Kindle News 10/25/11 - UPDATE - 39 free Kindle books Tuesday. Also, Kindle Fire, Amazon customer service, Steve Jobs's cancer.

KINDLE FIRE SELLING FASTER THAN EXPECTED BY J.P. MORGAN

Mobile Entertainment's Zen Terrelonge writes today that J.P. Morgan is "eating its words" that the Kindle Fire wouldn't do well relative to the iPad, and the financial services firm's hardware team now projects that Amazon will move 4.5 to 5 million devices in the 4th quarter.

  This is based on checks of supply chains that show production on this model has increased due to a large number of pre-orders and vendors reporting "an abundance of rush orders over the past fortnight."

  Douglas Anmuth, an internet analyst there who monitors Amazon, anticipates several models in 2012, including 7" and 10" devices with 3G and WiFi.

  One J.P. analyst disagreed saying the tablet is under-featured, something that was said about the iPad last year too.  Consumers seem to have different requirements from those with a largely technical focus, from what has been seen in pre-orders.  Other articles have explained that the minimum iPad cost of $500 has been more than some want to spend, and some want a smaller, maybe more personal style tablet for web browsing and email.

  Considering the streaming media content that Amazon offers (12,000 streamig-videos, including more current PBS ones, that come with Amazon's Prime package of free two-day shipping on most products for $79/yr ($6.58/mo.), it's not a surprise that this new, smaller tablet is doing so well on pre-orders.

  Amazon currently has over 100,000 movies and tv shows at a time that Netflix has lost about 800,000 subscribers due to their pricing decisions.  Despite better earnings than expected, Netflix stock plunged.  I'm a fan of Netflix's streaming video library, though, which works well through my Comcast.  At least we have several options these days.


Amazon expected to to show a profit dip this quarter due to low margins (if any) on the Kindle Fire
Slashgear's Chris Davies reports that some believe Amazon is taking a loss on the Kindle Fire, relying instead on resulting digital media sales to be enjoyed on the tablet.

Geeky-gadgets's Roland Hutchinson writes that Google's Andy Rubin has said there were around 6 million Android tablets out there, so if Amazon sells as many the next quarter as most analysts are expecting, the Kindle Fire would be the most popular Android tablet released so far.

  In the meantime ViewSonic will launch the 7" ViewPad 7e tablet soon, with several more features but an inferior display (800x600) and touchscreen ("resistive").  While Amazon should welcome the release of more tablets that can access their content, I imagine they'll be customizing (beyond the special accelerating features of the Silk browser on the Fire) content for their own tablet.


Reviews of Steve Jobs book by Walter Isaacson (Fixed link)
SecondAct's Patrick J. Kiger has a good summary round-up of reviews of Isaacson's book, which Amazon thinks could be the year's bestseller.

A couple of observations from the roundup:
  His summary of NY Times critic Janet Maslin ends,"Isaacson also explains that Jobs' mean streak, unpleasant as it was, also helped drive Apple to its phenomenal success."

  Salon's Mary Elizabeth Williams focuses, he writes, on Jobs's controversial decision of postponing conventional medical treatment for a tumor in 2003.  As a cancer survivor, who knows how unpredictable cancer can be (and how unnecessarily destructive some treatments), I noted her sensible, "Jobs lived eight years after his initial diagnosis.  Anyone with experience of cancer will tell you that five is considered a relative triumph."

  I've known many who obeyed all the doctors' recommendations, and even when after the requisite operations their lymph nodes were diagnosed to be free of spread beyond the local area and they were announced to be cancer free, they were given chemo for 'prevention' and were dead in a few months to two years.  Others fare well.  It's just not utterly predictable as has been presented by too many about Jobs' cancer.

  I think people should get off his case, post mortem, for his personal decision though of course he would wonder what would have happened had he had the operation.  Not only did he survive 8 years with the less aggressive form of pancreatic cancer, he led a quite productive life during those 8 years.


CBS News story on Amazon's good customer service noted on Reddit (Link fixed)
CBS News's Chenda Ngak writes about a Reddit thread and Ngak's own experience with customer service.  I've posted a link to a recent customer support forum thread on the Kindle forums.


