Jeff Bezos made a lot of money from his investment in Google (he was an early investor), and Amazon’s A9 builds on Google’s search service, but today Amazon announced it is “introducing two new programs that allow consumers to buy online access to portions of a book or to the entire book, giving publishers and authors another way to generate revenue from their content” (quote from the Journal piece, which is behind a paid wall).
Another tidbit from the story:
While Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos wouldn’t comment specifically on the Google Print controversy, he said, “It’s really important to do this cooperatively with the copyright holders, with the publishing community, with the authors. We’re going to keep working in that cooperative vein.”
Not to toot my pal’s horn, but if you want to see this model really working well, check out O’Reilly’s Safari service.
Meanwhile, Boing Boing has more coverage of the Google Print story, this one a rebuttal to the AAP’s Pat Schroeder.
That is a BRILLIANT marketing idea, and VERY practical!
Competition, is motivating businesses to be very accommodating to the EXACT needs of the consumer in the quickest time possible.
This may be practical for those who only want One Chapter of a Book.
With the Web offering so much continuously updated and refined information, this will allow Books to retain their competitiveness, and allow those with empathy for the deserved finances of those Authors, to act on their conscience.
Many libraries make O’Reilly’s Safari service for free. For example, SF Public offers free access from any web computer. All you need is a library card.
Amazon’s service is quite interesting, especially for the one in which it addresses the risks of digital copying. For analysis, see http://uchicagolaw.typepad.com/faculty/2005/11/buy_the_book_ge.html