an e-moment
here’s a tale about e-reading and the magic of the web: Daniela Elza mailed with poetic news: her first e-book (a Kindle-book) is now listed in Amazon kindle store: "The Book of It"
i followed the link to visit her book. looked at the cover. clicked cover. clicked the “sample” button on the right side, which i remembered from a while ago. nothing happened. so i went to read the description. and then went to get R.'s iPad, and opened the Kindle store that is registered there, prepared to go searching for the Book of It.
and then saw it arrive. right there on the screen. before i touched anything. “how does this work?” i wondered. well, the sample button worked after all.
and so i got curious. and returned to Amazon.com, to look for other e-books i know of. and clicked the sample-button again. so now the Kindle-frontpage comes in a colorful mix of new and old, books and samples, classic and indie.
e-reader-?s
still not sure how the whole systematic works, though. the iPad isn't mine. so what if i actually buy a book, and then at some point have an own tablet-PC - or want to visit the book via an e-reader? the connection Amazon lists is a physical one, to the delivery device, not to the user.
and a real oddity: in the German Amazon store, you can buy thousands of US books (which are plane-delivered). you can buy dozens of Kindle-related things (373 to be exact): Kindle leather case in various color, flip-bag, a reading light, etc etc. but the Kindle iself: they list all its advantages. and then tell you that you can't order it. and hand you the US link (and no, they aren't out of stock. they generally don't sell their own e-reader on their own shop-page in Germany. which might be a hint that they have very few orders (still strange). or there are legal issues. and/or they see a massive market change upcoming, with all the tablets that will launch this year).
strange, magic world of e-books and e-readers.
1 comment:
Thank you Dorothee,
It is very kind of you to include the Book of It in this selection. I think there are different excitements connected to the different formats of publishing. And different audiences.
Paper or plastic? I have already been asked by a number of people how they can get their own paper copy.
So now that is my next challenge to figure out.
We will soon get it up in iBooks.
:-)
Thanks again for you support.
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