"RIP Stanza: Casualty of iOS 5" & Stanza's Death as a Lesson for the Digital Public Library of America

From CNET Australia:

With the roll-out of iOS 5, users of the free Stanza app for e-reading are discovering that their app no longer works — and it’s doubtful that it will get an update.
[Clip]
But the worst part is that this was a known problem back in April, when iOS 5 beta testers began reporting that Stanza was incompatible with the upgrade. Lexcycle, which was purchased by Amazon in 2009, has known of the problem for months — yet no update has been forthcoming, leading to speculation that Amazon views iOS 5 as an opportunity to let Stanza quietly die out as competition to the Kindle app.

&
From: “Stanza e-book software now dead for iPad owners: Lesson for libraries and DPLA” (by David Rothman, LibraryCity)

Some lessons here for public and academic libraries and the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA)? Definitely. And here they are: Do not trust vendors on issues such as e-book formats or digital rights management or, in Stanza-style cases, even the ease of transferring files. Treat vendors fairly, and use them for technical services when this makes sense. But libraries should work toward the time when they can deal with publishers directly and when they can store books on their own servers and, if possible, with their own DRM. My own dream scenario would be no DRM, though I’m a realist. The core format standard for e-books, of course, could be ePub, which the International Digital Publishing Forum has just updated with Version 3.

Suggestion: If you’re looking for a excellent free ebook reader, take a look at Ibis Reader.

• Free
• Web App (Nothing to Download)
• Works with Computer, Laptop, Smarthphone
• eBook Discovery Catalog
• Add Your Own Book Catalogs (OPDS Compliant Catalogs)
• Reads DRM Free EPUB Books

Filed under: Academic Libraries, Companies (Publishers/Vendors), Libraries, Management and Leadership, Patrons and Users, Public Libraries, Publishing