Apple

Wondering Whether Printed Books Will Outlast Printed Money, or Football
May 6, 2014

When you're trying to figure out what will happen in the book publishing business in the years to come, any prediction depends on how things work out that are beyond the control of the business, and sometimes well outside it. This will be increasingly the case if the book business, in what has remained a fairly lonely expectation of mine, is increasingly the domain of people who aren't publishing or selling books as a primary commercial activity, but as an adjunct or complement to some other principal objective.

U.S. Court May Consider Delay of Apple Ebooks Damages Trial
April 29, 2014

A U.S. appeals court will consider Apple Inc's request to put off a July trial to determine how much the iPad maker must pay in damages to customers in more than two dozen states over e-book price fixing.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said in a brief order on Friday that a three-judge panel will hear Apple's argument on why the trial should be put on hold while it appeals a judge's ruling that it conspired with five publishers to raise e-book prices.

The ComiXology Outrage
April 28, 2014

And so, as we could have predicted, Amazon wrecks Comixology.

What has it been, less than a month since Jeff Bezos bought the most promising tool for renewing the mass distribution of comics in the digital era? I'll give the man this: he's moved faster to undermine an existing technology for the benefit of his own company than General Motors did when it sabotaged Los Angeles's public transit Red Line for the benefit of the bus fleet they wanted to sell the City of Angels. Job well done, Jeff.

Setback for Apple Inc as US Judge Denies Move to Hold Off e-Book Antitrust Trial
April 24, 2014

A U.S. federal judge denied a bid by Apple Inc on Wednesday to hold off a trial in a case brought by state attorneys general accusing the company of conspiring with five major publishers to fix e-book prices.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in a brief order said the July 14 trial had already been postponed once and should go forward, paving the way for more than two dozen states to pursue hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

TASCHEN Releases Both Interactive And Replica Ebooks into The Apple iBooks Store
April 22, 2014

The Cologne-based publishing house of TASCHEN was established in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen who started at the early age of 18 by starting a store called TASCHEN COMICS.

The publisher is known for its eclectic releases, everything from at photography and painting, to design, fashion and film. Not surprisingly, starting in late 2012 the publisher began publishing ebooks into the Apple iBooks Store. Today, TASCHEN has 20 eBooks available and in the Apple iBooks Store, as well as two stand-alone apps.

Apple Loses Bid to Dismiss States' e-Book Antitrust Cases
April 16, 2014

Apple lost an attempt on Tuesday to get a judge to dismiss antitrust lawsuits filed by state attorneys general that accuse the tech giant of conspiring with book publishers to fix e-book prices.

US District Judge Denise Cote rejected Apple's contention that the motion should be rejected because the states lacked standing in the matter. In her 24-page opinion, Cote said that Apple presented an argument that seemed to contradict itself.

Sony’s Latest Stumble: An Overpriced e-Reader
April 15, 2014

Once again, the Japanese electronics giant has come up with a terrific piece of new technology — a breakthrough product that lots of people might want.

And then it has done its level best to strangle the product in its infancy.

A short while ago I sat down in Boston with Giovanni Mancini, director of product development at E Ink, and got an early peak at Sony’s new “Digital Paper” product. This is basically the closest anyone has yet come to a digital piece of paper.