Waking Badger » Books

Amazon caves under the slightest of pressure

bill — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 06:39:17 +0000

Well, it appears that Amazon has completely caved in the face of stupidity. Once again, a group of people strikes out without understanding the threat or the lack there of. Amazon hasn’t killed the text to speech feature outright, but they’ve now allowed on a book by book basis the disabling of the feature. I guess at least it isn’t completely gone, but I’m disappointed in Amazon for not standing up to this blatant fear of the future. To my mind, the Author’s Guild isn’t interested in elevating books or moving the market forward, they’re simply trying to cling to a shred of hope that the world doesn’t pass them by. All of this while unwittingly attempting to kill features/products that can possibly grow the market for literature to new heights.

I doubt I would use this particular offering on the Kindle 2 (if I had one), but I tend to read most of my books via Audible (and yes, I did say read as listening or interpreting words on a page both constitute the absorption of the material). I doubt Mr. Blount’s hypothesis that in the near future, text to speech will rival truly quality voice talent and as such, the Kindle 2 hardly represents true damage to the audiobook market in it’s likely lifespan. I can see some of their concern as eventually text to speech will reach that level, but it will not occur on the Kindle 2 and truly, the growth is INEVITABLE. Standing in the way of this technology is not going to hold up the flood gates. Rather, the Author’s Guild will eventually be washed away with the flood.

It personally find it very frustrating when ANY company attempts stop the wheels of progress to prop up a business model. I would suggest that the Author’s Guild is acting no better than the RIAA or the MPAA and definitely isn’t acting in the best interests of book lovers everywhere. Technology is disruptive and that is a good thing. Learn to evolve, adapt, and improve or get out of the way…

Star Wars Tell All Book?

bill — Thu, 22 May 2008 11:00:56 +0000

The Secret History of Star Wars

This free e-book (PDF) may be true or it may be totally baseless. I don’t know and I’ve just skimmed a few pages so far, but it looks interesting just the same!

The Fairy Tales of J.K. Rowling @ Amazon.com

bill — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 12:26:14 +0000

Amazon.com: The Fairy Tales of J.K. Rowling

Amazon.com purchased a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard hand written by J.K. Rowling. She wrote seven copies of this book. Six were given away to those who supported her over the years and the seventh was auctioned at Sotheby’s (where Amazon.com acquired it). Basically, the book contains many fairy tales referred to in the final Harry Potter novel. All of the proceeds went to charity, but that is purely a generous gesture. I think the idea that this book exists is rather cool. If you click on the above link, they have many pictures. The style and binding are quite nice.

I’m sure we’ll see this for sale in the not too distant future…

Frankenstein Revealed

bill — Wed, 27 Jul 2005 03:34:49 +0000

Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein book series continues with the newly released Book 2: City of Night. If you haven’t checked out the first title, Book 1: Prodigal Son, it is well worth the read (or the listen if you prefer audiobooks).

The story revolves around Frankenstein’s monster. The Mary Shelley classic begins the Frankenstein tale but this book series continues it in a direction I hadn’t considered. This sci-fi angle explores interesting genetic and philosophical issues. The story also tosses the reader into the depths of a true crime novel. I picked up Book 2 from Audible today. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book and as soon as I finish Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince, I plan to continue my reading of this series.