Blogger doesn't like iPad safari. Can't write in post area. Fun

Pricing of E-Books Draws Increased Antitrust Scrutiny

When State and Federal regulators go to 4 different e-book vendors (iTunes - Amazon - etc) and find no difference in prices .... concerns about competition (or lack of) and special contracts start to rise. Sounds reminiscent to the price fixing issues around music CDs 8 - 10yrs back.

My forecast is tablets and readers (hardware) will drop to $100 - $190 in 12 months. Software and features such as cloud services will be the differentiater between the tablets. And wrangling about e-book formats - standards - copyrights (DRM) will get very messy. But increasing pressure will force competition ...   But its clear that Apple wanted assurances that Publisher ABC would not allow Amazon (etc) to sell an e-book at a lower price than it listed on iTunes.

Wall Street Journal Article

PART OF THE ARTICLE
Just when publishers and sellers of digital books had made peace over how to price electronic titles, the market is attracting antitrust scrutiny. On Tuesday, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal disclosed a preliminary review of the pricing agreements between five of the country's largest book publishers and two leading digital retailers: Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.
The probe comes on the heels of a similar examination opened in June by the attorney general of Texas.
Mr. Blumenthal said he has sent letters to Amazon and Apple asking them to "meet with his office" to address his concerns that agreements in place may restrict rivals from offering cheaper e-books. For instance, he said, "both Amazon and Apple have reached agreements with the largest e-book publishers that ensure both will receive the best prices for e-books over any competitors."
Apple, Amazon and five publishers also have agreed to an "agency pricing" model. Under the agency model, publishers set their own retail prices. They receive 70% of the consumer price, with the retailers taking 30%.
"These agreements among publishers, Amazon and Apple appear to have already resulted in uniform prices for many of the most popular e-books—potentially depriving consumers of competitive prices," said Mr. Blumenthal in a prepared statement.
Both the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department have been conducting separate inquiries into whether some of Apple's business practices—including its music business and its mobile-device applications—are anticompetitive, according to people familiar with the matter. The Justice Department's antitrust review of Apple also extends to its deals in the book publishing industry, according to a person familiar with the matter. Amazon's deals are also being examined as part of that inquiry, the person said.
The FTC and the Justice Department declined to comment.
The Justice Department has recently shown a keen interest in the emerging e-book sector.
It has filed objections on antitrust grounds to Google Inc.'s proposed settlement with publishers and authors over its plans to develop a global online library.
"My investigation into agreements between e-book publishers and Amazon and Apple has been initiated independent of any other law enforcement agency," Mr. Blumenthal said. "We look forward to cooperating with any other federal or state agency that may be interested in working jointly."

Five of the country's largest publishers earlier this year adopted the agency-pricing model at the request of Apple prior to the April 3 release of its iPad tablet computer, which doubles as an e-book reader.
Apple, CBS Corp.'s Simon & Schuster Inc.; News Corp.'s HarperCollins Publishers Inc.; Lagardere SCA's Hachette Book Group; Pearson PLC's Penguin Group (USA), and Macmillan, a unit of Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH, all declined to comment on the Connecticut inquiry.
Amazon didn't respond to requests for comment.
In addition to owning HarperCollins, News Corp. owns The Wall Street Journal.
The agency model has generally resulted in higher prices for e-books, with many new titles priced at $12.99 and $14.99. Further, because the publishers set their own prices, those prices are identical at all websites where the titles are sold. Although Amazon continues to sell many e-books at $9.99 or less, it has opposed the agency model because it argues that lower prices, as exemplified by its promotion of $9.99 best sellers, has been a key factor in the surging e-book market.
In comparison, digital music pricing, which is set by retailers including Apple, is different depending on the site. Lady Gaga's "The Fame Monster" album, for example, goes for $5 on Amazon but is $7.99 on iTunes.
Bertelsmann AG's Random House Inc. was the only major publisher not to adopt the agency pricing model. It continues to sell its digital titles on the wholesale model, where retailers set their own retail prices.
As a result, a number of new Random House e-book titles are being sold at $9.99 by Amazon and such retailers as Barnes & Noble Inc., even though those retailers lose money on each $9.99 sale.

Arizpe's iPad

Hallo!

Henry invited me to this sekrit blog so that I can share what things I've found and used.

Since I was at a conference last week, I decided to take my iPad down with me to see if I could survive on it alone. I didn't do too bad. There were a few kinks which I will ennumerate later.

