Novelist Richard Russo boycotts e-books. 26 June 2012Last updated at 07:47 ET Russo won the Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for his novel Empire Falls Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Russo has refused to allow his new novel to be sold as an e-book. The 62-year-old said Interventions, a collection of four volumes, is a "tribute to the printed book" and would not be made available online. The author, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2002 with Empire Falls, said he wanted to encourage people to buy from local bookstores. "Readers can't survive on e-books alone," he told the Associated Press. "The rapid rise of e-books and online sales of printed books pose threats to bookstores, the book publishing industry and the rise of new authors," he continued.
Interventions is a collaboration between Russo, his artist daughter Kate who provided its illustrations, and her husband Tom Butler who designed the collection. Each features three short stories and a novella packaged in a slip case, with a postcard-sized print of one of Kate Russo's paintings. Which is the best format for ebooks? | Ask Jack | Technology. Could you please clarify the various formats for digital books? Then I can decide which hardware to buy. I hope to avoid opting for a latter-day equivalent of Betamax.Lydia W An ebook format should offer a good reading experience, be an open standard format (or at least openly licensed), have the support of both publishers and hardware vendors, and be guaranteed to work for the foreseeable future, if not forever.
Unfortunately, there isn't one. Buying ebooks requires compromises and an act of faith. Always assume your ebooks will not last very long, so you won't be disappointed if they don't. The Wikipedia page on ebook formats lists a couple of dozen, but most can be discounted. Some formats are proprietary and may not be widely supported where you live, such as KML (the HieBook eBook format), RB, (Rocket) and WOLF (HanLin). DRM is particularly dangerous when the file has to be authenticated by an online server because the supplier can go bust or shut down the server or cut you off. Ebooks or Printed Books: Which Are Better for You?
Ever wonder which method of reading is better for you — electronic screen or printed text? The answer: There is no difference. "There are no disadvantages to reading from electronic reading devices compared with reading printed texts," according to a The study was conducted after readers in Germany became skeptical about reading from electronic devices like ereaders and tablet PCs compared to traditional printed books. Participants in the study read a variety of texts with different levels of understanding on an Amazon Kindle 3, Apple iPad and in print. Their reading behaviors and brain activity were examined using an EEG machine and eye tracking tools. The study proved that reading from an electronic device instead of print has no negative effects, contradicting the misconception from German readers. "There is no (reading) culture clash – whether it is analog or digital, reading remains the most important cultural technology," said Professor Dr. What do you think?
Via Science Daily. Microsoft Kinect 'fastest-selling device on record' 10 March 2011Last updated at 11:09 The popularity of the Kinect has helped to boost sales of games, Microsoft says Microsoft has sold more than 10 million Kinect sensor systems since launch on 4 November, and - according to Guinness World Records - is the fastest-selling consumer electronics device on record.
The sales figures outstrip those of both Apple's iPhone and iPad when launched, Guinness said. Kinect is an infrared camera add-on for Microsoft's Xbox 360 games console that allows it to track body movements. The success of Kinect has also helped to drive games sales, Microsoft said. More than 10 million games have been sold worldwide to date, it added.
Gaz Davies, editor of Guinness World Records 2011 Gamer's Edition, said: "We can confirm that no other consumer electronics device sold faster within a 60-day time span, an incredible achievement considering the strength of the sector. "
Amazon Kindle e-book downloads outsell paperbacks. 28 January 2011Last updated at 09:39 Amazon says the Kindle is its top-selling item Amazon has announced that in the US it sold more e-books for its Kindle device than it sold paperback books in the last three months of 2010. But its profit margins were down as it spent money on discounting, acquisitions and building new depots. Amazon shares fell 9% in after-hours trading as its sales were not as good as had been expected. Three month net sales passed $10bn for the first time, up 36% to $12.95bn, but analysts had predicted a higher figure. Three month net income came in at $416m (£262m), which was up 8% from the same period last year. The world's biggest online retailer's operating margin declined to 3.7% from 5% at the end of 2009 and the company warned that it would be between 2.8% and 3.8% in the first three months of 2011.
Its recent acquisitions have included Diapers.com and the DVD mail-order and streaming business Lovefilm. 'Milestone' JISC Collections - The trusted experts in negotiating, procuring, and licensing digital content for libraries. Can libraries survive in a digital world? The British Library has aspirations to digitise all of its 14m books Publishers stand accused of "nonsensical" policies on e-book lending to libraries. So, with nearly $1bn spent on e-books last year in the US alone, what does this mean for the institutions already at risk of closure? When publishers "declared war on libraries" last October - according to Luton's head of libraries - there was uproar. The Publishers' Association (PA) in the UK has agreed with the major publishing houses to restrict e-lending by either geographical location or the number of readers using an e-book at any one time.
And when HarperCollins became the first publisher to put its head above the parapet and change its conditions to the libraries, there was further anger. It believes that e-books should be given a licence for 26 uses and then this must be renewed at further - though reduced - cost. The "26-use" model was arrived at because, HarperCollins says, of the average lifespan of a physical copy in a library. Pay us for library ebook loans, say authors. Authors are calling on the government to remunerate them when their ebooks are lent from libraries, calling it "patently unjust" that digital titles are currently borrowed with no payment made to the writer. Authors are paid 6.05p every time their physical books are borrowed from the UK's public libraries, up to a maximum of £6,600, under the government-funded Public Lending Right scheme. But ebooks and audiobooks, a growing sector for library users, are not currently included in the scheme, even though the Digital Economy Act of 2010 paved the way for this to be done.
Nicola Solomon of the Society of Authors called it "terribly unfair" and said that "authors should be properly remunerated" for their work. "It's very important to understand that authors do rely on PLR – it's not just a nice little bonus. Many authors get PLR who are not bestsellers but do very well in libraries. People borrow very different books from the book they buy," she said. US - Cloud Library.