Amazon left at Altar. Macmillan runs off with Apple

Posted on 01/30/10 at 2:38am by Dan Butterfield

Venture Beat and The New York Times are reporting about a sudden and surprise e-books breakup between publishing powerhouse Macmillan and Amazon.com. What’s more, the tabloids claim that Macmillan has been playing around. The paparazzi captured a shot of Macmillan sneaking into Apple’s iPad for a late night reading. What’s the root cause of the apparent breakup? An age old story … it’s the money honey. Amazon is a cheap date and Macmillan has been suffering in silence for too long. NY Times reporter, Brad Stone, has the sordid details > read

In the video below, listen carefully to the Jan 27 conversation between The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg and Steve Jobs. At one point Mossberg asks Steve Jobs about the price advantage ($9.99 @ Amazon vs $14.99 @ Apple’s iBooks) Kindle owners enjoy for certain Amazon.com ebook offerings. Jobs tactfully corrects Mossberg.

Mossberg: “[first part is inaudible] why should she buy a book for $14.99 on your device [iPad] when she can buy one for $9.99 at Amazon [inaudible]?”
Steve Jobs: “Well, that won’t be the case.”
Mossberg: “You mean you [iBooks] won’t be $14.99 or they [Amazon] won’t be $9.99?”
Steve Jobs: “The prices will be the same.”