Want to bring along a library of great books wherever you go, from current bestsellers to the classics? To quote Apple’s ubiquitous iPhone slogan, “There’s an app for that.” Without question, the proliferation of smartphones is rapidly changing the way we think about mobile computing—and in the coming months and years, they may very well change the way we think about books.
Since Apple launched its App Store in June 2008, the market for apps—those little programs you download to your smart phone (iPhone, Blackberry, Palm, etc.) to make them do things other than make and receive calls—is booming. Just a year from its launch, Apple now offers more than 50,000 apps in its store, ranging from arcade games to GPS technology that can direct you to the nearest hoagie. And, of course, apps let you read books on your phone. In fact, books have become one of the most popular app genres. “The mobile platform is the place where we’re both going to replace some of our readers and add new readers,” says Hachette Digital’s senior v-p Maja Thomas. “It is absolutely a game-changing platform for us.”
Full story at Publisher’s Weekly
Recent Comments