[gui-talk] Fwd: Article: In-store kiosks dispensing digital books could arrive in NewZealand in the next year

[Steve Pattison]

From: John Rae thepenguin at rogers.com
To: aebc at blindcanadians.ca

In-store kiosks dispensing digital books could arrive in New Zealand in 
the
next year

By Sue Mitchell
Computer World (New Zealand), December 06, 2007

Quote: "the system is great for people such as academics or, say, the
visually impaired, who can adjust the font of the product to suit their
needs."

New Zealand Dymocks stores could see the arrival of kiosks dispensing
digital books within the year, matching technology now being rolled out 
in
Australia.  The direction Dymocks Australian-based chief executive Don
Grover is trying to take the bookseller would flummox William Dymock, 
who
founded the company 128 years ago.

In the past 12 months, Grover has acquired rival stores and established 
an
online business using the same technology as international retailers
Wal-Mart, Tesco and Home Depot.  Now he is leading an ambitious push for
Dymocks to truly embrace the digital age, something booksellers in 
Australia
have struggled to achieve. Last month, Dymocks expanded its online 
offering
to include more than 120,000 digital books customers can download at 
home or
using in-store kiosks and a Dymocks-branded USB stick.

Those kiosks could arrive in New Zealand in the next year, says Dymocks
resale business manager Doris Mousdale. She says the system is great for
people such as academics or, say, the visually impaired, who can adjust 
the
font of the product to suit their needs.

"There's a whole new generation that will access books in a 
'non-paper'way,"
she says.

Grover, who took the helm of Dymocks four years ago after 25 years at 
David
Jones, wants to take on Amazon in online book retailing and has 
foreshadowed
expansion into new categories to take advantage of its new-found 
strength.

"We want to be one of the world's best multi-channel retailers," Grover
says. "We have a successful website and successful bricks-and-mortar
business, and we're now going to have kiosk functionality in our stores 
with
downloadable digital material.

"We're not just restricted to books in terms of digital delivery. 
Dymocks is
in the entertainment business, and you might find us heading off into 
other
areas that make sense for our customers."

Grover has no intention of alerting his competitors to his plans, but 
one
project already under way is developing the capability to print books on
demand.

Grover expects Dymocks's web business to triple over the next five 
years,
with digital books accounting for 25% of that growth. He wants to 
increase
the range of books available in-store, online and digitally from about
500,000 to about 4.5 million.

"On that pathway we start to become very significant competitors of 
Amazon
and other pure-play online businesses," he says.

Dymocks has 84 stores in Australia and New Zealand, most of which are
franchised, and accounts for more than 18% of the $1.2 billion 
Australian
book retailing market.

While international publishers have embraced digital books, most 
Australian
publishers have yet to come to grips with issues such as digital 
copyright.
"It's tough enough in rights when you're printing a book," says 
Australian
Publishers Association chief executive Maree McCaskill.

"Digital rights is a different landscape altogether."

- Australian Financial Review, with New Zealand reporting by Rob O'Neill


http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/8320646865939C99CC2573A6000D47A8

Regards Steve
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