Tuesday's free Kindle books
UPDATED on Wednesday to show each book link for Tuesday, since most will stay free for a few days.  These will be shown on the 'next' page showing "More", so that those wanting to go through the details can do so by: clicking on "MORE" just below)
*****

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The usual TEMPORARILY-Free Books:  Alerts from the Amazon Kindle forums - via the tireless "Happy Reader" Joyce, who is ever on the lookout on behalf of forum members.

  NOTE: The alerts are quoted from Joyce's collecting of mostly temporarily-free books.  They're *not* recommendations by anyone but are a popular, unfiltered daily set of forum release-alerts by Joyce, logged here for those who don't or can't make it to the forums.  The eBooks usually become no longer free within days, sometimes, within hours.  Thanks to Joyce for gathering and organizing them for us.

' Happy Reader "Joyce" says:

Sweet Ophelia (A Romantic Comedy)
Author: Kenneth Rosenberg
Genre: Contemporary Fiction

DESCRIPTION: Warren August is down and out in Hollywood, flat broke and living on the streets. When he stumbles onto a movie set in search of food, he sets in motion a chain of events that could finally turn his life around. He might even have a chance to win back his beloved Ophelia. Sweet, sweet Ophelia, who broke his heart three years before. But can he hold it together long enough to redeem himself? And will she ever take him back? This novel is a clean romantic comedy about discovering what true love really means. Formerlytitled "Sweet Ophelia and the Tinseltown Blues."

*****

Shedding Skin
Author: Robert Ward
Genre: Contemporary Fiction

DESCRIPTION: "A tour of the 1950s and 1960s recounts the author's coming-of-age experiences in a period torn between idealism and despair, chronicling his journey between Baltimore and Haight-Ashbury and his witness to the historical events of the time.This classic novel, the 1972 winner of a National Endowment for the Arts Award, turns, providing an essential companion piece to The King of Cards. Illuminated by the author's personal experiences, this authentic coming-of-age novel presents a cavalcade of memorable characters and adventures.A tour of the 1950s and 1960s recounts the author's coming-of-age experiences in a period torn between idealism and despair, chronicling his journey between Baltimore and Haight-Ashbury and his witness to the historical events of the time.
This classic novel, the 1972 winner of a National Endowment for the Arts Award, turns, providing an essential companion piece to The King of Cards. Illuminated by the author's personal experiences, this authentic coming-of-age novel presents a cavalcade of memorable characters and adventures."

*****

A Wee Christmas Homicide (Liss MacCrimmon Mystery)
Author: Kaitlyn Dunnett
Genre: Women's Sleuths

DESCRIPTION: Using Tiny Teddies, highly collectible bears, to launch a Twelve Days of Christmas marketing ploy should be a totally benign means of attracting customers for the business owners of Moosetookalook, Maine, but Liss MacCrimmon's brainchild brings in a frenzy of bear hunters-and a crazed killer-in Dunnett's lively, clean-as-a-whistle third cozy to feature the co-owner of the Scottish Emporium (after 2008's Scone Cold Dead). When the supply of Tiny Teddies wanes, Liss is approached with an offer of a new batch of these impossible-to-acquire fur balls. Knowing to steer clear of anything illegally transported from Canada, Liss declines, apparently unlike Gavin Thorne, proprietor of the Toy Box. Thorne's demise soon follows an unknown assailant's shooting an overpriced bear to stuffings. Dunnett (the pseudonym of Kathy Lynn Emerson, author of the Lady Susanna Appleton historical series) stirs smugglers, lovers and thieves into a healthy helping of foul play.

***** [22 more]

The Bow of Heaven - Book I: The Other Alexander

Library Mashups: Exploring New Ways to Deliver Library Data

Going to Jackson

A King in a Court of Fools

Iron Rain

Abyss

Zero Sum Book 1 - Kotov Syndrome

The Woman Event

Stingray (Vince and Cat Next Generation)

Nightmares

Wild & Steamy

LORD OF MY DREAMS

The Source (The VooDoo Follies)

Grayson House

Call Me Ishmael

The Avatar Path: The Way We Came

When the Walls Fell (Out of Time)

Claim Me (Erotica An erotic menage suspense novel)

