Sony Trademarks “Reader”

It’s nothing to get worked up over from what I can see.

Sony has been granted three trademarks on the word “reader,” all of which were granted for use with specific logos.

See the trademark filings after the break.

When I Was A Kid …

… well, I wasn’t that much of as kid. I saw the movie of Fahrenheit 451 when I was still in my teens.

On a black and white TV.

And I thought this was so cool:

I wanted a TV that big sooooo much.

Now I live in a world in which they exist.

And I won’t buy one or even take one for free.

Oh Give It Up. Steve Jobs Wins.

New Digital Publishing Venture Boasts Access To 144 Million-Plus Audience; Squires Talks

Four key goals: The venture has four key goals initially:

—Be ready for full-color devices with an application that renders publications “in beautiful form” and in “recognizable” form.

—Develop a platform that can enable that across multiple devices, operating systems and screens.

—Develop a common digital storefront where consumers can easily make purchases and get universal access on any device as they buy digital products from their publisher.

—Work with advertisers to co-develop new advertising forms that Squires expects will be more immersive with the power of digital delivery. “This has the potential to be a new and vastly important branding medium for advertisers, particularly with larger screen devices.”

Um…. this bit?

—Develop a platform that can enable that across multiple devices, operating systems and screens.

That bit is called The Internet.

Baker & Taylor has the next big thing in ebooks. Really!

If the ebook rendering and toolkit put to shame everything that has been done so far (and they do), the same is true of the retailing presentation. The virtual books look look like physical books on a shelf. They have spines. You click on one and pull it down, rotate it, open it, and flip through the pages. Unless you’re on a PC and want to look at 50 pages at once, that is.

If what I saw on Gagnon’s computer is matched in the actual platform launch, I’ll be shopping and reading on this platform on my iPhone starting immediately.

This is strangely sparse of, you know, actual technical details.

And this:

B&T’s Blio system is raising the bar for all of them by combining simple authoring tools with a delivery platform that enables enhanced editions.

What he has just described is iTunes, the iTablet, and Pages.

And this:

It won’t take long before many books, and, one would assume, all books that have large audiences will be available in something far more interesting than just a digital rendering of what appeared in print.

Yeah, well, welcome to several months ago. Glad you caught up.

But neither of these matter.

The only thing that matters is what Apple does. Period.

There are over sixty million of the iPhone and iPod Touch out there. The iTablet will sell over a million in its first year, even if it’s a whopping US$800.00.

That is the digital book platform. Nothing else.

Aside from asking, What will Apple do? The other question is, Will Apple provide a Windows-compatible digital book reading program?

Do you see how long it took Amazon to provide its desktop reader?

Apple will have iTablets to sell — just as Amazon had Kindles to sell.

Steve Jobs, again, knows how to win:

Do any of you?

Previously here:

One Step Closer To Apple Digital Books
The 7 Principles Of Apple
The Fine Print = Apple iTablet WIN!
Hybrid iPhone/Print Book Glimpse Of The Future
Apple Will Break Open The Digital Book Floodgates
Why Digital Books Will Win
ePub For Seniors
Vook Debuts Digital Books
Disney + Pixar + Marvel + Apple + iTablet
Smart Digital Books Vs. The ePub FAIL Model
He Understands Something Is Missing
English-Subtitled Editis Smart Digital Book Video
Why eInk, ePub, And eBooks Will Fail

eGether Is The Future Of Book Marketing

Leave it up to writer Moriah Jovan to have the first model pitch for a book up at eGether:

Click = big

This is what every publisher should be doing for every book out there.

I should not have to jump from site to site or deal with Twitter links.

One place with one package ready for me to see and act on.

Previously here:

eGether: What Google Wave Should Have Been
Quote: Writer Moriah Jovan

Writer Eddie Wright: Broken Bulbs

Over at eGether, I got a connection request from someone named Eddie Wright. He’s not someone I Follow on Twitter and not someone who has pinged on my brain before. I approved the request and then decided to see what I had gotten myself into.

