For years, stores had huge sales after the holidays to blowout inventory. Fast forward to 2016 and those same year end sales now extend to digital too!
Right now, Amazon is having its Marvel Comics Year End Collections Sale. It features over 300 popular graphic novels (individual issues and collections). Prices start at 99 cents and the sale runs through January 2, 2017.
These can be read on both the Kindle devices and the comiXology apps.
Today, Amazon is nixing reviews for free products except through its Vine program. In other stories, Hulu drops its subscription price, an adorable robotic dog, an extension to turn off those auto-playing videos and more. In deals, savings on Halloween costumes, a sewing machine, Angry Birds: The Movie and more.
Daily Links for Tuesday, October 4, 2016:
Amazon is cracking down on biased customer reviews (The Verge) No more reviews in exchange for free stuff. This rule does not apply to books.
Hulu drops subscription price to $6 per month… sort of (Lilputing) This is a good deal if you don’t mind the commercials. But I have to tell you, I use the commercial free option and think it is worth every penny.
Hasbro expands robotic pet line with darling golden retriever (Digital Journal) What a great idea! A lot of seniors want a pet but can’t care for them.
This Chrome extension mutes all tabs unless you whitelist them (PC World) I don’t know about you, but I loathe auto-playing videos….
Yahoo reportedly gave US government access to all users’ emails (Engadget) As if the massive data breach was not enough, let’s create a tool so the government can browse private emails at its leisure.
Meerkat Reawakens as ‘Houseparty’, a Multi-Participant Live-Stream App (Social Media Today) Just yesterday, Meerkat was over. Now, it’s reborn with a new name.
Deals of the Day:
Amazon’s selection of Kindle Daily Deals includes Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love by Sue Johnson.
In Today’s Deals, 50% off Halloween costumes, a SINGER Heavy Duty Extra-High Sewing Speed Sewing Machine, Angry Birds: The Movie, and Corel VideoStudio Ultimate X9 software.
The Echo is now available in white. There is also an All-New Echo Dot (2nd Generation) which will be available in both black and white and retails for $49.99. The Dot is also being offering in a “Buy 5, get 1 free” six-pack and a ““Buy 10, get 2 free” twelve-pack”. The new Echo Dot will be released on October 20, 2016.
The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is Insistence of Vision: Stories by David Brin (science fiction). The Romance Daily Find is Seeing Stars (The Celebrity Series, #1) by J. Sterling.
Barnes and Noble also has a selection of NOOK Books Under $2.99.
Kobo’s Daily Deal is Until Friday Night (Field Party Book 1) by Abbi Glines. The Extra Daily Deal is How To Be a Good Wife
A Novel by Emma Chapman.
Also, a selection of titles called Romance On The Ice for $4.99 or Less until October Until October 31st.
There is also a selection of Great Reads Under $5 and Bargain Reads in Fiction, in Mystery and other genres. The Kobo Aura One (and the Aura Edition 2 e-readers are now available for order at the Kobo store. (The Aura One is out of stock until October 14, 2016.)
iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes Green Earth by Kim Stanley Robinson. (This is the climate change themed trilogy updated and abridged into a single novel.)
Google Books has a selection of Hot Deals.
(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.
Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)
Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter, Facebook, and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.
Not so long ago, we heard that Amazon was going to be opening all these new bookstores. While we are hearing about the pickup locations, where are all the new stores for consumers? Also, a look at the restrictions in Sprint and T-Mobile’s new unlimited plans, how Netflix is forcing users to search for content on its own apps, a changing of the guard (sort of) for the internet’s nameservers and a fun site that lets you search for photos by drawing bad pictures. In deals, a Vizio soundbar and continued deals on Kindles, Fires and Alexa enabled devices.
Daily Links for Friday, August 19, 2016:
Netflix moved cord cutting forward; it’s also holding it back (TechHive) Is Netflix shooting itself in the foot by keeping its content out of cross-platform streaming searches?
In 44 days the US will no longer oversee the internet’s naming system (Quartz) The US will no longer have control over this key piece of internet infrastucture.
T-Mobile and Sprint’s new unlimited plans have some nasty fine print (The Verge) Don’t jump for joy just yet… there are restrictions with those new plans. If you watch video or tether your phone, these may impact you.
This site lets you search for photos by drawing bad pictures – and it’s really fun (The Next Web) Yes, this is kind of fun!
Amazon’s Launching Pickup Locations, but Where Are Its Consumer Bookstores? (Publishers Weekly) Why aren’t we seeing all those new bookstores from Amazon yet?
