Publishers have been successful maintaining prices and at fostering a competitive e-book environment. Emulating Apple’s App store, e-readers are compatible with different e-book stores. There are now many different e-book stores competing against each other not on price, but on consumer experience, extensive catalog, targeted marketing, and innovation.
However, there’s now a growing feeling among makers of e-readers that they should restrict which e-book stores they allow onto their devices in order to extract a bigger share the growing e-book revenue.
Who will have more power, the makers of the e-reader devices or the e-book stores? Will there still be competition when the device makers tighten the screws?
Device makers begin to dominate the e-book world
E-book stores retain control
I DO hope the device makers tighten the screws. We don't want the damn things falling apart! Seriously, I still consider the standalone devices largely a red herring. TV makers don't influence TV channel content, much less dictate it. Likewise makers of DVD and Bluray players. You're not limited to Sony movies on a Sony TV. Radio makers did influence broadcasts in the early days of radio, but that's a long time ago.
I still agree with myself, except as regards punctuating our name…