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Ebooks and Google Play

I read this article about how Google is no longer offering to sell ebooks via independent online ebook stores, but only through Google Play.

Okay, I feel rather dumb, but I had to look up what Google Play was. I had actually looked at it briefly when it first came out, but haven’t even thought about it since. (Maybe not a good sign?)

It looks like an online iTunes/iBooks. However, I think you download ebooks as .epub format, which can be read on your Nook. You have to use Adobe Digital Editions on your computer, which is a free program and what you have to use to borrow most library ebooks, too. It’s also what I use when I buy ebooks from ebooks.Harlequin.com. Not my favorite interface, but it works.

Have any of use bought books from Google Play? What do you think of this?

I’m not sure how this will do. It seems like we have too many places to be able to buy ebooks. Kindle owners can only buy from Amazon. Nook owners have more options, but they tend to buy from BN.com because it’s super easy to do right on your Nook.

And I don’t know if anyone else has noticed this, but if I have ebooks from too many different places, or only playable on other ereader programs, I get confused OR I forget I own the book, and then I buy it again on my Nook without realizing it until it’s too late.
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  1. LynnFri Apr 06, 10:30:00 AM 2012

    It's my opinion that Google's trying to take over the world. I wouldn't WANT them to know what books I'm buying! The only reason I'm keeping a google account is so that I can post comments on blogs like this one more easily. I've tried other ways but it's a lot more complicate. And I would have bought books multiple times (or downloaded many copies of free ones) if it wasn't for Amazon. They let me know before it's too late.

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  2. Camy TangFri Apr 06, 03:14:00 PM 2012

    I agree, even though I'm a bit miffed with Amazon now because they're such a bully to publishers, their website is vastly superior to BarnesandNoble.com. It loads faster and it tells you when you've bought a copy (in any format) of a book. And searching for a past order is much easier on Amazon than BN.com. I'm torn about how Google will compare to BN.com. It's certainly an easier website to maneuver around in when it comes to buying ebooks, but it's a pain to go through an extra step to load the books onto my Nook with any books I buy with Google Play, when with BN.com it automatically downloads to my Nook.

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