My set up as follows:

16 gig 3G/Wifi iPad

incipio case -black comes with a clear shield for the screen. (plastic film)

Dagi Pen -A capacitive stylus with many great recommendations. Also works well if you have a shield on the screen. I prefer it to the pogo stick.

I will be getting a portfolio case that is both a bag and case for the ipad. Gotta be in style...:P

Software

3.2.1 - I can't tell the difference between 3.2 and 3.2.1. yay?

Penultimate- $2.99 I spent a bit of time reading reviews and this does seem to have the best note taking ability. I used it predominantly at the conference. The cool thing is that you can export your "notebooks" as single page pdfs, or multi-page pdfs. You can write with your finger or with the stylus (which takes time to get used to.) Well, getting used to writing with your fingers is another matter entirely.

Dropbox- Free I used this as a main source for pdf files of IB materials. Tho, I probably have multiple copies of the same files in DropBox, Stanza, and GoodReader. Each of those programs have their pros and cons. Dropbox allows me to access to my "cloud" whatever files I put in my cloud from my desktop will be accessible on the iPad automatically.

Stanza - Free I used this on the iPhone to access some files and to download free books. This program will give you access to ebooks both free and for a price. PDFs and ebooks can be added from your library via iTunes.

GoodReader- .99 Worth it. And helpful in that you can download files from your cloud drives. (dropbox, .mac account, local servers.) And I noticed that you can actually send files to local printers. (I didn't test it at the conference because it's rude to use printers without permission but they did show up.)

SpaceTime -$9.99 Steep price but for what it offers, I think it was worth it. The desktop version of the program is free for mac and pc. It is a math app that allows you to solve, graph, and script mathematics. The full strength of the program hasn't been tested but the demo was impressive. You can play with the demo its called GraphBook.

QuickGraph - Free It does a good job of making graphs. It was used at the conference for a group problem. Accuracy issues aside, it will give the user a good idea of visualizing graphical math.

FirstClass - Free I didn't think it was a great app on the iPhone, and with the magnification ability on the iPad. (not a naturalized app for iPad) it's improved it somewhat. At least I don't have to wear glasses to read the damn screen. But it'll do in a pinch for reading email. And somewhat better than the web interface.

I'm still looking for other apps for writing, notetaking, and spreadsheets. As I am not entirely convinced of the iWork iPad Apps. Circus Ponies is known for its Notebook program which is quite nice for organization and notation for a desktop-they are working on their own iPad version. When that comes out is anyone's guess. I am still keeping my eyes open for apps that garner good reviews.

As for the use of the iPad at the conference...

Getting used to the stylus in Penultimate was a task that can only be overcome by practice. Typing on the pad without a stand or physical keyboard was interesting. I have become reasonably adept at typing on the screen keyboard but I am not looking at what I am writing, I am looking at my hands. To make sure that I am inputing correctly. The auto-correct function can be annoying and hinder some at times. Another annoyance was the flipping between applications. Flipping between a webpage and notes. Or notes and pdf. I can't wait for the mult-tasking function to come to the iPad.

I'm excited to use it in class but I may need to invest in a matte version of the screen shield for when I use it under the document camera. Hmm. I haven't tried using this with eSIS yet. :)

Talk-n-Type

This post was created using dragon naturally speaking, talking at a moderate voice tone, and pitch, and not speaking to rapidly. Perhaps it could be used for simple e-mails or other administrative or curriculum-based needs.

There was only one error - and I had to add the punctuation.

Might want to follow some of these posts

Found this site while doing some searching using the iPad for K12 stuff. If anything it shows a lot of educators have a lot of interest - lot of questions - and a lot of confusion. But it could lead to some insights.

http://ipad4edu.com/

Something is happening in Canby ...

I quick post on something we need to explore as a group of intrepid iPad evaluators. It seems the fine folks in the Canby School District are really plowing ahead on all things iPad. At least as far as its use in K12. I've only skimmed these links but they seem to have a lot of information.

http://wiki.canby.k12.or.us/groups/ipodusergroup/

http://wiki.canby.k12.or.us/groups/ipodusergroup/wiki/d7bb2/Authorizing_a_central_syncing_station_to_multiple_iTunes_accounts.html

I think a couple of intrepid SHS staffers need to meet these Canbyites .....

Adding PDF Files

Found a simple way to add PDF files to the iPad through a wi-fi connection. All it takes is the Goodreader app (.99 at iTunes). You connect your computer and iPad through an IP address and simply upload your files from your computer. You are able to read your PDF's similar to iBook. Very slick to view; very simple to use.