Here are a few stories to read this Monday morning.
- Amazon has announced several software updates coming to the Kindle.
- Librarians are talking about replacing the Dewey System. It’s not just that he was a racist and anti-Semite, but also that Dewey has structural flaws in its classification system.
- There’s a hack for Kobo ereaders which lets you connect one to a USB keyboard.
- Joanna Penn shares what she learned in ten years as a fulltime author.
- Yes, translators should be named on book covers. (So should ghost writers, but let’s address the book publishing industry’s fraud problems one at a time.)
- Amazon and its 5 moustache-twirling co-conspirators have moved to dismiss that ridiculous ebook price-fixing lawsuit.
- I don’t know what’s worse about Esposito’s recent post on the theory of ebooks, that he used it to trash ebook advocates, or that he still thinks in terms of ebooks as discrete units, and not how digital content has gone granular online. (Actually, it was the navel-gazing.)
- A US judge just ruled that Apple has to allow iOS apps to use other payment process methods. This has effectively killed the Apple Content Tax. (Let’s hope it isn’t overturned on appeal.)
I don’t think they’ve “killed the Apple Content Tax.” Developers are still required to ALSO use in-app purchasing through Apple’s service, AND Apple is permitted to collect fees from developers leveraging outside payments. It will put a small dent in it, no doubt, but it’s no more in jeopardy than it was when Netflix removed in app purchases from their iOS apps.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad for more options, but this will continue to generate billions of dollars for users. And with the exception of large apps, probably won’t move the needle. If some random person has a random app and wants my payment info for a $2 subscription, or I can just pay $4 through Apple and protect my privacy, guess what I’m going to do 99% of the time!
Sure, I’ll buy my kids Vbucks outside of the App Store if they are cheaper. But I’d been doing that already, honestly.