"consumers" entries

Web-TV convergence is already here, just not the way we expected

New data from Nielsen shows consumers are multitasking on their own terms

While manufacturers continue to pursue the super box — a mythical device that combines the best of television and web — consumers have already adopted a simple form of convergence: they're surfing the web while watching TV. There's lessons to be learned here for software and hardware companies.

Inside Look at RAND's $9.95 Ebook Pricing Strategy

Recently, the RAND Corporation announced that it has revised the suggested retail pricing on all RAND ebooks to $9.95 each. RAND ebooks are available through a wide variety of wholesale and retail partners. The press release provided some explanation for the decision, also discussed in Publishers Weekly. I have been asked by Tools of Change to provide some additional…

One-Question Interview at BookNet Canada Tech Forum

Last week I had the pleasure of speaking at the 2009 BookNet Canada Technology Forum in Toronto (motto: Even colder than you expected!), and Mark Bertils caught up with me on my way out for a quick video interview: Two follow ups on what I said, now that I have my del.icio.us feed handy: The Peter Drucker reference is from…

Expectation of Fair Pricing, Not Free

At Dear Author, a post stating that not all content should be expected to be free; rather it must be provided, free or not, in a realistic understanding of consumer needs and expectations, which might mean changing the way you do business. What content providers must realize is that a changing business model wherein revenues are no longer captured in…

10 Things Ebook Merchants Should Offer

Jane at Dear Author has a wonderful list of 10 things ebook merchants should be providing as a matter of course. Here's just one example, but read the whole list: Buy a for a friend. The only site that offers this feature is Fictionwise. Amazon does not even offer this for Kindle which makes no sense. When a reader…

A Broad View of Amazon's Influence

Neil Denny looks at Amazon's positive and negative influences on book publishing's constituencies. From The Bookseller: The web, if not Amazon, can't be uninvented: retailers and publishers need to find ways to make it work for them or they will face an increasingly difficult future. Related Stories: Publishers Beware: Amazon has you in their sights Which Game is the…

Content Owners and Consumers Need Digital Quid Pro Quo

Digital delivery requires concessions from content owners and consumers — but both sides must be mindful of going too far.