http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/ Engadget Comments for http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 27th 2009 7:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Mar 4th 2009 8:46AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 27th 2009 7:54PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 27th 2009 9:03PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 28th 2009 1:55AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 27th 2009 7:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 27th 2009 8:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/
Capitalism is when companies compete to produce the best products and thus inadvertently improve our lives the most while they try to get rich selling products.

It requires competition. Whenever companies work in fashions such as this to reduce competition it thwarts capitalism and hurts the consumer.

That is what is happening here. Capitalism is failing to work.]]>Feb 27th 2009 8:32PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 27th 2009 9:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 27th 2009 9:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 27th 2009 10:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 27th 2009 11:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/
The market works?

Which one do you mean?
The housing market?
The securities markets?
How about media (see article "Cable Companies want a piece of the internet video pie.")?

It's stunning how badly markets are working nowadays. So many of them. Companies have just refined fooling/jerking around the customer to an art form.]]>Feb 28th 2009 3:17AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/
May the hacker fight back! Q('_' Q)]]>Feb 27th 2009 7:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 27th 2009 8:32PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/
+1

That would be one way to pressure Amazon. What good is the Kindle if suddenly there aren't big-name books available for it?
I'm not happy with Amazon's decision, but they probably had no other choice.]]>Feb 27th 2009 9:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 27th 2009 10:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/
Nerfing a feature to prop up an outdated business model is bullshit.

Let me guess, the ability to process text through TTS won't be on/off, it'll be a "premium" price? What is this, 2001?]]>Feb 27th 2009 8:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 27th 2009 8:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/
No one will be willing to pay for it either because it was advertised as a free feature on the Kindle 2. It's like giving someone a tasty cookie, then saying.. nope you can't have it anymore.]]>Feb 27th 2009 8:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 27th 2009 8:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/
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Does Amazon fear the Author's Guild or a class action lawsuit more?]]>Feb 27th 2009 8:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 27th 2009 10:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/
I'm glad they're so concerned with the comfort of rightsholders. Too bad that comfort trumps, by their own account, the LEGAL RIGHT customers have to that feature:

"Kindle 2's experimental text-to-speech feature is legal"

I know, nixing their own application is not the same as preventing users from installing their own -- but it's certainly another great reason not to buy a closed system.

Amazon is clearly modeling this device on the iPod, but it's as if they've made an iPod that only plays music from the Apple Store -- and now they've given artists the right to block the use of the equalizer.]]>Feb 27th 2009 9:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 27th 2009 9:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 27th 2009 9:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 27th 2009 9:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/
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I want content for my Kindle and if that means losing the TTS option once in a while, so be it. Authors should get paid and should have rights to the audio presentation of their work.

I don't expect a free lunch. ]]>Feb 27th 2009 9:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 27th 2009 9:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 28th 2009 11:03AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/
The alternative was likely raising the price of each book. The TTS feature is gimmick, as most of us I imagine reading books, and if we do like audiobooks would want them professionally read by humans.

The result of this is that book costs stay low and there is greater availability for each book.

Also, they avoid the chance of a costly lawsuit that could hurt book prices.

I think this is a huge win and a great way to deal with the stupid litigation by the Authors Guild... completely deny them what they were arguing about.

Win win.

]]>Feb 27th 2009 9:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/
Tightened that up for ya.]]>Feb 27th 2009 10:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 27th 2009 10:29PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 27th 2009 10:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Feb 27th 2009 10:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/27/amazon-sorta-capitulates-will-let-publishers-decide-text-to-spe/Mar 2nd 2009 11:13AM