Deals of the Day:
Amazon’s selection of Kindle Daily Deals includes The New Neighbor: A Novel by Leah Stewart.
In Today’s Deals, a VIZIO SB2920-C6 29-Inch 2.0 Channel Sound Bar (Certified Refurbished).
Continuing for a limited time, get $15 off the regular price of the Amazon Tap and theCertified Refurbished Amazon Echo for $150. You can also get $20 off the basic Kindle and the Kindle Paperwhite. You can also find savings on the Fire HDX 8.9 Tablet (Wi-Fi and 4G LTE) and the Fire Kids Edition Tablet.
The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan. The Romance Daily Find is The Prophet by Amanda Stevens.
Kobo’s Daily Deal is One with You A Crossfire Novel by Sylvia Day. The Extra Daily Deal is The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan.
Also at the Kobo store, get 50% off select titles with a coupon code.
iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes Supergods by Grant Morrison.
Google Books has a selection of Hot Book Deals.
(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.
Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)
Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter, Facebook, and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.
Back in 2011, Amazon launched a series of short form pieces for the Kindle called Kindle Singles. Today, Amazon has announced a new series called Kindle Singles Classics.
The new series is described as “a way to make iconic articles, stories and essays from well-known authors writing for top magazines and periodicals available in digital form, many for the first time.”
According to the press release, the initial launch features over 140 works that consist of both fiction and non-fiction. A variety of writers are represented: Susan Orlean , Norman Mailer, Gloria Steinem, Lawrence Wright, Margo Jefferson, Gay Talese and Chang-rae Lee, as well as short stories from best-selling authors like John le Carré and Kurt Vonnegut.The works draw from magazines like Time, Playboy and the New York Times Magazine. Some of the pieces date back decades.
Singles Classics are priced from 99 cents and are available for free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
In the press release, Amazon does note that “writers and publishers sell their previously published work via Kindle Direct Publishing”, which means that we will probably be seeing more previously published content in the series. If the series works the same way as Kindle Singles, works will probably require approval before they can be published.
Back before Amazon established the 99 cent threshold for books and stories published for the Kindle, I used to find a large number of (undoubtedly illegal) science fiction and fantasy stories available for pennies. I remember seeing Damon Knight’s classic “Not With a Bang” priced at only 10 cents for the short story.
While I am not overly excited about a glut of old material surfacing on Amazon, there are some amazing short works, especially in the SFF genre, that I would love to read again. Many were originally published in anthologies that have been orphaned or gone out of print and are not available in e-versions. Seeing some of those works available would be wonderful!
Can I be the first to request “Whatever Became of the McGowans?”
There is a story from yesterday from Recode that’s gotten some traction in the news that says that Amazon has stopped refunding for price drops withing 7 days of your purchase. The information is based on a Reddit thread of what seemed like mostly unhappy customers.
The truth is, this is sort of a non-story. Amazon has experimented for years with dynamic pricing (where different customers may see different prices for the same item). Prime Membership status has also been a factor. (You used to be able to see a different price if you logged in in as a Prime member and a lower one if you browsed under a non-Prime account.)
Amazon officially dropped the price adjustment on most items back in 2008. Originally, the price guarantee extended to 30 days. The policy was then dropped, although some customers continued to be able to get refunds within seven days of a purchase. You can read a thread about it here on the Amazon customer forums. The thread has been resurrected several times over the last six months when customers started reporting that Amazon was no longer honoring refund requests.
According to the Recode article,
Amazon spokeswoman Julie Law told Recode the policy was always limited to televisions and that any customer who has received refunds on other products was granted an “exception.” But it’s clear that those exceptions were previously given out freely, and now they are not.
The Recode piece suggests that price-tracking companies like Earny and Paribus have played a role in Amazon’s change in their unofficial refund policy. While price tracking may be a factor, it is apparent that Amazon has paying more attention to its bottom line. A few months back, we were seeing stories about serial returners getting their accounts banned for excessive returns. One of the Reddit posters said they had asked for price drop refunds over 50 times in the last 3 years. That seems like a very high number – I’ve been an Amazon member for almost 20 years and have only asked for a price drop refund once. Given the cost of providing customer service, maybe Amazon is deciding that price drop refunds are just too expensive in the long run.
Does it matter to you whether Amazon does refunds when prices drop? Or, do you do like I do and watch prices before you buy?
