Amazon

Can the Kindle Save the L.A. Times?

October 23, 2008 by Kirk Biglione

I’ve developed something of a ~~love~~ like/hate relationship with the Los Angeles Times (LAT) over the past decade. I ~~love~~ like the LAT as a news source, but I hate the LAT as a physical product.

It’s been a long downhill slide for the physical edition of the Times since they scrapped the tabloid format Calendar section, then split that section into multiple parts. That change worked out so well they decided to make the same mistake with the Comics. If you’ve ever spent a Sunday afternoon searching for the Business section buried deep in the bowels of the auto classifieds, then you know just how bad the LAT reading experience can be. It’s like a fracking scavenger hunt.

Apparently the LAT unveiled a new design earlier this week. To which I can only say, so what? Each iteration of the paper’s physical design seems to make the news reading experience just a bit worse. Even if this new version of the Times is a huge improvement, it’s still too little too late. The days when I’ll buy a print edition of the LAT are long gone.

Walking out to the curb to pick up a soggy bundle of yesterday’s news seems like an antiquated concept. And yet, that’s exactly what I had been doing until very recently. The sad truth is that my LAT subscription remained active until just a few months ago.

Why I Won’t Miss iTunes

October 1, 2008 by Jim Connelly

So here’s the deal: The National Music Publisher’s Association has said that they want to increase the royalty rate for each legal download from $0.09 to $0.15 per song. Apple has responded by threatening to shut down iTunes.

I assume that “iTunes” means “iTunes Music Store,” and this has nothing to do the the TV Shows, Films and Applications that also go through iTunes, because, well, that would just be stupid.

I’m not here to argue the merits of what one side will say is only a six cent increase and the other side will say is a 66% increase, nor am I going to point out that this is Apple’s way of saying that if they don’t continue to get exactly what they want, they’re going to take their ball and go home.

But I will say this: if the iTunes Music Store went away tomorrow, it wouldn’t even be a blip on my radar.

Into Outer Space with Jeff Bezos

May 31, 2008 by Kirk Biglione

Yesterday at Book Expo America, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced plans to take over the publishing industry. After that, he plans to fly away to space.

The publishing industry’s reaction? Polite applause.

Bezos’ presentation was something of a coming out party for the Kindle. This is the first Book Expo since the Kindle’s release, and it was the first time that the industry as a whole has had a good look at the device.

Launched last December, the Kindle is just now becoming widely available without a long delay. Bezos was on hand to show off the Kindle, brag about early user reactions, and beat around the bush about what appears to be very promising ebook sales figures.

Naturally, book publishers love Bezos. He’s the man who figured out how to sell books on the Internet. He took the hard work out of ecommerce and provided publishers with an incredibly efficient sales channel at no cost to the industry. What’s not to love?

Amazon’s Kindle: The Price of Free EVDO and Proprietary DRM

November 19, 2007 by Kirk Biglione

I’m a minimalist by nature, which is why it’s so unfortunate that I share office space with the Booksquare lady. I live in fear that a long overdue earthquake will hit Southern California, triggering a catastrophic bookshelf collapse. When that happens, I will almost certainly be crushed to death by Kassia’s “to be read” shelves.

Nothing would make me happier than replacing every book in my life with a single digital device capable of accessing every book ever published through a high speed wireless connection. If anyone wants to see ebooks succeed, it’s me. And yet, I am deeply skeptical about Amazon’s new ebook reader.

On a superficial level, the Kindle looks almost perfect. Amazon has obviously spent a fair amount of time engineering an electronic device that affords readers something approximating an analogue reading experience, while seamlessly connecting with Amazon for book purchases on-demand (a dangerous feature that really should be accompanied by the sound of a ringing cash register).

Unfortunately, there are more than a few problems with Amazon’s initial product offering. Those problems will almost certainly limit the appeal of Kindle, making it a niche product for early adopters and gadget freaks.

How Amazon’s MP3 Store Will Challenge iTunes, and Why Steve Jobs Doesn’t Care

September 27, 2007 by Kirk Biglione

This week the long anticipated Amazon digital music store finally launched. Unlike recent efforts from the likes of Wal-Mart, Amazon’s DRM-free store could pose a substantial long-term challenge to iTunes. While that may sound like bad news for iTunes, it could prove to be a good thing for Apple.

Here’s why I think Amazon will pose a serious challenge to the iTunes music store:

Why an Amazon DRM-Free Music Store Would Be a Game-Changer

April 24, 2007 by Jim Connelly

There are stories everywhere about Amazon launching a music store, as soon as next month, that would feature unprotected downloadable music.

If true, and we should point out that the stories about Amazon launching a music download service have been around for over a year now, it would be the biggest thing in digital music since the iPod, and maybe even more important than iTunes. It would also make Kirk seem scarily prescient, as he predicted this exact thing back in January.

That’s What I Like: Amazon Prime

October 20, 2006 by Kassia Krozser

Much to my husband’s dismay, I have a book addiction. I’ve never met a book that I wasn’t eager to add to a teetering tower in my office. Since I’m a reviewer, I get more books than I can possibly read from publishers — it is rather amazing and terrifying how eager they are to send me books. Not that I’m complaining. I was one of those girls who’d rather get a book than a Barbie doll. Never could figure out what you did with one of those.

For me, though, it’s not enough to receive books by the pound from publishers — there are always books that I want — need — to purchase. I mean, what’s a girl to do when she knows she has a copy of V, but can’t quite figure out where it might be stored (yeah, the daughter of a librarian, and I can’t come up with a good storage system for my books)? Buy a new one. Thomas Pynchon isn’t complaining. It’s only embarrassing when I have to explain why I have three copies of Nora Roberts’ Carnal Innocence (let’s just say it’s a long story and I don’t come out looking good). And since some members of my family fully support the loaner book concept, it’s not like we don’t have spare copies of Snow Crash hanging around. Just in case.
[Read more…] about That’s What I Like: Amazon Prime

Unbox: High Prices, Restrictive Terms

September 11, 2006 by Kassia Krozser

Kirk’s debunking of the Amazon myths briefly discussed the prices and restrictions being imposed on consumers who use this service. Simply put, it ain’t good for the customer.

Which, I suppose, will ultimately be bad for the studios.

Amazon has perversely chosen to ignore consumers wants and needs in an effort to bow to studio concerns about piracy. The result is prices that reflect the last century — apropos, as it was pointed out that the suggested technology for linking to your television gives you a picture straight out of 1995.

Debunking A Few Amazon Unbox Myths

September 10, 2006 by Kirk Biglione

Last week Amazon launched Unbox, its long rumored video download service. In the days since its unveiling Unbox has attracted a storm of media coverage – a surprising amount of which has been misinformed and misleading. As a service to Medialoper’s readers, we will now attempt to debunk a few of the most persistent myths surrounding Amazon Unbox:

Was Google GTunes A Victim of Zune?

August 8, 2006 by Kirk Biglione

One of the most persistent media rumors of early 2006 involved Google launching a digital music service to rival Apple’s iTunes. There was a point earlier this year when it seemed as if every analyst on Wall Street was predicting that Google would be launching GTunes any day now. iTunes was clearly doomed and its days would soon be numbered.

Far be it from me to say “I told you so”, but back in April I went on record with a list of reasons why Google Music won’t matter. Now comes word that Google is going to sit out the upcoming digital music war. Instead, they’ll be partnering with MTV to insert advertising into videos that will be available on the still dismal Google Video service. No matter how Google tries to spin it, the MTV deal is a huge letdown for anyone expecting the company to make its mark on the music industry.