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<span style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: bold;
color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial;
line-height: 110%;">OPLIN 4cast #378: E-reader
woes</span><br>
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<span style="font-size: 11px; font-weight:
normal; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-style:
italic; font-family: arial;">March 26th, 2014</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;font-size: 16px;
font-family: arial; line-height: 110%;"><img
alt="e-reader app icons"
src="cid:part4.03070107.00090504@oplin.org"
align="left" height="110" width="115">Libraries
should probably be happy that they are not in
the e-reader hardware business. While libraries
have plenty of issues when it comes to ebooks
themselves, at least they're not losing money
trying to sell dedicated e-reader devices, which
seems to be happening more frequently to some
big-name companies. With e-reader apps on other
computing devices taking more and more of the
market share, we're beginning to see some
consequences for the dedicated e-reader device
industry.
</p>
<div> </div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li style="text-align: justify; font-size: 16px;
font-family: arial; line-height: 110%;"><a
href="http://gigaom.com/2014/02/06/sony-exits-the-north-american-ebook-business-and-gives-its-customers-to-kobo/">Sony
exits the North American ebook business and
gives its customers to Kobo</a>
(GigaOM/Laura Hazard Owen) "In addition,
Kobo's Android app 'will be pre-loaded on
select Sony Xperia smartphones and tablets,'
according to <a
href="http://blog.sony.com/press/sony-selects-kobo-to-bring-its-world-class-ebookstore-to-sony-readers-in-the-us-and-canada/">Sony's
official announcement</a>, released in
conjunction with its quarterly earnings. [...]
The news isn't much of a surprise since Sony
had <a
href="http://gigaom.com/2013/09/27/sonys-not-even-going-to-bother-selling-its-new-e-reader-in-the-united-states/">said
last fall</a> it wouldn't bother selling its
new e-reader in North America, citing 'the
region's market changes' (i.e., competition
from Amazon and, to a lesser extent, Barnes
& Noble and Kobo)."</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; font-size: 16px;
font-family: arial; line-height: 110%;"><a
href="http://goodereader.com/blog/commentary/commentary-if-i-was-in-charge-of-the-sony-e-reader-and-reader-store">Commentary
- If I was in charge of the Sony e-reader or
Reader store</a> (Good E-Reader/Michael
Kozlowski) "When the company first started
releasing e-readers they basically had no
competition. Within four years they had
hundreds of competitors, and they were caught
unprepared for how fast the industry had grown
in the few short years. In the past, Sony
would always release three new e-readers a
year and for the last three years has only
issued one."</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; font-size: 16px;
font-family: arial; line-height: 110%;"><a
href="http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-and-nook-redo-their-agreement-no-microsoft-e-reader-in-the-works-7000027295/">Microsoft
and Nook redo their agreement; no Microsoft
e-reader in the works</a> (ZDNet/Mary Jo
Foley) "It is rather confusingly named
'Microsoft Consumer Reader.' This is <strong>not</strong>
a dedicated e-reader, I hear from my sources.
[...] Instead, I think this is just the name
for one of Microsoft's coming e-reading apps.
There seem to be at least two of these apps in
the works. The Microsoft <a
href="http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-company-meeting-more-on-rio-moorea-and-remix-7000021273/">Office
Reader app</a>, which company officials
showed off last year at an employee meeting,
will provide users with access to digital
content, PDFs and textbooks, according to
leaks. The Xbox team also is believed to be
readying a reading app. It's not clear whether
this is the same or different from the Office
Reader."</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; font-size: 16px;
font-family: arial; line-height: 110%;"><a
href="http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/02/undeterred-by-failing-nook-barnes-noble-will-launch-new-model-this-year/">Undeterred
by failing Nook, Barnes & Noble will
launch new model this year</a> (Ars
Technica/Cyrus Farivar) "Despite the fact
that Nook sales <a
href="http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/01/nook-sales-crashed-by-over-66-percent-during-2013-holiday-season/">plummeted</a>
by 66 percent during the 2013 holiday season,
struggling book retailer Barnes & Noble
isn't giving up on its e-reader. In fact, the
company will be putting <em>more</em> effort
into its e-reader in the near future. In its
latest quarterly earnings report, company CEO
Michael P. Huseby <a
href="http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/890491/000115752314000806/a50812131_ex991.htm">announced</a>
Barnes & Noble would unveil a new Nook
device in the coming months."</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;"> </div>
<p style="text-align: left; font-size: 20px;
font-family: arial; line-height: 110%;"><small><strong><em>Contrary
fact:</em></strong></small><br>
</p>
<div style="text-align: justify; font-size: 16px;
font-family: arial; line-height: 110%;">While
sales of some e-readers have been weak, the
number of adults that have dedicated e-readers
went from 24% last September to 32% after the
holidays, according to January <a
href="http://www.eweek.com/small-business/e-reader-sales-up-but-print-still-holds-a-strong-grip-pew.html">survey</a>
data.
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