Today, a look at the Kindle’s role in making Amazon the most innovative tech company. Also, how the Chromebook with Android might be an unbeatable combination, a different look at fair use, and stories on how we use information and the internet’s favorite book. In deals, savings on Rosetta Stone software, Micro SD cards and $10 off the Fire for Kids bundle.
Daily Links for Monday, May 23, 2016:
How to find wisdom in the age of information (The Next Web) We hear a lot about information overload. But how well do we incorporate that information into our lives and what’s the relationship between mere information and actual wisdom?
Chromebook + Android apps = Trouble for Windows PCs (ZD Net) If you haven’t tried a Chromebook, this may sound like hyperbole. Both if you live most of your life online (browsing, cloud storage), you’ll find very few things you can’t do with one. Adding Android apps would make for an unbeatable connection.
What is the Internet’s Favorite Book? (Priceonomics) From the Hunger Games to Harry Potter. everyone has an opinion on their favorite. What’s the collective’s opinion?
Fair Use Needs To Be Protected & All Abusers Need To Be Punished (Torrent Freak) For all the stories we hear about copyright takedowns of material that is genuinely fair use, we forget that there are people out there abusing the process too.
New subscription service Circle Go lets parents manage kids’ devices outside the home (Techcrunch) As our children are getting more and more tech at a younger age, setting limits on tech use outside the home may be really important.
I salvaged my shattered iPhone with a ‘Band-Aid’ screen cover (Engadget) Well, at least temporarily….
Why Amazon is the king of innovation: Kindle’s clout (ZD Net) An argument that Amazon is the most innovative tech company around and why.
Deals of the Day:
Amazon’s selection of Kindle Daily Deals includes The Lost Concerto by Helaine Mario for 99 cents.
In Today’s Deals, get up to 65% off Rosetta Stone Power Pack sets. There are also some deals on several brands of Micro SD cards. For a limited time, you can also get $10 off the Kindle for Kids Bundle.
The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is over 70 Jughead comics for 99 cents each. The Romance Daily Find is River Rising by Dorothy Garlock for $2.99.
Kobo’s Daily Deal is Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire for $1.99. The Extra Daily Deal is The Ending Series: The Complete Series by Lindsey Fairleigh, Lindsey Pogue for $2.99.
iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes The Book of Strange by Michael Faber for $1.99.
(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.
Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)
Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter, Facebook, and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.
Today, the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, his influence, books and a look at the film adaptations. Also, video games behind a paywall, universal languages and a browser with a built in VPN. In today’s deals, there is a Pebble Smartwatch and 14 bestsellers on sale across all retailer platforms.
Daily Links for Saturday, April 23, 2016:
White House now makes it even easier to petition the government (ReCode) The process of petitioning the White House has been somewhat convoluted. Hopefully, this will help.
Amazon locks top games behind a Prime paywall (Engadget) Do you find store exclusives distasteful? In this one, only a subset of store customers can purchase these games. What do you think?
Why a Universal Language Will Never Be a Thing (Motherboard) Do you speak Esperanto? Turns out that a universal language is more difficult than people thought for a lot of reasons.
Opera browser build adds a first: Free, unlimited VPN for secure surfing (PC World) This is still in beta, but it is a really interesting idea. I don;t know how it will play out with sites and services like Netflix that are blocking VPNS.
Disney, CBS, Viacom worry FCC cable box proposal would do to TV what iTunes did to music (The Verge)Probably a valid concern….
And for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death:
400 years after his death, here are the books that likely influenced Shakespeare (Quartz) and William Shakespeare 400th anniversary: The BFI collection of film adaptations you can watch online (The Independent). All of Shakespeare’s works can be found at Project Gutenberg for free!
Deals of the Day:
Amazon’s selection of Kindle Daily Deals includes 14 bestsellers like The Martian, Gone Girl and more. (Note: all the major e-tailers are offering these today.)
In Today’s Deals, save 40% on select Pebble Smartwatches.
Amazon is still offering savings on the Fire HD 6, and deals on pre-owned Fire tablets. I am also still seeing the option for 5 payments of $58 for the Kindle Oasis pre-order. Yes, it is still not too late to order one, especially with the basic black cover.
You can also take advantage of a trade-in offer from Amazon on your old Fire tablet.
The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is A Stained White Radiance (Dave Robicheaux Series #5) by James Lee Burke for $1.99. The Romance Daily Find is Almost a Scandal by Elizabeth Essex for $2.99.
