CourseCast of the Week

Episode 139, 2/8/2010

Title/Description: eBook Power Struggles and other tech headlines

Welcome to Course Technology's Coursecast of the week, Episode 139, recorded February 6th, 2010.

This is Ken Baldauf bringing you this week's technology news and information.

This Coursecast is brought to you by Course Technology. Check out www.cengage.com/coursetechnology for innovative textbooks and creative electronic learning solutions.

Visit the CourseCasts Website at coursecasts.course.com where you will find links to the full stories covered in this coursecast, related discussion questions for use in your technology courses, and the Coursecast Archives.

Story 1: The eBook Power Struggle

Amazon has had its hands full since the announcement of Apple's upcoming iPad tablet computer. The iPad is expected to compete strongly against Amazon's Kindle eBook reader. Besides the many and varied applications that will run on the iPad, it will also offer a robust iBookstore that will feature titles from popular publishers that include Penguin, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, MacMillan, and Hachette. The deal that Apple has made with these publishers is significantly better than their deals with Amazon. Apple is allowing the publishers to set their own price for ebooks and will take 30 percent, while Amazon pays publishers a flat $15 per book and sells the ebooks at a subsidized rate of $9.99.

The publishers are using their new association with Apple's iPad to leverage a better deal with Amazon. Last week, Amazon made the headlines for pulling all MacMillan books from its online shelves in retaliation of MacMillan's demand for variable pricing on its ebooks. Amazon complained that MacMillan was imposing a pricing model that was bad for consumers and the ebook industry. MacMillan, which has considerable influence in the publishing world, began advertising its books as "Available at booksellers everywhere except Amazon." The tiff didn't last long, as Amazon gave in to MacMillan's demands within days. Shortly thereafter, two other publishers, Hachette and HarperCollins, made the same pricing demands of Amazon. That leaves only Penguin and Simon & Schuster, who are expected to jump on board any day now.

So, it would appear the days of $9.99 ebooks are over. Best sellers are likely to sell for $14.99, while other, less popular titles will retain their $9.99 price tag. This is essentially what happened in the digital music industry in 2007 when Apple iTunes, under pressure from the music industry and Amazon's new MP3 store, moved from a 99 cents per track model to variable pricing. Now it’s Amazon's turn to buckle under pressure.

But Amazon isn't taking its recent hardships lying down. This week Amazon acquired Touchco, a manufacturer of touchscreen displays. Meanwhile, PVI, the company that makes the Kindle's e-ink display announced that it will soon be capable of producing color e-ink displays, and even flexible models. It's feasible that Amazon could come back later this year with a new Super Kindle featuring a color e-ink touchscreen and additional applications. As color e-ink displays enter the market, it will be interesting to see if consumers prefer them over the led displays of the iPad and the upcoming generation of tablets.

• Third major publisher dumps Amazon $9.99 e-books model [Computerworld]
• Amazon Grudgingly Gives In to Macmillan's Pricing Demands [Ecommerce Times]
• FAQ: Amazon vs. Macmillan -- The iPad wins [Computerworld]
• Is Amazon Building a Superkindle? [NYTimes]
• Kindle display maker PVI promises touchscreens, color and flexibility in 2010 models [Engadget]

And elsewhere in tech news...

• Google has enlisted the help of the U.S. National Security Agency, or NSA, in their investigation of the network break-ins from December that Google believes may have been sponsored by the Chinese government. No word yet as to what Google's response to the attacks will be.
  Google Asks Spy Agency for Help With Inquiry Into Cyberattacks [NYTimes]
• In a recent blog post, Apple warned iPhone apps developers to refrain from using GPS-acquired user location information for location-specific ads. While location information is available to iPhone apps, and used by many with the user’s consent, it appears that Apple wants to maintain control over how this highly sensitive information is shared with third party advertisers.
  Apple tells devs that location-based advertising is a no-no [Ars Technica]
• A recent study found that blogging by teens and young adults has dropped by 50 percent over the last three years, as they turn instead to texting and social network sites to express their ideas and feelings.
  U.S. teens lose interest in blogging: study [Reuters]
• This week the House overwhelmingly passed a cybersecurity bill aimed at beefing up U.S. cybersecurity by hiring more government "cyber warriors" and offering college scholarships for undergrads and grads who agree to go to work for the government. Now the bill travels to the senate where its final fate will be decided.
  House Passes Cybersecurity Bill [NYTimes]
  Cybersecurity bill, OK'd by House, draws cautious praise [Computerworld]
• Google has been working for over a year to gain permission to digitize millions of books and make them searchable on its search engine and available for download from a Google ebook store. A second attempt to forge an agreement with the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers was shot down by the Department of Justice, who says that the deal is at odds with the core principle of U.S. copyright and provides Google with an unfair advantage in the market.
  Update: DOJ again turns down Google book search settlement [Computerworld]
• Facebook celebrated its 6th birthday Thursday, with 400 million users, and yet another redesign to its site.
  As It Celebrates Its Sixth Birthday, Facebook Surges To 400 Million Users [TechCrunch]
• Preliminary findings in a Brigham Young University study show that offering course content free online to the general public does not negatively impact enrollment numbers as one might guess, but rather aids the school by boosting its visibility and reputation.
  University finds free online classes don't hurt enrollment [Ars Technica]
• One area where federal funding is not frozen is education. The president's proposed 2011 budget increases funding for STEM education by almost 40 percent, and triples the number of NSF Graduate Research Fellowships. STEM refers to science, technology, engineering, and math - areas that are believed to have a big impact on the country’s ability to overcome economic hardships and compete strongly in the global economy.
  Obama Budget Boosts Science, Innovation [InformationWeek]
  Obama budget halts IT growth, cuts data centers [Computerworld]
• The failure rate on the English language exam administered by the prestigious University of Waterloo in Ontario Canada has risen from 25 to 30 percent. One report blames the decline of English language skills on the use of textspeak and emoticons, popularly use in text messaging and social networks. Apparently, these shorthand language devices are making their way into the exams to the horror of exam administrators.
  Student grammar failure: capability or context? [Ars Technica]
  
  

That's it for this week's Coursecasts.

This week's shout out goes to Mr. O'Keefe's IDS class at Hillsborough Community College in Brandon, FL. Thanks for listening to CourseCasts!

Email me with your comments and suggestions for the show at coursecasts@gmail.com. Let me know how you use Coursecasts in your classes and I'll give you and your school a shout out on my next Coursecast. Until next time have a great week and be sure to take advantage of the Power -- of Technology!