Let’s see, you’re the No. 1 Internet search company in the world and you’ve already taken on a giant project to digitize all books. What’s your next step? Open a bookstore, of course!
Google has done exactly this by opening its Google eBookstore (books.google.com/ebooks). Some 3 million titles are available, some free, some paid. The good news is Google isn’t selling any device for reading eBooks. It figures you already have one: your computer. If you can get to Google, you can get to the books.
The titles can be read on almost any other e-reading device, including the Sony Reader and Barnes & Noble Nook. The huge exception is the Amazon Kindle. However, I do read my Amazon purchases on my iPhone or other device offering the Kindle app. Google, Microsoft Corp. and others have recently been touting the "cloud," which is just a new term for Internet storage.
If you use any online mail service, such as Google’s Gmail or Yahoo Mail, you’re using the cloud. It’s just a sexier way to refer to online storage.
I love that Google is selling digital books; it will push e-reading even more into the mainstream.
And, for times when they aren’t connected to the Internet, customers will be able to download versions of their chosen books to read offline. Pretty simple. Pretty smart.
Watch the Google video explaining Google eBooks:
