In its quest for an edge in the digital book market, Apple just stepped on some very big toes.
Author Seth Godin, a.k.a. “America’s Greatest Marketer,” says in a blog post that Apple is declining to carry the e-book version of his new manifesto, Stop Stealing Dreams, because the bibliography includes links to buy, from Amazon.com, hardcover versions of the books cited in his text. Apple’s rejection note cites “Multiple links to Amazon store.”
“I think that Amazon and Apple and B&N need to take a deep breath and make a decision on principle: what’s inside the book shouldn’t be of concern to a bookstore with a substantial choke on the marketplace,” Godin writes. “If it’s legal, they ought to let people read it if they choose to.”
Amazon and Apple are increasingly competing with one another, particularly following the Seattle company’s launch of its Kindle Fire tablet, challenging the iPad with a smaller and cheaper tablet. GeekWire has reached out to Apple for comment, and we’ll update this post if we hear back.
Godin’s post also appeared on PaidContent, and we spotted it via TechCrunch.