Harvest Moon

Pollywogs & Watermoccasins

The R Factor: At First Glance

Haunted Ground: Ghost Photos from the Gettysburg Battlefield

***** [14 more]

THE ACCIDENTAL EXORCIST

Knowing the Truth About Salvation

My Only Regret

Ten Tales of Spotty Ruin (Ten Tales Series)

The Kult (A Prosper Snow novel, Book 1)

Gullhanger - Or How I Learned To Love Brighton & Hove Albion

Hollowland (The Hollows, #1)

Out of Time: A Time Travel novel

Unsaid Words of My Life

Siren

Three books of occult Philosophy or Magic

Exploring the Nicene Creed

Air (A Novelette) (Elements of the Undead)

The Viscount and the Witch, short story (The Riyria Chronicles) '


[These were from Joyce's free-books alerts Tuesday in the forums, Morning - 3;   More - 22 more; Late afternoon - 14 more.][

To: Kindle-Edition Subscribers:
A favor:  Let me know, if you care about it, at andrys [at] panix.com, whether you prefer to have the individual book-link listings on the Kindle or whether they're not usable and you'd rather not see them.
  You can actually click through the log of Joyce's links via the Kindle, click on the Zoom box if needed to read the Amazon page better.  Thanks for any feedback.



  Tuesday's Kindle Daily Deal was

Carry Yourself Back to Me, by Deborah Reed, 24 customer reviews, 4.5 stars

Kindle Daily Deal - (Changes at midnight, Click for latest)
  Monday's price: $7.99; Tuesday's discount: $6.00
  Kindle Daily Deal Price: $1.99 (75% off)

"In her first literary novel, Reed (who writes suspense fiction under the penname Audrey Braun) triumphs with this thoughtful, graceful story of singer/songwriter Annie Walsh." --Publishers Weekly




Kindle Touch 3G   Kindle Touch WiFi   Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Amazon Prime adds PBS day-after-broadcast videos + FoxTV shows. Two unusual memories of Steve Jobs. Kindle Daily Deal 10/19

Amazon adds NEW content to PRIME from PBS and others.

 There's an announcement on the main store page today, which I'll quote here, in part.

' ... We have more good news for Amazon Prime members – Prime Instant Video is growing again.  We've now licensed TV programs from PBS including day-after broadcast shows like Frontline and NOVA, more than 1,000 episodes of shows like Masterpiece, Antiques Roadshow, and popular Ken Burns documentaries The Civil War, Baseball, Jazz, and, for a limited time, the first episode of Prohibition.  PBS joins recently announced FOX television shows 24, Arrested Development, The X-Files, Ally McBeal, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and The Wonder Years. '

  They'll be adding Malcolm in the Middle, King of the Hill, and episodes from Julia Child's classic cooking series, The French Chef, and will continue to add new Prime Instant Video titles.  Prime membership remains $79 a year and includes free two-day shipping on "millions of items" (almost anything that's shipped from their own warehouses).

  Basically, all these added videos will be streamable at no added cost for those on a Prime membership.  The Amazon Fire will be one way to view them on an affordable portable device.



Kindle Daily Deal (Often U.S. only, unfortunately) (The Daily Deal link above changes at MIDNIGHT each day.
      Click it to see what the daily deal book is, at any time.)
Death and the Lit Chick (A St. Just Mystery), by G.M. Malliet, 17 customer reviews, 4.3 stars
    Daily Deal until the end of Wednesday 10/19:
      Tuesday's Price: $9.19
      Wednesday's Discount: $7.20
      Wednesday's Daily Deal Price: $1.99 (78% off)

The Amazon editor who wrote this did an especially good job:
  "A sure-fire hit for old-school mystery fans, Death and the Lit Chick tracks Detective Chief Inspector St. Just's flustering murder investigation in a castle full of cagey mystery connoisseurs who live and breathe malicious murder and artful alibis."

  From a review: "...We are treated to an old-fashioned Agatha Christie-style mystery in which all the suspects are gathered under one roof.  Lots of humor and a bit of "guess who this writer is" make this one a good choice for readers who enjoy intelligent cozies and traditional mysteries. --School Library Journal


BOOKENDS: TWO ESPECIALLY INTERESTING MEMORIES OF STEVE JOBS
With the book on Steve Jobs by Isaacson generating much interest, with articles that don't indicate an unnaturally hagiographic focus for a very complex man, I enjoyed reading today a set of memories in two parts by international photographer, Jeffrey Aaronson, who was assigned by Newsweek to photograph young Jobs when they were both 29 and Jobs was not generally keen to be photographed.