He has a blog which commits the mortal sin of white type on a black background, shredding any eyeballs that rest upon it.

He’s written a novel called Broken Bulbs, which I kinda might have heard about in passing somewhere. So I start reading it, then copy and paste the text into WordPad so my eyeballs don’t melt.

I read the first chapter. WTF? I read the second chapter. WTF? I read the third chapter. I go on to read six freakin chapters. And I hate reading on a desktop screen.

I’ve got these words. I’ve got this nonsense. I’ve got this shit. I’ve got these things ready to pour out of me. I’ve got this vomit. I’ve got this bile. I’ve got this blood that’s ready to spill. From the gut. From the soul. Twisting, turning, tearing. From the gut and soul and balls and the brains, in that order it moves. Twisting and turning and tearing. I’ve got this pain. I’ve got this ugliness. I’ve got this beauty ready to be unleashed. I’ve got this beast. I’ve got this creature. I’ve got this man. They’re ready to fight for me. I’ve got these things. These things are ready to go. These things are ready to fly. These things are ready to run.

This book is a trip.

I then see that it’s on Smashwords. And that’s where I’d kinda heard of it before. It turns out it’s in my Smashwords library as one of those books to buy in the future.

If you’ve got a device to read this on, go buy it.

eGether: What Google Wave Should Have Been

Months ago I was asked to participate in a new site being set up. I declined. My time is already backlogged all to hell and some days I can’t keep my head above the flood of new stuff coming in.

Also, how many sites can I participate in? Can anyone participate in? I had to drop MySpace. I hate Facebook. And it’s gotten to the point where something has to be really, really special to grab me.

I thought that something would be Google Wave. When I finally got my invite from Google, I signed in — and was horrified by the mess of it. None of it made any sense. If I can’t use it immediately, if I need to get an education to use it, you can just about forget it these days.

Why should I or anyone else bother with what amounts to bad design? Why encourage that when there are others who can do it right and make all of our lives easier?

Last night I was again invited to look at the new site being set up. It was near-launch. OK, I bit.

And it’s going to change everything. What they’ve accomplished is Something Big and I really think it’s going to make a lot of lives easier and it’s something book publishing and writers especially should jump on.

More On Selling To Weakness

Making a Subscription a Source of Pride

“Engagement” is a buzzword in discussions of the survival of print media. In a world of shiny digital objects that distract readers from traditional print media, readers have to be more engrossed and invested in their uses of print, both within the print product and when they visit affiliated Web sites.

And:

By opening the opportunity to contribute to previously inaccessible projects, National Geographic increased its readers’ investment – literal and figurative – in the magazine. Both magazines and newspapers today could experiment with similar models, by having readers contribute financial resources or time to larger projects as well as adding content to digital or print editions.

I would have included this under the original post, When There’s No Strength, Sell To Weakness, but I came across it too late.

Turning something into a campaign is another way to bring together a group of people. Some people like the idea of belonging to something and sharing common goals. Hm, isn’t that also the definition of Twitter’s success?

Quote: Writer Moriah Jovan

Moriah Jovan: My Path To Self-Publishing

When I read of a person getting a publishing contract after ten or fifteen or twenty years of trying, I don’t find that a triumph of perseverance. I find it a tragedy of living one’s life in fear.

In addition to that, there’s also Electronic Publishing: an interview with Moriah Jovan, part II

And especially this: The unsung hero

Previously here:

eBook Notes For Wednesday, November 4, 2009
eBook Notes For Monday, November 2, 2009
Because.
Writer Moriah Jovan Does An eBook 101
Moriah Jovan’s Asus eReading Flirtation
FTC Wants Bloggers To Disclose: My Disclosure
Moriah Jovan: Print Has A Future
Gigabyte Touchnote: Moriah’s Next eBook Device?
The Native Beauty Of LIT
Ah, Gorgeous LIT!
Is Adobe Hindering eBooks?