces increasing competition from Apple, Barnes & Noble and other tablets. The new price point represents a $25 price cut on the Wi-Fi version, but it comes with one major trade-off: ads. The e-reader will be sold by Amazon,... Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barnes & Noble, through its combination of physical bookstores and bn.com, remained the largest outlet for the sale of trade books in 2010. That was one of the first findings from Bowkers annual rollup of its monthly book consumer tracking program, PubTrack Consumer. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barnes & Noble's third-quarter results for the period ended January 29 shows the dilemma faced by companies making the transition from print to digital. In the case of B&N, while its fastest growth is tied to the sale of ebooks and Nook digital readers, its most profitable business... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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By Joe Wilcox, Betanews Well, that didn't take long. One day after Apple dropped its subscription plan bomb on suspicious publishers, Google officially countered with One Pass. Google strips out the onerous restrictions Apple imposes. It's a brilliant marketing response, and aptly timed with new... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2011-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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By Joe Wilcox, Betanews Somebody call the cops -- eh, antitrust authorities. Apple's subscription plan is here, and it's as bad for many, if not most, publishers as rumored. The first of several key sentences from Apple's press announcement: "Publishers may no longer provide links in their apps... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2011-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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By Joe Wilcox, Betanews Apple's approach to magazine and newspaper subscriptions and third-party ebook sales stink of the kind of practices that got Microsoft into trouble with trustbusters on two continents during the late 1990s and early 2000s. A year ago, publishers embraced iPad as the... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2011-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While publishers and Apple haggle over the pending launch of a digital newsstand, Barnes & Noble took the opportunity to remind everyone that it not only has a functional newsstand, but it's chugging right along. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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