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Google Set to Roll Out eBook Sales as Early as Next Month

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The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is planning to begin selling eBooks in late June or July of this year, creating yet another area where it will compete head-to-head with Apple, which rolled out its own iBooks application and associated iBookstore alongside the iPad in the United States last month.
Google says its new service--called Google Editions--will allow users to buy digital copies of books they discover through its book search service. It will also allow book retailers to sell Google Editions on their own sites, taking the bulk of the revenue. Google has yet to release details about pricing and which publishers are expected to participate.
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Just yesterday, Apple announced as part of a press release celebrating one million iPads sold that customers have already downloaded over 1.5 million eBooks in the 28 days since launch.

Early last month, Apple also announced that iBooks and the iBookstore will coming to the iPhone and iPod touch with iPhone OS 4 later this year. And while the iBookstore is currently limited to the United States along with the iPad, the company is working to line up deals to extend the store internationally.

Article Link: Google Set to Roll Out eBook Sales as Early as Next Month
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/05/04/google-set-to-roll-out-ebook-sales-as-early-as-next-month/
O.K now google is starting to be a very annoying company.

Is like every move they make is a copy from other PRODUCTS.
They hire "GENIUSES" to copy other companies ideas.

Name one thing google is fully credited for creating? Im not talking about improving like what the ydid with google maps or gmail.

I MEAN IN HOUSE INNOVATION/CREATION.
 
If ePub format and DRM free (one can dream!) I say YES, more option to buy books and I can import them in iTunes and sync over the iPad...
 
The publishing industry has a problem.

I come to this site every day and even I am unclear on what all these formats and readers are and which ones work with what. I sure as hell won't buy any kind of e-book right now. This feels like HDVD vs. Blu-Ray but x100. It really feels like waiting is the best option.

I can only imagine what the general public thinks. Surely this confusion is going to hurt sales. (Of course, that seems to be what many publishers want to happen, so hey, no problem!)
 
i like the apple ibook app a lot. however it currently only runs on ipads.

amazons kindle runs on kindle, macs, windows, linux, iphones, ipod touch, ipad and adroid (IIRC).

i'm just not willing to invest hundreds of dollars in a book library that runs only on one device or in the best case on devices from one manufacturer. unless apple shows a way forward that allows me to read my books on many platforms I'll go with other more open platforms. google hopefully will be cross platform.
 
Big Kahuna said:
If you're an author, and you self-publish, then this can be good news. 😎
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I agree.

I'm confused. Apple comes out with iBooks store - cheers. Googles comes out with Google Editions - Boo. Neither of the two are original ideas.

As for me, I buy eBooks from Amazon, Apple, a few Russian sites, Sony store, etc. Now I'll have even more choice.

What's the booing about?
 
Peace said:
Google is getting close to stalking Apple. Ridiculous.
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This is just another display of "innovation" by our copycat masters called Google. The worst thing is that they have evolved from a "do no evil" company to a "me too" corporation...everything they do is average, just like a jack of all trades and master of none.

GOOGLE IS DEAD. AND SO IS MS.
 
I've been following the e-book industry for some time now and all I have to say that paper books are going to be around for a long time. This is a different beast compared to say movies. Nothing beats holding a real book in your hands. And Google is going down the tubes.
 
I'm weary of jumping into the ebook market because of the fragmentation that exists due to the DRM. I don't want to be locked in to one companies offerings and I don't want to have to use separate devices/apps to access all my books. Either get rid of DRM (it doesn't work anyway) or create a universal standard that all readers can utilize.

I've been considering this jump for quite some time, and as a result I stopped purchasing physical books. Paranoia over piracy hampers sales, I'm sure others are in the same boat as I am. Honestly, pirating books seems like the best option at this point because of their efforts to prevent it.
 
Apple had zero books available to match my interests. I ended up having to go to Amazon books anyways. Not really interested in "The Life and Times of Kennedy and his Dog." or the other hundreds of other books I see in the iBook store.

Great iBook reader though.
 
BRLawyer said:
This is just another display of "innovation" by our copycat masters called Google. The worst thing is that they have evolved from a "do no evil" company to a "me too" corporation...everything they do is average, just like a jack of all trades and master of none.

GOOGLE IS DEAD. AND SO IS MS.
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You're joking, of course.

...right?
 
It's getting a little creepy with the amount of places google is sticking their fingers. I can't imagine what this company is going to look like in ten years.

2012: google auto
2015: Google buys Walmart
2018: Google buys Hawaii
 
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