Several of the largest book publishers in the United States plan to create a new online digital content distribution they hope can rival Amazon.com, but the actual efforts of such a collaboration may prove to be inconsequential.
Specifically, News Corp., Time Inc., Conde Nast., and Meredith Corp. hope to create a new technology that can work on numerous platforms and display text and images in color. The group also has shown an interest in creating a store to offer digital books and comics that have additional features not supported on the Amazon Kindle, or other e-book readers.
These companies publish the Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, Wired, Vanity Fair, Better Homes, and other popular newspapers and magazines.
Amazon, Sony and Barnes & Noble currently provide different formats for electronic content, depending on which product a consumer purchases.
However, most formats only have black and white support, with comics and images unappealing to view. They also have been closed off to third-party providers, though the new joint venture will support material from other content producers.
This is the latest step in an evolving feud between News Corp. and Amazon, Google, and other providers. News Corp. has been critical of the Kindle, with CEO Rupert Murdoch disappointed in the lack of revenue it receives for each monthly subscription to the Wall Street Journal.
Both newspapers and magazine editors have grown tired of sliding revenue -- as readers are now accustomed to free content from the Internet -- which has caused many newspapers to already slash jobs and close extra businesses.
The content venture by the five companies is an effort to break the stranglehold held by Amazon -- the Kindle supports Amazon's format only, so e-books not purchased through Amazon cannot be used. Furthermore, e-books are popular through Kindle, but reading digital newspapers or magazines still is disappointing, Murdoch noted.
