-
Tech NewsAmazon’s Kindle Author Service Dumps Problematic Mobi Files
If you’ve read this far, you’re probably a self-published author who has once struggled with Amazon’s fussy Kindle Direct Publishing platform. The platform, which allows you to upload and sell ebooks and paperbacks, has always been unusually frustrating when it came to ebook layout. If you did it right, you were fine. If you did … Continued
By John Biggs -
ReviewsThe $100 Ad-Free Kobo Nia Could Be Your Ticket to Ditching the Kindle
If you’re in the market to buy an ereader in North America, Amazon’s Kindle and Rakuten’s Kobo are really the only two options if you want access to a well-stocked ebook store. Today the latter revealed its alternative to the current cheapest Kindle model with the new $100 Kobo Nia, which includes a high-res display, … Continued
-
Tech NewsInternet Archive Ends Free Ebook Program Early in Bid to Stave Off Dangerous Lawsuit
Back in March, the Internet Archive launched its National Emergency Library, a program that made roughly 1.4 million books available to the public without the usual waitlists. But on Wednesday, the organization announced it was ending the program two weeks early after four major publishers decided to sue Internet Archive for copyright infringement. Internet Archive … Continued
-
Tech NewsGadgetsPublishers Mad About Ebooks Again, Sue Internet Archive Over Free Library Program
With schools and libraries closed, essential sources of education and entertainment have been cut off. That’s why, in March, the Internet Archive began digitizing books and offering them for free without restrictions as part of its National Emergency Library program. The country’s biggest publishers are now suing the Internet Archive over the free ebook program, … Continued
-
Tech NewsParents Rejoice! Sesame Workshop Has Made 110 Sesame Street eBooks Free
If your recent transition to working from home every day was made all the more challenging with a house full of kids not able to go to school, Big Bird and his Sesame Street gang are offering a little relief by making 110 ebooks for kids absolutely free on all the major online book platforms. … Continued
-
Tech News
Major Book Publisher Abandons Terrible Plan to Keep New Ebooks Out of Libraries
Trying to maintain social distance while not losing your mind from boredom? Your public library’s collection of ebooks is an excellent resource, and now you have an even larger selection: One of the Big Five U.S. publishers walked back its 8-week delay on licensing new ebook releases to libraries. “There are times in life when … Continued
-
Tech NewsStressed Pooches, Global Outbreak, and Immortality: Best Gizmodo Stories of the Week
With all this talk about the spread of COVID-19, I would blame you if you’re considering staying inside and away from people (more than usual, at least) until all this blows over. I know I am. Thankfully, if voluntary house arrest is in your future, the good folks at Gizmodo have plenty of amazing coverage … Continued
-
ScienceHuman HistoryLibraries Could Preserve Ebooks Forever, But Greedy Publishers Won’t Let Them
There are currently 342 potential borrowers waiting for 197 digital copies of Ronan Farrow’s investigative thriller Catch and Kill at the Los Angeles Public Library. “It’ll take months for that ebook to become available,” I mutter to myself as I do my usual dance: searching the LAPL’s ebook shelves for titles on my reading list. … Continued
-
Tech NewsGadgetsGet Your Ebooks From the Library, Dummy
Public libraries are a national treasure that few people seem to appreciate anymore, but I am here to tell you that you are ignoring a precious resource because these bastions of socialism don’t just have free books. They have free ebooks. We’ve definitely preached the benefits of library ebooks before, but like the DVDs and … Continued
-
Tech NewsGadgetsAn Open Source eReader That’s Free of Corporate Restrictions Is Exactly What I Want Right Now
I get it. The Kindle and its ability to shop for and instantly buy books anywhere using wifi or Whispernet are incredibly convenient, and it’s what’s made Amazon’s hardware the obvious choice for consuming ebooks. But supporting awful companies like Amazon is getting harder and harder if you were born with a conscience, and right … Continued
-
Tech NewsEbooks Purchased From Microsoft Will Be Deleted This Month Because You Don’t Really Own Anything Anymore
Anyone who bought ebooks through the Microsoft Store is in for a rude shock in the coming days. The good news? You can get a refund. The bad news? All of your books are going to be deleted this month. Microsoft announced in April that it would stop selling ebooks and that any books the … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsNew Yorkers Are About to Lose the Best Kept Secret in Movie Streaming
The New York library system is one of the largest and best-stocked in the country. Among the many perks for members (spot-on recommendations, more books than you can read in several lifetimes, someplace where the air conditioning actually works) is access to free movie streaming service Kanopy—at least for the next week before the service’s … Continued
By Avery Ellis -
io9Tatiana Maslany Will Return to Her Orphan Black Roles in a New Audio Series
Orphan Black’s story is continuing—it’s just doing so on a new platform, and in a new format. And it’s got nothing to do with that peculiar semi-spinoff at AMC. This morning ebook and audiobook platform Serial Box, in collaboration with Temple Street, announced Orphan Black: The Next Chapter, a ten-part audiobook series that will pick … Continued
-
Tech News
Microsoft Nukes Its Ebooks Store, and That’s Probably for the Best
Big companies like to get bigger, and for many big tech companies these days, the clearest path to growth is increasing how much money generates with content services. That’s why Apple launched a whole slew of them last week, and why Google announced a video game platform the week before. Microsoft too has envisioned itself … Continued
By Alex Cranz -
Tech NewsCommerceAmazon’s Most Popular Kindle Could Now Be Its Best Buy
When Amazon released its revamped Kindle Oasis last year, we called it the best ereader of all time. But $250 is lot to spend on something that’s essentially a single-purpose device. So, to shore up the other end of its ereader line, Amazon has made a new Kindle Paperwhite sporting many of the high-end features … Continued
-
Tech NewsLooks Like the Kindle Voyage Has Reached the End of Its Journey
For a few years, the Voyage was Amazon’s flagship e-reader. While it was never cheap, its 300 PPI resolution and fantastic design often made it a better buy even after Amazon released the first Kindle Oasis in 2016. However, it seems time and the emergence of the second-generation Kindle Oasis have put an end to … Continued
-
Tech NewsGadgetsAmazon Kindle’s Best Competitor Just Got a Big Leg Up
When it comes to e-readers, Amazon’s Kindles have become so dominant that the brand often gets used interchangeably with the generic term, much like you see with Kleenex for tissues and Frisbees for flying discs. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t viable Kindle alternatives, because for years, Kobo’s e-readers have been lurking in the shadows, … Continued
-
io9Books & Comics
Tech Hasn’t Killed Books Yet
For those unfamiliar, books are a collection of words that form some sort of coherent narrative, printed on paper and bound together. These objects are very much alive and well, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center, despite the fact that we live in an age where you can download the same … Continued
By Eve Peyser
