ARCHIVE BOOK BIZ NEWS

Kindle no replacement for newspapers, study finds -The study found that, while participants did like the readability of the Kindle’s screen, most did not feel it made a good overall replacement for a newspaper.

For younger adults, the Kindle fell short when compared to their beloved smart phones, with touch screens and multiple applications—from music to surfing the Internet—available in a single small package. The e-reader felt “old” to them.

Older adults were overall more receptive to the concept of an e-reader. However, the Kindle failed to include aspects of the traditional newspaper they had grown fond of, such as comics and crossword puzzles.

Is Border US going the way of Borders UK - Adding to anxiety among publishers about the health of the book market, Borders announced on Tuesday that Ron Marshall had resigned as chief executive just a year after he took the helm of the country’s second-largest bookstore chain. Mr. Marshall, 55, joined Borders in January 2009, becoming the third person to occupy the chief executive’s seat in three years. Borders said that it had appointed Michael J. Edwards.

APPLE see big future in eBooks - pple is in secret last-minute negotiations with book publishers over a new e-books pricing scheme for its highly anticipated tablet computer, putting it in direct competition with Amazon, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.Apple wants publishers to create two new price points for e-books of best-sellers: $12.99 and $14.99, with some titles offered at $9.99, according to the report. As it does with iPhone apps, Apple is negotiating for a 30 percent take on the sales price, with publishers getting the other 70 percent, the Journal reported.

The move would put Apple in an open battle for the e-book sales crown with Amazon, which has slashed the prices of titles for its Kindle e-book reader, offering some best-sellers for free. Amazon has also announced the release of a software development kit for the Kindle, which will allow developers to build and eventually sell their own applications for the device, apparently opening a new front with Apple and its iPhone.