Part 1 (Link: bit.ly/sj-1 ) and Part 2 (Link: bit.ly/sj-2 ), by Becky Green Aaronson.

  The other was a short piece by Christopher Hynes, who recounts a sweetly ironic moment a couple of months ago (Link: bit.ly/sj-3 ), and commenters to the article hope that staff is able to find the family who had no idea who it was that did them that small favor.


Kindle Touch 3G   Kindle Touch WiFi   Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

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For daily free ebooks, check the following links:

Temporarily-free books - Non-classics USA: by:    Publication Date   Late-listed    Bestselling   High-ratings UK: PubDate   Popular What is 3G? and "WiFi"?       Battery Care Highly-rated under $1,  Newest: $1-$2, $2-$3

Most Popular Free K-Books U.S. & Int'l (NOT UK):    Top 100 free UK-Only:    Top 100 free USEFUL for your Kindle (U.S. only, currently):   99c Notepad 1.1,   99c Calculator,   99c Calendar,   99c Converter

Kindle News: Kindle Basic is #2 at Amazon, Kindle app for iDevices adds more foreign-language support , Steve Jobs bio and a comic book due early, Barnes & Noble vs DC Comics

The basic e-Ink Kindle is now #2 in Amazon's top seller rankings

Daily News Corner's Mark Schnitzler notes that Amazon has just had "another incredibly successful week," with the entry-level $79 Kindle Basic now in the #2 spot in top seller ratings, just behind the recently announced Kindle Fire tablet, which doesn't ship until November 15.

The "Basic" model, shipping since the announcements, with no physical keyboard (saving space and weight on the unit) but also without a touchscreen, is the smallest and lightest Kindle.

  Although Kindle Basic has half the storage capability of the older Kindles, customers report that the faster processor makes a difference in speed.  Those who don't do word searches and who don't type notes while reading won't miss the keyboard or mind as much the pick-a-letter type of keyboard-diagram used to enter a word.  But others should, in my mind, pay $20 and choose the Kindle Touch, which has a virtual QWERTY keyboard and also has audio and twice the capacity of the Basic model.  The $79 and $99 prices are for the more economical models that come with "Special Offers" and ads on screensavers that appear when the Kindle isn't being read.

Kindle for iPad and for iPhone/iPod-Touch apps support new languages
GoodEReader's Michael Kozlowsky reports that the Kindle app for iPad and for iPhone/iPod-Touch now support French, Spanish, Italian, and Brazilian Portuguese.

 Amazon just opened a KindleStore in France and, about two months ago, opened one in Germany.

  The app update includes "new page turn animations on both the iPad and iPhone" -- the feature can be turned on at the Settings page on tghe app. There are also some brightness-setting adjustments.

Release Date for the Authorized biography of Steve Jobs
A Reuters story in The Vancouver sun notes that, no surprise, Simon & Schuster has pushed up the release date for the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson, from Nov. 21 to Oct. 24.

It's being called "the authorized biography" in that he authorized his friends and family to speak to the author and didn't require a look at the draft nor his own authorization of what would be written.  There were no conditions set, and Jobs gave Isaacson a very personal interview very recently, in hopes, he said that his children might come to know him better, as he'd not spent as much time with them as he'd like.  Walter Isaacson was the managing editor of Time magazine and current chief executive of the Aspen Institute.  The coming book is already the No. 1 bestseller on Amazon's customer purchase list.

Comic books and Steve Jobs
  Reuters adds that there's also a 32-page comic titled Steve Jobs: Founder of Apple, which became available for purchase on Kindle and Nook reading devices October 6.  The company releasing the special edition e-book of the 32-page comic is Bluewater Productions, which "has pledged a portion of the profits from both issues... [the expanded print edition comic book is due for release at the end of October] to the American Cancer Society."

