Amazon has put on its war paint, pulled out its tomahawks, and declared all out war on the iPad. Since the iPad’s earlier release, Amazon has been acting irrationally, trying to keep the stranglehold it has on the market. First, it introduced the Kindle Apps, an obvious stake at one of the iPhone’s (and now, iPad’s) claim to fame. Then they made DRM optional for publishers. All of this to compete directly with the iPad and its new threat to the e-reader market.
The Price Wars
Right after the iPad was introduced, the big publishing houses approached Amazon and suggested a change in the way Kindle books are priced. Every other e-reader on the market allows for variable pricing set by the publisher, the Kindle is the only hold out, enforcing a $9.99 price for all books. Macmillan and Amazon had some heated words during the meeting, and the next day Amazon pulled every single book by Macmillan off of its virtual shelves.
The publishing industry didn’t budge. Amazon replied later in the week, saying that they would eventually place the books back online. The wording of the note Amazon posted was criticized as being unprofessional and strangely worded, and never mentioned exactly when Macmillan’s books would come back online. After this point, Amazon stayed strangely silent on the whole matter, not talking to anyone in the press, nor posting any more details online.
This, of course, was all about the Kindle versus the iPad. Amazon wants its books to be cheaper, so that it can sell more Kindles. iPad wants a level playing field. The publishers want to get the most money out of their books, and see the way the iPad handled ebook sales as more viable in the long term.
But this tactic (trying to force the Kindle prices to stay low) wasn’t the only trick Amazon had up its sleeve. It was still hiding an Ace, ready and waiting to pull it out just at the right moment. The time came when their shares had dropped because of the whole Kindle versus iPad skirmish.
Where art thou, Touchco?
That brings us to the biggest news surrounding this whole fiasco. It’s also the most troubling news for fans of e-paper and e-paper based devices. About a few weeks ago (just around the time that Amazon announced Kindle Apps) Touchco dropped off the face of the earth. Touchco was a company we covered on our site, and gave them huge props for creating what could be a revolutionary product for e-paper: dynamic, true multi-touch interface, designed to work directly with e-paper.
This item could provide the user interface that’s been missing from e-paper in the last year or so. Sure, there are some touch based devices, but they provide a glossy glare over top of the screen, getting rid of any benefit that e-paper gives them in the first place. With Touchco, you could combine some of the full-color technology from Mirasol and create a powerful, e-paper based tablet device. One that could easily rival the iPad.
Amazon Buys Touchco
Right before the introduction to the iPad, Touchco dropped off the face of the earth. Their website only gave a cryptic message about being shut down. Contacting them via email or phone provided no ready answers. This week we found out that Amazon had purchased Touchco.
At first blush this seems like grand news for the e-paper crowd. The Kindle is leading the charge into the future of e-paper based products that the public adores. It could easily compete against the iPad, if it had a touchscreen interface and color. It seemed like a match made in heaven! So why is this so troubling?
Given Amazon’s latest actions (dropping all of the books from a single publisher, insulting that same publisher on public forums, price fixing, etc) we don’t think Amazon is going to license out Touchco’s technology. They want to destroy any competition, leaving Amazon’s Kindle the only e-reader of choice.
This means that Touchco’s amazing technology will be locked into one device. A dedicated e-reader, that might eventually have some tablet like functionalities. This is bad news. Touchco and e-paper could be used for so many interesting devices! Dynamic remotes for home entertainment centers, cellphones, mp3 players, kiosk’s, the list goes on and on. All of these possible, amazing devices that could really show the public how versatile e-paper is, gone up in smoke. All because the Kindle wants to keep a stranglehold on the e-reader and e-book market.
amazon, e-paper, kindle, touchco
Do not fear the loss of touchco -
Z force would be better for e-paper anyway, as it put absolutely NOTHING on top of the screen…
you can find out more here:
http://www.neonode.com/
Why not talk about “wePad”? That is a strange thing, too.
I am a reader. I love books — the feel of books; the smell of books; the typography and bindery of books. I would have more books if they didn’t cost so much.
I’m also a writer. When I create a work, I want it to be accessible. I want people to be able to buy my book without having to hock their jewelry. I want to make a modest profit without gouging my audience.
When hand held electronic media, such as the Kindle, hit the market, I thought it justification for lower priced literature — after all, isn’t most of the high price of a physical, paper and glue, book the cost of the materials used to make it? Is there not at least one order of magnitude difference in the cost of producing an electronic book? If so, why the resistance to lower prices from Macmillan (and other publishers(?))? Can they really be THAT greedy?
I would really like to see the balance sheet for the production of a popular work of fiction. I betting that even $10 is exorbitant.
Bulk printing prices make the price of printing the book about $1 per book at the most. What you’re paying for (with a book) is everything else that goes into it.
The writing, the editing, the promotion, etc. is hte main cost, not the printing.
Good info in article, and comments, thanks.
Let me tell you what I want to see:
I want an ebook reader that will also let me read and write email and blog posts.
I don’t care about color. I just want an editor that uses some sort of epaper, not a TFT display.
Or can we get a monitor with e-ink of some sort, and let US figure out how we want to use it?!!
“iPad wants a level playing field.”
Seriously? So that’s why Apple plans to make all apps that users can use to read or view paid-for content on the iPad/iPhone platform give them 30% of each transaction come the end of June? And if the apps don’t provide a way to do that, then they are gone. That’s your idea of a level playing field?
Amazon is a corporation out to make money, and so is Apple. Amazon wants to sell Kindles, but they have actually provided lots of ways to buy and read Kindle books without a Kindle. They will, in point of fact, sell pretty much anything. Their actions in avoiding collecting sales tax are highly questionable, but you don’t mention that. However, if anyone is dedicated to preserving an exclusive hardware platform it is Apple. You can’t read iBooks on anything except an iPad or other iThing. That hasn’t been much of an issue because no one seems excited about iBooks, which may be why Apple plans to disenfranchise so many iPad apps; far from leveling the playing field, they are tilting it. Jeff Bezos may be the Attila the Hun of online retailers, but Steve Jobs is the Genghis Khan of mobile devices.