ATG Article of the Week: Books & Media Move to the Clouds; Apple, Amazon, and Walmart Fight for Market Share

In an article in Information Today Newsbreaks, Nancy F. Herther says that recent announcements from Wal-Mart and Amazon are “targeted at opening up the market for ebooks and mobile apps from the control of mobile device manufacturers, especially Apple.” She further notes what “many consider to be Apple’s unfair monopoly.” Apple “filters all developer app submissions, selecting the ones it wishes to sponsor” while their distribution system is set up to sell only “those programs that work under the Apple iOS format (iPhone, iPod and iPad), freezing out anyone who doesn’t have an Apple device.” On top of that, those app developers and content owners selected by Apple “are forced to pay what insiders call the “Apple Tax,” which requires that 30% of revenue from product sales, through either iTunes or Apple’s App Store, is given to Apple.”

Hence the battle is joined and the stakes are high. Amazon’s and Wal-mart’s new cloud-based distribution systems offer a direct challenge to Apple. Naturally, Apple is not standing still and has announced its own iCloud service to be released in the fall.

Read entire article: Books & Media Move to the Clouds; Apple, Amazon, and Walmart Fight for Market Share