  PC World had an "exclusive look" at the print version of the comic book biography, in June, with images photographed which were not filled in with color at the time.  "...Both sides of this complex personality are examined," claims the blurb on Bluewater's website.  An earlier bio in comic form profiling Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg "sold-out almost right away."  Amazon's pages show that an expanded print version of the Jobs book is due later.
 Caveat: A commenter at the site says Bluewater's bio-comics are generally rewrites of information from Wikipedia articles and says he doesn't expect any insight from them.

Amazon's Exclusive Arrangement with DC Comics irritates Barnes and Noble
A volunteer contributor to ComicBookMovie.com reports that DC Comics' plan for 100 titles exclusively on the Amazon Kindle Fire has outraged Barnes & Noble.  BN says that B&N shoppers can order the print titles through the BN website.  At the stores you can order a copy to be delivered to your home, the writer adds, but if you bring in a copy of one of those titles, you'll be asked to leave.  (That's hard to believe.)

 The story there is a bit disorganized.  The writer has added, in yellow highlight, that after it was announced that the Kindle Fire will come with 100 DC Comics backlist titles of comic books and graphic novels pre-installed, B&N "pulled all of the print editions of every title off its store shelves."
  How long they'll be gone is not known.

' “We will not stock physical books in our stores if we are not offered the available digital format,” chief merchant for B&N Jaime Carey said in a statement.  “To sell and promote the physical book in our store showrooms and not have the ebook available for sale would undermine our promise to Barnes & Noble customers to make available any book, anywhere, anytime.”

  While there has been talk that the digital deal with Amazon is set only for a four-month time period beginning with the Kindle Fire’s launch, and while Barnes&Noble has only pulled the book from physical locations as opposed to removing it from its website and special orders catalogs, the end result is that digital DC Comics' fans will have to get these [e-titles] through Amazon, remembering that an iOS device with the free Kindle app will also pick up those titles from the Kindle Store. '

  You can see DC Comics' response to that statement at the linked story..

  Engadget's commenters take up much more space than Engadget's take on this story.
  Tom's Guide's Ross A. Lincoln writes: "...a signal [B&N] are willing to shoot themselves in the foot to spite a competitor is kind of disturbing.  It might be a signal that, in the wake of the collapse of Borders, Barnes & Nobles is looking to flex their virtual monopoly muscles.  Consumers, and Batman fans beware."


Kindle Touch 3G   Kindle Touch WiFi   Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Steve Jobs, 1955-2011 Advice to those "New" before clearing the "Old"

The first photo is by Aaron Miletich taken Oct 5, early morning, at Apple campus.  The second one, at Pixar, is by gromitgirl / Maryann, taken with her iPhone, "Moments after news broke..."

   Steve Jobs' Greatest Achievements

Steve Jobs Through the Years

Storify's Honoring a legend

The Apple I, 1976, built with Steve Wozniak and also industry vet Ronald Wayne, there for "adult supervision."

That first Apple, by the way was $666.66, and those buying one still had to provide their own keyboard, monitor and power supply :-).

Two of the stories are from Wired.com, which, at the main site URL tonight, has a special, striking screen for this story as does the Apple site memorium page, with no gadget images in sight, and just the words about a life that had been the foundation of that company and which has had such an effect on much of the world.  It's not just materialism, as some will say - it's what can be done with technology, and there's something to be said for creating products that have brought so much good feeling to those who use them, much of it educational and yet fun.  I saw tweets from tcarmody of Wired and from LoveThatMax that their children use devices invented by Steve Jobs to communicate, to "talk" as Carmody put it -- apps on the iPod Touch and iPad.

I first heard the news at the end of a local ABC Channel 7 news segment, delivered in conversational tones, with an almost question-mark delivery as if maybe it wasn't so, and although the world knew he had resigned because he felt 'the time had come,' the actual end of his life struck me as impossible, probably because of the force of his energy.  The will to excellence and beauty in design and function seemed more a generalized drive that couldn't be stopped just like that.

  Although I wasn't a fan of some of his ways with normally imperfect people or rival companies, I admired all that he'd accomplished.  He really was so much larger than life as the cliche goes, that I found myself really shocked that he suddenly could just not "be" anymore.  That's what I mean by an impossibility.  It really got to me.

