Steve,
The "formatting" of eBooks is covered by an open non-proprietary standard created by the Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF).
openebook.org
I think the keys to Gemstar's potential profitabilty lie in parts of the press release:
"Thomson and Gemstar will jointly pursue opportunities to expand the existing e-book service offerings, with
plans to publish electronic magazines [TV Guide for starters?] , full-color catalogs, reference books, textbooks for all forms of
education, and technical publications for business. The e-book also has the capability to download optional
software that can perform personal-digital-assistant ("PDA") functionality, such as storing and retrieving and
personal information, appointment calendars, and phone directories.
"The growth of the e-book category has been slowed by high hardware prices and dearth of titles. It's a classic
'chicken and egg' problem. But now, working with Gemstar, we hope to reach more consumers with an
RCA-branded, affordable electronic book product line that should lead to more, and better, e-book
publishing," Meyer said.
<snip>Building on their cooperative effort to offer no-fee, on-screen electronic program guides to
more than 1.5 million TV viewers, Gemstar and Thomson will further improve the ease and speed of
downloading other information into electronic books.
I'm not sure where to begin to flesh out the potential of "publishing," "optional software" and "other information," but I've learned that Henry is a brilliant visionary. He'll find a way to bring the big players on board and make a reasonable return while making them happy.
Thoughts?
Climber
(Ps I'm even more excited now about Nortel's inclusion of Rocket eBooks in their "future of CDMA" presentation. Wireless book buying is a no brainer, as Dr. J would say.) |
