The impact of iTunes on net shopping
Some days ago I wrote about FontExplorer X, a font tool for the Mac with a iTunes look.
Now, have a look at VitalSource, a new net shop for ebooks. It looks like everybody is copying iTunes music store.
The concept is quite clever:
Sell ebooks that are available for free (not all of them I must add!), and get people to pay for it. How? By indexing them, format them, add chapters and a nice program for highlighting, searching and notetaking.
The files are protected by DRM: “Digital rights management – Other formats deter copyright violation only by burdening the user. VitalBook files download and lock to your computer, but they don’t limit the functions you want (like print, copy and paste, highlighting, etc.).”. Ok, a bit better than some other ebooks that doesn’t let you do anything – no printing, no copy etc.
There are of course lots of newer books, especially in science and education. It makes sense to have these kind of books on your computer. You can drag graphics and pictures to other applications, and copy text. Cool!
I couldn’t find out if the books are searchable by Spotlight, which would make them even more useful. If not, that should be top priority for the creators of VitalSource.
One of the people behind VitalSource, James Duncan Davidson, has an excellent weblog. VitalSource also has one.
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