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

[LagunaSol]

Nothing beats holding a real book in your hands.

Meh. Overrated. No copy/paste. No search. No hyperlinked index. No sound/video/animations. No interaction. No easily-non-destructible annotations. Too bulky. Too heavy. Too costly to produce and ship. Too easily wrecked by kids with boogers and food. Books are no more "real" than the formats that preceded them (and are now long-forgotten).

"Nothing beats holding a real stone tablet in your hands."

"Nothing beats holding a real papyrus scroll in your hands."

"Nothing beats holding a real wood slate and charcoal in your hands."

Etc.

 

[sishaw]

If you're an author, and you self-publish, and you want to help Google make a bunch of money off your work, then this can be good news.

As folks here like to say, "fixed that for you."

 

[nuckinfutz]

You don't think Google has "expanded" their business enough?

Great video. I seriously thinking about going Google account free this year. All I need is a substantial Mobileme upgrade.

 

[bearbear]

I don't get it. What's that with Apple that makes people lose sight - I don't get it.

Why on earth would you care if "Apple is pissed off with Google"? By the way, they're both building a category - called "eBooks" market! It's good for both of them.

Agreed. Kind of disturbing, really.

 

[Moomba]

Frankly, I have zero desire to see yet another eBookstore. I just want one bookstore to rule them all be it Amazon or iBooks I don't care. I just want to be able to go to one place and get ANY book or textbook I can think of and read it. I don't want to have multiple bookstore applications or any such thing. I just want the books I want when I want them. Alas... the publishers are so focused on the past that it'll take a miracle to change their minds... or at least wait till they all die out.

 

[MRU]

Google is like Kathy Bates in Misery

Seriously though, don't they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery..

 

[DMann]

Google is like Kathy Bates in Misery

Seriously though, don't they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery..

Not when things are imitated so poorly.

 

[sishaw]

Meh. Overrated. No copy/paste. No search. No hyperlinked index. No sound/video/animations. No interaction. No easily-non-destructible annotations. Too bulky. Too heavy. Too costly to produce and ship. Too easily wrecked by kids with boogers and food. Books are no more "real" than the formats that preceded them (and are now long-forgotten).

"Nothing beats holding a real stone tablet in your hands."

"Nothing beats holding a real papyrus scroll in your hands."

"Nothing beats holding a real wood slate and charcoal in your hands."

Etc.

Actually, as slick as papyrus was, vellum was the Best.Format.Ever.

 

[ChazUK]

Odd, I thought you actually needed a product in place to have officially entered a market.

I guess to be fair you should add "Apple started dreaming up the iPhone" to the timeline, which probably still puts it ahead of Google.

They were undoubtedly dreaming up the iPhone when old Schmidt was sitting taking notes but its good to have both companies riding each others arses, making better products along the way.

 

[kenypowa]

GOOGLE IS DEAD. AND SO IS MS.

Do you have anything else to add everytime Google or MS makes the front page?

This is getting really old.

 

[50548]

You're joking, of course.

...right?

No, I am not...in fact, pretty much everything that I've said and predicted over the last 3 years has happened, even when I seem to exaggerate my claims in order to make them more "graphic"...

Google IS a copycat company that has profitted a LOT from Schmidt's presence in Apple's board...they also LOVE to benefit from other companies' R&D and market tests before taking risks and investing something themselves...other than search engines and Google Earth, Google has little to show us...they are getting much closer to the likes of Adobe and MSFT now, while distancing themselves from the "rebel" mentality spearheaded by Apple since the 70s.

 

[NikeTalk]

Umm competition anyone?!? Other companies somewhat stabilize Apple's already ridiculous prices so imagine with no competition (which all of you all are crying about). Apple's prices would truely be "unbelievable" then!!

 

[John.B]

If you're an author, and you self-publish, then this can be good news.

What?

If you're an author, Google scans your book without your permission and may try to sell it without having a contract with you in place.

 

[pondie84]

My problem is with the publishers not releasing print and electronic books at the same time. I've had a book for over a year now and its electronic release is only just reaching release in the next couple of weeks.

It makes it difficult to move completely away from paper books if they're going to delay electronic release so much. I'm happy to even pay more for new release eBooks if they're released at the same time as the print version.

 

[holmstockd]

if only...

Even if only 50% of this movie was true - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirates_of_Silicon_Valley - then we see "APPLES REBEL" mentality.