As for his drive toward quality and doing what you love, making the best of the short time we all have here, I first saw, at Wired, some of the words from his Commencement Speech to Stanford graduates in 2005 and then saw TV coverage on it, and after that, Nick Bilton's well-chosen passages from the speech, on a special webpage with that amazing monochrome image of Jobs.   I'm putting some excerpts here, adding a few from the transcript, and here is a link to the video of that speech.

' ...I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.  The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything.  It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
. . .
Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick.  Don't lose faith.  I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.  You've got to find what you love.  And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers.  Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.  And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.

[On Death]
. . . . Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.  You are already naked.  There is no reason not to follow your heart.
. . .
No one wants to die.  Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there.  And yet death is the destination we all share.  No one has ever escaped it.

And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life.  It is Life's change agent.  It clears out the old to make way for the new.

Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.  Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.  Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking.  Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.  And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.  They somehow already know what you truly want to become.  Everything else is secondary.'

I also enjoyed some interesting visual reminders, from Mike Cane's site, of why Jobs made such an impact, with some "firsts."

  And I thought Cane's quote from George Bernard Shaw summed it up well:

' The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.  Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. '

Kindle News, 8/25/11 - Kindles in Libraries, Steve Jobs Steps Down - reactions

More and more libraries are loaning out e-readers, and in the case of a local library in Idaho, The Snake River School Community Library, they've ordered 15 Amazon Kindles (UK: K3) for use by the general public or students.  There's a newsclip on this at the article.

The library's director, Sherrilynn Bair, explains that students will be using electronic devices in their classrooms and this will give them a jump start on that.

As with other libraries that have been loaning Kindles, most students are on waiting lists, as they're a big hit, Bair says.

  Moreover, "The Idaho Falls Library is in contract discussions with digital book distributor Overdrive to provide free online checkouts, compatible with any and all devices."  The library hopes to have something in place by Oct-Nov.

  We've been waiting for the Kindle to be involved with public library lending.  Amazon and Overdrive have been working together to make it possible for Kindle books to be loaned, soon, from public libraries, with Amazon delivering the e-books after check-out and making it possible for borrowers to make highlights and notes which will be backed-up (as is done for Kindle owners who don't opt out of the feature) to their private, password-protected annotation webpages on the Amazon servers (not visible to other borrowers, of course).  Here's an example.

  While public-library Kindle-book lending was promised by the "end of the year," there have been hints that the Overdrive/Amazon Kindle-book public library loan program may be ready to go by September-October but there's no hard info to go on.  What has been definite is that the deliveries will be what Kindle users are accustomed to -- wireless downloads with no need for a computer.


Steve Jobs steps down as CEO of Apple
This was, of course, big in the news last night, despite the fact he's officially been on medical leave the last half-year but showing up for work and presentation as the need arises.  Tim Cook has been the Chief Operating Officer and running things while the company continued to do very well, but Jobs's definite presence would have a lot to do with that and it'll continue to, as he will remain on, elected to the position of Chairman of the Board, although, as the NY Times notes, that position didn't exist before.

While I'm not admiring of some of Apple's recent actions, I do admire what Jobs has done with that company, and it has a lot to do with his intense focus on quality, high standards, and understanding what consumers want and are comfortable with.  His fighting spirit against an aggressive, consuming cancer has been inspiring, and I hope that his stepping back will somehow help him beat it, despite indications it is important for him to be in control and active.  It did make me sad that he felt bad enough to say, in his resignation letter, that he is no longer able to meet his "duties and expectations as Apple's CEO."

I've seen relatives and friends try to fight pancreatic cancer and also the spread of it to the liver, but Jobs has held it at bay 10 times longer than most are able to, and here's wishing the best to him on this personal battle.

As Biographer Glenn Fleishman said last night:

' There's something that pulls at you inside.  I feel sad for him as a person.  This guy, an adopted child who had difficulty learning, no college degree, rose to create the largest company in the world, and now at the peak, steps down.  Perfect time to step down, it's part of that epic story arc and there's something mythic and beautiful and sad about it. '

How will Apple fare after Jobs? Two brief assessments:

' Cult of Mac writer Leander Kahney reckons Steve's personality traits have basically become Apple's business model, and are ingrained in the company itself. With Jobs out of the equation, the company may continue to function as if he were still there, barking orders.

"Jobs' perfectionism, for example, has created a system at Apple for exhaustively prototyping everything the company does," Kahney wrote.

