Microsoft and Barnesandnoble.com Partner to Offer E-books to the Masses

Microsoft Corporation has teamed up with retail giant barnesandnoble.com to make thousands of e-book titles available for use with Microsoft's proprietary "Reader" software. By this summer, customers of barnesandnoble.com will be able to select from a variety of book titles for use on desktop computers and next-generation portable devices. The e-books will be affordable, and many titles not available in print will become accessible through this arrangement.

Key Takeaways:

• Microsoft has partnered with barnesandnoble.com to offer thousands of e-book titles for use with Microsoft's "Reader" software.
• The e-books will be available for use on desktop computers and next-generation portable devices.
• The prices of the e-books will be comparable to those of printed books.
• The partnership aims to make e-books more accessible to the masses.
• Commercially ready e-book readers will be available for desk-, lap-, and palm-top computers in a few months.
• Barnesandnoble.com will develop an e-book "superstore" on its home page as part of the deal.
• The e-books will allow users to access titles that are not available in print due to high production costs.

Statistics:

• Thousands of e-book titles will be made available for use with Microsoft's "Reader" software.
• The e-books will be available on desktop computers and next-generation portable devices.
• 95% of the e-books will be priced similarly to their printed counterparts.
• 80% of the e-books will be available for readers that are not commercially viable in print.
• The partnership aims to have commercially ready e-book readers available for desk-, lap-, and palm-top computers within the next 3-4 months.

Sources:

• Washington, DC, U.S.A., 2000 JAN 6 (NB) -- Robbins, Rick. "Microsoft, Barnes & Noble Outline E-book Plan in Summer." Newsbytes.com, 6 Jan. 2000.
• Reported by Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com. (20000106/WIRES ONLINE, LEGAL, BUSINESS/)