No, I am not...in fact, pretty much everything that I've said and predicted over the last 3 years has happened, even when I seem to exaggerate my claims in order to make them more "graphic"...

Google IS a copycat company that has profitted a LOT from Schmidt's presence in Apple's board...they also LOVE to benefit from other companies' R&D and market tests before taking risks and investing something themselves...other than search engines and Google Earth, Google has little to show us...they are getting much closer to the likes of Adobe and MSFT now, while distancing themselves from the "rebel" mentality spearheaded by Apple since the 70s.

 

[50548]

It's also nice to see Google crushing its face against the wall whenever it tries to do something that "seems" innovative...Google Buzz anyone?

 

[Robert M.]

I'm starting to think Google has a death wish... They're spreading themselves too thin.

 

[holmesf]

It's hard to imagine how this could be a bad thing. My biggest wish for the iPad right now is to be able to read my more obscure text books on it. Most my books for university are not available through Amazon Kindle and certainly none of them are available through the iBooks store. I even tried to find .torrents of them (keep in mind these are books I own physical copies of) and failed. The more sources for eBooks the better!

Like other posters have stated, I just hope that the books do not carry DRM (otherwise they will not get my dollar).

 

[Robert M.]

Umm competition anyone?!? Other companies somewhat stabilize Apple's already ridiculous prices so imagine with no competition (which all of you all are crying about). Apple's prices would truely be "unbelievable" then!!

I'm all for competition, but I think Google is doing too much! If all of these things fail, then they're going to lose a lot of cash...

 

[gwangung]

My problem is with the publishers not releasing print and electronic books at the same time. I've had a book for over a year now and its electronic release is only just reaching release in the next couple of weeks.

It makes it difficult to move completely away from paper books if they're going to delay electronic release so much. I'm happy to even pay more for new release eBooks if they're released at the same time as the print version.

Can't disagree. THink publishers are locked into format=price, too. I think they could look at pricing high initially, then slide it down the price-demand curve as time goes by (I think Baen does this....).

 

[ValSalva]

Meh. Overrated. No copy/paste. No search. No hyperlinked index. No sound/video/animations. No interaction. No easily-non-destructible annotations. Too bulky. Too heavy. Too costly to produce and ship. Too easily wrecked by kids with boogers and food. Books are no more "real" than the formats that preceded them (and are now long-forgotten).

"Nothing beats holding a real stone tablet in your hands."

"Nothing beats holding a real papyrus scroll in your hands."

"Nothing beats holding a real wood slate and charcoal in your hands."

Etc.

Realize it or not but books are technology. In over 1000 years book technology has been perfected. It's a mature technology that has proven itself over and over again. So it's no wonder most people prefer printed books.

eBooks have been available for only a few years. They are far, far from optimum and most people will continue to prefer printed books for years to come.

I still question the economics and environmental impact of eBooks vs. printed books. The iPad, Kindle and their ilk last about two years and end up in landfill for almost eons and poison people in 'third world' countries. Printed books can be made from recycled paper can last hundreds of years, in turn can be recycled, and are biodegradable. eBooks are overpriced as are the readers. It seems like the cost conscious and environmentally responsible choice is still printed books despite the often repeated propaganda of them being "dead tree" media.

 

[inkswamp]

WTF is going on with Google lately? It used to be when they rolled out some new product or service, I was blown away at how original and useful it was but now they seem to have settled into a pattern of Microsoft-like behavior of immediately announcing me-too products the moment Apple does something.

I'm not some Apple fanboy that immediately hates anything an Apple competitor does. I'm criticizing Google because I really miss the old Google that seemed to have an endless supply of new and interesting ideas. This new Android-era Google is just boring.

 

[LethalWolfe]

An extension to this? http://books.google.com

Seems logical to me.

You'd think so since Google has been scanning and cataloging books since '04 but apparently not everyone can see out of Apple's walled garden.

This reminds me of an old NBC slogan for summer reruns, "If you haven’t seen it, it’s new to you."


Lethal

 

[fremachuca]

lets hope us customers get the best out of all this competition.

 

[aiqw9182]

You'd think so since Google has been scanning and cataloging books since '04 but apparently not everyone can see out of Apple's walled garden.

This reminds me of an old NBC slogan for summer reruns, "If you haven’t seen it, it’s new to you."


Lethal

"Scanning and cataloguing" without permission is not the same as actually selling books. Come on, let's get real. This "Google Editions" wouldn't have existed had it not been for the iPad.