Not everyone is so optimistic.  New York Times tech columnist David Pogue tweeted: "I agree with you all that Apple is teeming with geniuses.  But Jobs added a single, pure vision that will be tough to maintain by committee." '

Here is The NY Times article.

It has to be odd for him, the new Chairman of the Board of Apple, to get online and read so many eulogy-style articles.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's)   K3 Special ($114)   K3-3G Special ($139)   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Kindle app for iPad - it's June 30. Hulu has removed its "Buy" button

The Bookseller has reported that while the world (well, the interested-world) wonders what Amazon and B&N will do about its e-reader apps for iPad and other Apple devices, it is now June 30, and the last day that Apple has indicated it wants "compliance with Apple's strict new rules for in-app payment and subscription links."

Apple has said that e-reader Apps are expected to remove from the app any Buy buttons that link to an external store via a web browser, as Kindle for iPad does. Otherwise, Apple wants an option programmed in to buy it in-App from Apple, which would be easier for iPad customers.

Apple rep Trudy Muller had explained, February 1, re Apple's rejection of the Sony e-reader app:

' "We have not changed our developer terms or guidelines," Apple spokesperson Trudy Muller told Ars. "We are now requiring that if an app offers customers the ability to purchase books outside of the app, that the same option is also available to customers from within the app with in-app purchase." '

  It's been assumed that Apple's demand would be a 30% cut, which would mean 100% of the Amazon or B&N share of any Big6 publisher book.  However, in connection with that percentage, the only quotes of 30% from an Apple rep were from Steve Jobs during the Subscriptions announcement and then Apple's Internet Services boss Eddy Cue, who said that the announcement applied only to Subscriptions.

  While then it could be possible that Amazon and B&N might agree on something more like 3-5% in order to have a Buy button that would allow iPad owners the option to buy from Apple, it's also possible they wouldn't go for paying Apple whatever fee might be asked, since Apple benefits as much as the other bookstores from having those books readable on its own device and has used that availability in its marketing.  Since iBooks can be read only on Apple devices, the iPad could definitely look less appealing to prospective book-loving buyers, especially those who shop a lot at Amazon and B&N.

  In the meantime, the bookstores could just decide to make their Apple apps read-only and not try to sell books from the Apple apps, since just who does not know how to get to Amazon or B&N these days?

  I had said that Amazon should be able to add wording that the book could be found at their website and do an UN-linked URL to Amazon on the page.

  CNNMoney has an interesting quote from Richard Stephenson of YUDU Media, which has developed mobile apps for magazines including Reader's Digest, who goes further.

' [Stephenson] says he's "pretty certain" that Apple wouldn't block a link that simply says "visit our website."

  "[The problem] is really when you say, 'buy subscriptions from us direct' and there is a clear button to click," Stephenson said in an e-mail to Fortune. "If it's 'visit our website,' then [Apple] will not be able nor wish to block that." '

CNNMoney adds that "Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said he could confirm only that the App Store terms were recently updated, and wouldn't comment on specific apps or whether a "visit our website" link would be blocked."

  Maybe the online bookstores are sending Apple updated apps that are rejected :-).  Those bookstore apps will be on every tablet EXCEPT Apple if apple makes the wrong decision.  Guess who would lose there.

  In the meantime, CNNMoney said yesterday that:

' Hulu updated its iPad app last week to remove a link to its website. The app's opening screen used to feature the line: "Not a Hulu Plus subscriber?  Visit hulu.com/plus to learn more and sign up."  That line -- and the website link -- are now gone, bringing Hulu into compliance with Apple's rules. '

That's a bit of an indication that a linked "Visit us" may not be acceptable :-)

CNN Money's Julianne Pepitone points out that "...digital booksellers rely on customers buying a steady stream of new e-books to read.  Removing all links from within their apps to make new purchases is pretty user-unfriendly."

Maybe they'll compromise on a small fee.  Apple may actually admit to themselves that iPad sales (and retention) will benefit from certain other bookstore books being readable on their devices, since that's been touted as a feature.

 We should know by tomorrow, I imagine.  I'd think the simplest solution, to keep peace in the bookstore universe, would be for everyone to be on a no-Buy button but I suppose if the price is right we could see one.

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