Google Keeps on Moving in the Book Sector
October 18, 2009
Most companies finding themselves buried in vituperation, legal matters, and worldwide pushback would play it cool. Maybe offer an olive branch, hold meet up, or send happy smoke signals. Google is not “most companies.” I emerged from a grueling meeting to learn that Google is jumping into the eBook market in 2010. Why announce this? in my opinion, the Google is reminding anyone who is sentient that the Google is going to move forward in books. The forum for the announcement, according to the AFP news story “Google Editions to Be Up and Running Next Year”, was the annual love in for publishers. Each year in beautiful Frankfurt, the big dogs of publishing gather to celebrate their products, industry, business methods, and all round great business judgment. Google chose this forum to make known:
Google’s online service Google Editions enabling electronic books to be downloaded to mobile telephones and readers will have some half-a-million publications available in the first half of next year.
There you go. In your face forward movement. Unlike Google’s baby step approach to some sectors, the Google laced up its waffle stompers and clomped through the clubby world of publishing. Reaction? My hunch is that it will take publishers and folks like Amazon to figure out exactly what is going to happen. Jeff Bezos, an early investor in Google, is probably wondering what “gratitude” means.
In my opinion, the killer fact in the AFP story was:
According to the Association of American Publishers, e-book in the United States totaled 113 million dollars last year, a leap of 68 percent from the previous year but still tiny compared with an estimated total of 24.3 billion spent on all books.
Any doubt that Google is moving forward in the book market? The intent is clear to the addled goose.
Stephen Arnold, October 18, 2009
Sadly no one provided wampum for this write up.
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