'10 Days in Google Books' game will award 30 Sony eReaders to contest participants.
In the guise of a game, Google today announced that it would be giving away 30 eBook Readers over the next 10 days to promote its expensive, controversial and unloved Google Books service. Participants have a chance of winning the eBook reader by playing the 10 Days in Google Books game. Each day three participants will win a reader and the first 20,000 people to play will win a sticker that advertises Google Books.
According to The Official Google Blog, readers click through Google Books to answer such trivia questions as: Which infamous book thief got caught stealing from the Chicago Public Library and was later acquitted on grounds of insanity? How many European cities are mentioned in Karen Fowler’s “The Jane Austen Book Club?” And can you figure out what curious objects Dorothy is picking from a tree in this illustration from Frank Baum’s “Ozma of Oz?”
This is a nice vote of confidence for Sony’s reader which didn’t receive much love when pitted against Amazon’s Kindle in a review by eBookReadersResource.com. The review doesn’t mention that the Sony supports PDF files, and Sony has a touch screen (which some say makes the text harder to read on the screen). Of course, Amazon’s Kindle uses its own proprietary format, designed to sell more books from Amazon (a company which is, after all, a bookseller). So it’s not a surprise that Google is throwing its considerable weight … and giant controversial Google Books library, behind Sony.
Here’s a comparison.
Can Android apps hold a candle to iPhone apps?
Privacy group voices opposition to Google Books deal
EU to investiage Google Book deal
It’s Lonely At The Top
Google loves patents, applies for 30 in the past three months
Ex-Googler says Chrome OS will be a vastly different OS but won’t displace Windows
Despite DOJ scrutiny, Google adds new features to Google Books
Subscribe to all Google Subnet bloggers or Follow Google Subnet on Twitter
