The news today has been the introduction of Google Editions, Google's new online service to allow the search to go one step further ... to the buy. Google promises electronic versions of books which would be compatible with any format. We hear that the iPad has signed on to designing an app to utilize Google Editions, and the Kindle might be in, also. Google even invites independent booksellers to sell through and keep a portion of the pricing. We are unsure how this will affect independent booksellers, but we are optimistic that it will allow us to stay in the game, after being shut out by amazon.com, Sony, et al., even as the American Booksellers Association (IndieNext!) and Ingram Book Company (the U.S.'s largest wholesale distributor) have struggled to find the solution to writers, publishers and consumers rushing in droves to electronic reading matter while lamenting the demise of the independent bookseller.
One comforting or confirming comment from a Wall Street Journal online reader is that while he loves reading e-books, especially those with a certain kind of LED technology, he still has that tactile (shall we say, human?) need to have a printed, bound book. Alas, instead of the affordable luxury books are today, as he asks, is the printed bound book to become the ultimate luxury?
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