eBooks that users buy from Google Editions would exist in a user’s “library,” a cloud-based collection of searchable texts that are hosted by Google, rather than as files downloaded to an eReader device or computer.
“Google’s timing here is impeccable,” said Christopher Dawson, technology director for the Athol-Royalston School District in northern Massachusetts and a blogger for ZDNet, in a recent post. “The emergence of tablet devices and really outstanding smart phones makes cloud-based storage of whatever you might be reading very attractive. A giant selection ranging from the self-published to the mainstream to the esoteric … will make sense for consumers and verticals like education. And publishers, authors, and resellers would be foolish not to jump on the bandwagon, given Google’s generous profit-sharing models.”
Links:
Association of American Publishers
Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Center for Democracy and Technology
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