Australians will now be able to purchase eBooks over the counter at bricks-and-mortar stores next year using a new technology that has been made specifically for book publishers.
Chief executive of the Australian Publishers Association, Maree McCaskill, said that eBooks had not taken off in Australia yet due to cost and availability issues, and that a new distribution system would be part of a fix.
“This new system will allow Australians to download digital books quickly and simply via participating bookstores,” she said in a statement.
“Australian booksellers have been looking for an industry solution to enable them to participate in this market, and this system will minimise risk for them in a fast-moving landscape.”
The program, called TitlePage, will be accessible during the first half of 2010.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
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