Who wins? I think we do, meaning you and me, us, the consumers. Or maybe I should say, I hope we do.
Funny coincidence. I posted here yesterday about the skyrocketing sales of eBooks, and this morning my email included a pitch for a list of the 50 best free business ebooks. I’m not posting that link here, because 1.) the links on that post didn’t work; 2.) it looks like it came straight from this page, Google’s own list of free business ebooks. 
I suggest this link instead, straight to the relevant Google books page (shown here).
I’ve got a collection of eBook platforms on my devices these days: I have iBook, Kindle, and Barnes & Noble Nook on my laptop and mobile devices. I like them all, but I use Kindle software because it opens my current book on any device at the last page read.
(Aside: I gave my Kindle away; I use Kindle software on all my computers and mobile devices and they all synchronize. So the Kindle itself became obsolete.)
Then I found an analysis on the web, from World News Insight, titled Amazon Kindle vs. Google eBooks Fight of the Decade is On. They call it “the main event we have all been waiting for.” I like this suggestion, from the lead paragraph:
The stage is set and the pugilist are waiting to come out of their corner as soon as the bell rings. Amazon vs Google promises to be a great fight for online ebook supremacy. In the end though don’t worry too much because they will both come out winners with millions in sales.
This could get really interesting. We, the consumers, win as we get more options and more flexibility; and we lose if books divide up into different platforms, their own separate worlds. And authors win if the platforms open up. And I don’t know what’s going to happen with all this, but it’s become an interesting market to watch.
Tim Berry is the founder and chairman of Palo Alto Software and Bplans.com. Follow him on Twitter @Timberry.
