eReaders

If you purchased an eBook in the last three years, I have some good news! There’s a shot that the publisher owes you a few cents if that title was priced according to the “agency model”. You’re rich! A whole shiny nickel just for you! According to Businessweek: States including Maryland, Ohio and Texas said they reached a $69 million settlement with three U.S. publishers over alleged price-fixing for electronic books. The agreements were made with Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers LLC and Simon & Schuster Inc., according to statements from attorneys general in states also including Colorado and Florida….

I am always on the hunt for a good book, especially during the summertime. Once on a week’s vacation to the beach I blew through 12 books! Needless to say, I try to bargain hunt for new titles. So Geoffrey Morrison’s book “Undersea”, for only .99 on Kindle, has caught my eye! Here’s the description: In a world flooded and irradiated by a nearly forgotten cataclysm generations passed, all that remains of civilization clings to life in two war-torn, city-sized submarines. For fifty years, the only peace between them has come from separation. Now, young councilwoman Ralla Gattley has uncovered…

If you listen to traditional retailers, online websites like Amazon are hurting them through what’s called “showrooming”, where the retail store becomes a place for consumers to check out items, but buy them online instead. There’s a lot of debate over the solutions (Target pulled all their Kindles, for example) but Rich Adin at The Digital Reader has the worst suggestion I have ever seen: Of course, there is no practical way to prevent such comparison shopping by consumers. A b&m retailer can fight back by no longer carrying any Amazon-branded merchandise, which is the approach Target took, but that…