Kobo’s Daily Deal is The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood for $2.99.
iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes The Marriage of Mary Russel: A Marry Russell short story by Laurie R. King for $1.99.
Google is having a one-day sale on bestsellers. (These are the same bestsellers a Amazon’s Kindle Deal of the day)
(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.
Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)
Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter, Facebook, and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.
I’ve been talking a lot here on the blog about the critical update Amazon has been rolling out for the older Kindles. I’ve talked about the e-mails (here), the Web messages (here), the snail mail (here), and even the the fact that Snopes.com addressed the rumors surrounding the update. There’s been no doubt that Amazon wants to make sure its customers install this critical security fix.
Today, however, Amazon took it one step further. We actually got a recorded phone call at the house from Amazon reminding us that we need to update our Kindles in order to keep accessing the Kindle libraries and Amazon’s servers. The recorded message, which was repeated twice, re-iterated the instructions on the Kindle update page and emphasized that Amazon customer service was available any time to offer assistance by calling 1-866-321-8851.
The recording instructed us to please disregard the message if we had already updated within the last few days. (We had done all of ours over the last few days.)
[Please insert Adelle “Hello” joke here.]
Did you get a phone call about your update?
Daily Links for Wednesday, February 17, 2016:
Introducing 1Password for Families (Agilebits) – New package offers password protection for the entire family for one price.
American Airlines Sues Gogo Over Slow Inflight Wi-Fi (Techcrunch) – Yep, speed is really the big issue issue, even in the skies! And, because this is the way the stock market works, Gogo stock drops 27 percent after being hit with lawsuit by American Airlines (Ars Technica).
After over two years, Google quietly ends the Google Play for Education program (9 to 5 Google) – Give the rise of Chromebooks and the faltering of iPads in schools, this is no surprise.
Ransomware takes Hollywood hospital offline, $3.6M demanded by attackers (CSO Online) – Now they are hacking hospitals?
5 Amazon shipping tricks for people who can’t afford Prime (CNET) Interesting tips for frugal shoppers who don’t have Amazon Prime!
How to check if your family, friends are sharing your Netflix account (CNET) – I had no idea you could do this. I can see how this might be useful for certain people.
Uber Is Currently Fighting the Battle That Jitneys Lost 100 Years Ago (Gizmodo) -Interesting and very relevant!
Deals of the Day:
Amazon’s Kindle Daily Deal includes Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds by Carmine Gallo for $2.99.
In Today’s Deals, Amazon is offing $30 off the Fire HD 6. You can get the 8GB version for $69.99 and the 16GB for $89.99. I have owned almost every version of the Fire tablet and this one is probably the one I use most. You can read my review of it here. Don’t forget a case. Cases like the MoKo start at $9.99. 🙂
The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is Chinese Cooking for Diamond Thieves by Dave Lowry for $2.99. The Romance Daily Find is When An Alpha Purrs (A Lion’s Pride, #1) by Eve Langlais for 99 cents.
Kobo’s Daily Deal is The Next Always: Book One of the Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy by Nora Roberts for $1.99.
iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom for $1.99.
Google Play Books has a selection of Limited-Time Deals priced at 99 cents and up.
(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.
Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)
Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.
Daily Links for Wednesday, February 3, 2016:
Amazon’s rent-a-Buddhist-monk service causes controversy in Japan (Mashable) – I know Amazon sells everything, but… really?
Amazon Brings Its Virtual Assistant Alexa To Older Fire TV Devices (Techcrunch) Alexa is coming to the Fire TV.
App Fatigue (Techcrunch) – Are there just too many apps?
Low-Income Americans Face Internet Access That Is Slow, at Risk of Disruption (ReCode) – How you access the internet is very dependent on your income level.
Kindle Update v5.7.2 Adds Open Dyslexic Font, New Home Page (Screenshots) (The Digital Reader) – Your Paperwhite and Voyage e-reader home screens are getting an update!
Deals of the Day:
On Amazon UK, The Happiness Trap: Stop Struggling, Start Living, by Russ Harris is £.99 today.
Amazon’s Kindle Daily Deal includes Twin of Ice and Lavender Morning by Jude Deveraux for $1.99 each and Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard for $2.99.
The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard for $2.99. The Romance Daily Find is Tough Love: Back to Buckhorn by Lori Foster for $1.99.
Kobo’s Daily Deal is also the Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard for $2.99.
iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu for $2.99.
Google has a selection of Limited Time Deals with prices starting at 99 cents.
(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.
Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)
Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.
The eBook Evangelist 