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<p> <span style="font-size:20px;font-weight:bold;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:arial;line-height:110%">OPLIN 4Cast #580: Big companies now fighting over the ebook market</span><br>
<span style="font-size:11px;font-weight:normal;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-style:italic;font-family:arial">February 7th, 2018</span></p>
<p style="text-align:justify;font-size:16px;font-family:arial;line-height:110%"><img align="left" class="m_-5954546611015785526alignleft m_-5954546611015785526size-full m_-5954546611015785526wp-image-6101" src="https://4cast.oplin.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Fotolia_189374102_XS.jpg" alt="Books coming out of an electronic device" width="130" height="94" style="padding-right:14px;padding-top:4px;padding-bottom:4px"> Like many households (<a href="https://4cast.oplin.org/?p=6770" target="_blank">but not Laura's</a>), mine got a <del>surveillance device</del> smart speaker over the holidays. I like using it to play my audiobooks, which takes a little finagling since library services like OverDrive and Hoopla aren't integrated into my device. With digital content wars heating up between Apple, Amazon, Google, and now Walmart, I hope that prices come down for libraries, and our offerings can compete with the big players.</p><ul>
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</li><li style="text-align:justify;font-size:16px;font-family:arial;line-height:110%"><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2018/01/25/walmart-apple-and-google-going-up-against-amazon-fight-readers-and-listeners-most-reading-options-co/1066359001/" target="_blank">Walmart, Apple and Google go up against Amazon in a fight for readers (and listeners)</a> [USA Today | Elizabeth Weise and Charisse Jones] "Some of the world's biggest companies are rolling out new electronic and audiobook offerings that will compete with giant Amazon for your eyes and ears, a digital tussle that could result in lower prices."</li>
<li style="text-align:justify;font-size:16px;font-family:arial;line-height:110%"><span style="font-size:1em"><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-25/apple-is-said-to-ready-revamped-e-books-push-against-amazon" target="_blank">Apple’s Getting Back Into the E-Books Fight Against Amazon</a> [Bloomberg | Mark Gurman] "The new app, due to be released in coming months, will include a simpler interface that better highlights books currently being read and a redesigned digital book store that looks more like the new App Store launched last year, according to people familiar with its development. The revamped app in testing includes a new section called Reading Now and a dedicated tab for audio books, the people said.</span><span style="font-size:1em">"</span></li>
<li style="text-align:justify;font-size:16px;font-family:arial;line-height:110%"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/25/business/walmart-ebooks-kobo-japan.html" target="_blank">Walmart Makes a Late Entry Into the E-Book Market</a> [New York Times | Michael Corkery] "But by many measures, Walmart is arriving late to the digital book party. Amazon, which built its business around book sales in its early days, has a huge head start. Beyond that, the e-book market has shown signs of fizzling, as screen-weary readers turn back to print copies."</li>
<li style="text-align:justify;font-size:16px;font-family:arial;line-height:110%"><a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/23/16921176/audiobooks-google-play-android-ios-home-speakers" target="_blank">Audiobooks are now available in Google Play for Android, iOS, and Google Home speakers</a> [The Verge | Dieter Bohn] "Google is following Apple’s iBook’s model of allowing customers to purchase audiobooks without a subscription. You can do that with Audible books as well, though Audible is pretty aggressive at pushing customers to sign up for a full subscription."</li>
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<p style="text-align:left;font-size:20px;font-family:arial;line-height:110%"><small><strong><em>From the <a href="http://ohioweblibrary.org" target="_blank">Ohio Web Library</a>:</em></strong></small><br>
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<ul> <li>Klose, Stephanie and Jason Puckett. "<a href="http://proxy.oplin.org:2054/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=125998764&site=ehost-live" target="_blank">Audio in Audio Spotlight</a>." <i>Library Journal</i>, vol. 142, no. 18, 11/1/2017, p. 28.</li> <li>Breeding, Marshall. "<a href="http://proxy.oplin.org:2054/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=123647439&site=ehost-live" target="_blank">The Complicated Story of Ebooks in Libraries</a>." <i>Computers in Libraries</i>, vol. 37, no. 5, June 2017, p. 16.</li> <li>Graham, Jed. "<a href="http://proxy.oplin.org:2054/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=125159747&site=ehost-live" target="_blank">The Amazon Monopoly Problem: Prime Time for Antitrust Action Vs. Internet Giants</a>?" <i>Investors Business Daily</i>, 14 Sept. 2017, p. 4.</li> <li>Packer, George. "<a href="http://proxy.oplin.org:2054/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=94689662&site=ehost-live" target="_blank">Cheap Words</a>." <i>New Yorker</i>, vol. 90, no. 1, 17 Feb. 2014, p. 66.</li>
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