[LINK] E-book wars start...

[Jan Whitaker]

At 08:13 AM 31/01/2010, Richard Chirgwin wrote:

>http://venturebeat.com/2010/01/29/macmillan-amazon-ipad/
>
> > Go to Amazon.com. Search for any publication by Macmillan, one of the
> > world's largest publishing firms. The Prince of Silicon Valley,
>  ...snip...

Update: <http://venturebeat.com/2010/01/30/amazon-macmillan/>Amazon 
temporarily removed Macmillan titles as a result of an e-book pricing 
dispute, according to The New York Times.


Now 
<http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/amazon-pulls-macmillan-books-over-e-book-price-disagreement/>The 
New York Times has an explanation. Citing an anonymous source "in the 
industry with knowledge of the dispute," The Times said the removal 
was caused by a disagreement between Macmillan and Amazon over the 
pricing of e-books on the Kindle. Amazon insists that publishers 
charge $9.99 for most e-books, while Macmillan wanted to raise the 
price to $15. So the online retailer is "expressing its strong 
disagreement by temporarily removing Macmillan books."

Meanwhile, Apple is allowing publishers to set the prices they want 
on the iPad's iBookstore. The Wall Street Journal actually 
<http://venturebeat.com/2010/01/29/steve-jobs-offstage-nerdier-more-defensive-video/>pressed 
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs on this issue at the iPad launch 
event, asking why someone would buy a $15 e-book from Apple when they 
could get the same book from Amazon for $9.99.

"The prices will be the same," Jobs said, implying that Amazon will 
eventually be forced to adopt more flexible pricing models. If The 
Times is correct, Macmillan's removal could signal the next stage in 
that battle.

Amazon and Macmillan still haven't responded to emails asking for an 
explanation.



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

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