iSights.org

Amazon and Audible and Apple. Oh My!

The acquisition of digital audiobook seller Audible by Amazon.com has sparked a bit of controversy and raised quite a few questions in the last few days.

In particular, will Amazon and Audible continue its relationship with Apple and iTunes? Will Apple see Amazon as a competitor in the digital space, and sever ties on its end? Will Audible drop its proprietary DRM scheme? And is Angie having Brad's love child?

While the answer to the last question is an unqualified "yes" (twins, in fact), the others are more difficult to interpret.

But let's give it a whirl, shall we?

New Kindle-Only Blog

If you're into things Kindle, then you may be interest in Joe Wikert's new blog Kinderville.

Wikert is a Vice President and Executive Publisher for John Wiley & Sons, so he definitely has some experience in the publishing field. And judging from the number of Wiley books on Amazon, some skin in the game as well.

Quoting Joe, "I'm a book publisher by day and a book lover by night. Although I think Kindle Version 1.0 is far from perfect, I'm excited to see what Amazon has in store for us with versions 2.0, 3.0 and beyond."

And so am I.

No Wireless. Less Space Than A Nomad. Lame.

Such was the off-hand comment made on October 23, 2001 by Slashdot's head honcho, CmdrTaco. He was, of course, referring to Apple's latest product: the original 5GB iPod.

And we all know how that turned out, don't we?

Yet that same comment echoed through my mind again and again as I read blogs and posts and reviews far and wide regarding the Kindle, Amazon's new e-ink based electronic book reader. And nearly all of them critical of a device and service that hardly any have seen or held or touched, and even fewer have actually used.

But is iPod history repeating itself?

And are we—so to speak—judging a book solely by it's cover?

Amazon Introduces Kindle; Apple Introduces Nothing

Monday brings the formal introduction of the Kindle, Amazon's new e-ink based electronic book reader. CEO Jeff Bezos thinks that there's an untapped market out there just waiting for the right device and the right company to bring ebooks to the masses.

And he's betting that Amazon is that company.

Is he right? Let's take a look.