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walkitoutNews is about stuff that happens, important events or at least current ones.
At the beginning of this month, as I mentioned on Sunday, there was some news about a non-event (Penguin and Amazon failing to come to an agreement about ebook pricing) resulting in a sort-of event (new books released as of the beginning of April would not be available on the kindle). Since then, there apparently haven't been further events -- just the ongoing non-event of failing to come to agreement. Authors published by Penguin are aware of the situation (and not exactly happy about it). Amazon has discounted the hardcovers to $9.99 (maybe not all of them, but definitely the ones I've checked).
When Macmillan and Amazon were engaged in a similar battle, there was non-stop coverage. There were press releases. There was commentary. Sides were taken. Third parties like B&N and the Nook popped in to bask in the bright light of media attention. At the end of that battle, there was, if not unanimity, then a lot of agreement that once Amazon caved to Macmillan, other publishers would come forward to demand a similar arrangement (Hachette was next in line, followed closely by News Corp/HarperCollins, IIRC). And at the beginning of this month, Hachette was getting their deal, and Penguin making demands but failing to have an agreement was treated in an off-hand fashion.
And here we are on the 28th. But I guess that's not news, because there hasn't been an Event.
ETA: No press releases on either Penguin's or Amazon's sites. A few author sites mention the problem (Jim Butcher, obviously) and some reader blogs (who are blaming various people -- including Apple -- but mostly just really wishing the problem would be resolved).
ETAYA: I listened to the Terry Gross interview with Ken Auletta. In addition to a doesn't-make-sense answer to the device independence question (closed system claim followed by a but you can read kindle books on the ipad -- and elsewhere of course), Auletta fails to mention the Penguin/Amazon pricing dispute (I figured I should check). He prefers hardback to mark stuff up, to store, and to reference later.
ETA still more: I went digging around for an e-mail for Ken Auletta, thinking maybe I'd drop him a line that he would not respond to, asking if he had any juicy gossip about the Penguin/Amazon battle. Total fail (which is interesting all by itself). And then I realized his book about google is published by Penguin. He's not going to get involved in this until it's all over.
At the beginning of this month, as I mentioned on Sunday, there was some news about a non-event (Penguin and Amazon failing to come to an agreement about ebook pricing) resulting in a sort-of event (new books released as of the beginning of April would not be available on the kindle). Since then, there apparently haven't been further events -- just the ongoing non-event of failing to come to agreement. Authors published by Penguin are aware of the situation (and not exactly happy about it). Amazon has discounted the hardcovers to $9.99 (maybe not all of them, but definitely the ones I've checked).
When Macmillan and Amazon were engaged in a similar battle, there was non-stop coverage. There were press releases. There was commentary. Sides were taken. Third parties like B&N and the Nook popped in to bask in the bright light of media attention. At the end of that battle, there was, if not unanimity, then a lot of agreement that once Amazon caved to Macmillan, other publishers would come forward to demand a similar arrangement (Hachette was next in line, followed closely by News Corp/HarperCollins, IIRC). And at the beginning of this month, Hachette was getting their deal, and Penguin making demands but failing to have an agreement was treated in an off-hand fashion.
And here we are on the 28th. But I guess that's not news, because there hasn't been an Event.
ETA: No press releases on either Penguin's or Amazon's sites. A few author sites mention the problem (Jim Butcher, obviously) and some reader blogs (who are blaming various people -- including Apple -- but mostly just really wishing the problem would be resolved).
ETAYA: I listened to the Terry Gross interview with Ken Auletta. In addition to a doesn't-make-sense answer to the device independence question (closed system claim followed by a but you can read kindle books on the ipad -- and elsewhere of course), Auletta fails to mention the Penguin/Amazon pricing dispute (I figured I should check). He prefers hardback to mark stuff up, to store, and to reference later.
ETA still more: I went digging around for an e-mail for Ken Auletta, thinking maybe I'd drop him a line that he would not respond to, asking if he had any juicy gossip about the Penguin/Amazon battle. Total fail (which is interesting all by itself). And then I realized his book about google is published by Penguin. He's not going to get involved in this until it's all over.