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eBooks #1: ePub is to eBooks as MP3 is to music?

Zen and the Art of Nonprofit Technology

If you’ve been around the block as long as I have, you remember the days before an audio codec was settled upon. EBooks are moving into adolescence, and the question is, which format will win, or does one format have to win? Both Amazon and Barnes and Noble have DRM in their book formats.

eBook 191
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Amazon eBook pricing war: Thanks for being evil, Apple

Judi Sohn

Me, I prefer audio books. Even though Apple has an easy way to get audio books in iTunes I don't do that. Instead, I get my books from Audible where I can get a $25 audio book for a credit that only cost me around $15 a month. Apple would charge me $25 for the exact same audio book. for e-books. for e-books.

Amazon 100
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Amazon eBook pricing war: Thanks for being evil, Apple

Judi Sohn

Me, I prefer audio books. Even though Apple has an easy way to get audio books in iTunes I don't do that. Instead, I get my books from Audible where I can get a $25 audio book for a credit that only cost me around $15 a month. Apple would charge me $25 for the exact same audio book. for e-books. for e-books.

Amazon 100
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Technological Protection Measures and the Blind

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

This has created the ironic situation where blind people, who because of their disability require access to digital copies, have been effectively locked out of purchasing ebooks for the last decade. The digital content is presented as text, but the built-in read-aloud capability is disabled because of ambiguity over audio rights.

Measure 181
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Objecting to Accessibility Weaseling

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

Last week, the National Federation of the Blind and 22 organizations serving people with disabilities filed detailed objections to a petition from a group of makers of e-reader devices led by Amazon to be exempted from accessibility requirements under the relatively new Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act.

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The Struggle for Book Access (Blog Post #1)

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

I’ve been watching with interest the legal controversy over the synthetic speech capability of the new version of the Amazon Kindle, such as the coverage on Boing-Boing entitled Author's Guild claims text-to-speech software is illegal. Ebooks on PCs have had text-to-speech capabilities for years (although not always enabled).

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On the Future of Braille: Thoughts by Radical Braille Advocates

Beneblog: Technology Meets Society

The increasing focus on digital content, rather than its printed form, and the shift to electronic distribution of ebooks pave new avenues for removing the barriers to accessibility. At Benetech, we want to ensure that in this brave new world of digital content, braille is as available as any other ebook format to those who want it.

Literacy 208