iPhone apps revisited

[Al B.]

It would be so useful to have an iPhone app for my Bruji apps. I went looking around for one, then I came across the sorry history of Pocketpedia:
http://bruji.com/articles/tag/pocketpedia/

I can't believe amazon's short-sightedness in forcing you to stop offering this app 2 years ago.

I wonder if it isn't time to revisit the topic with amazon? By now, perhaps they've realized they have little to gain in getting your app disabled. As a happy Bruji customer and a heavy amazon customer, it sure looks like a win-win to me.

Perhaps Barnes and Noble or some non-US chain (such as Canada's Chapters bookseller chain)

I also have an amazon-related feature request (syncing with my amazon wish-list); I'll post that in your feature request forum.

Here are some other apps to looks at:

• Booksearch
  Bookshopping
  Affordabook
  Kindlescanner
  Bookstores
  TLC Books
  B&N Bookstore

Here are some other big booksellers in the Anglosphere that might be more receptive to teaming:

• Chapters Indigo (Canada)
  Borders (U.S.) - currently in bankrupcty proceedings but likely to survive
  Books-A-Million (U.S.)
  Powell's (U.S) - not a chain but very large
  Waterstone's (U.K.)
  Dymocks Booksellers (Aus/NZ)

Here some used bookseller, bookfinder or book review sites to consider:

• BookFinder.com
  Alibris.com
  powells.com
  allreaders.com
  kirkusreviews.com
  booksinprint.com
  AbeBooks.com
  biblioquest.com.au
  Biblio.com
  BibliOZ.com

For DVDs, consider teaming with Netflix, IMDB or Blockbuster.

Good luck,

Al B.

[Al B.]

P.S.

1. Here's one way amazon would make $ from Pocketpedia:

When I'm browsing the library or a friend's bookshelves, if there's a book I don't want to check out immediately, or if it's a book I know I want to buy, not borrow, I jot the ISBN down on my iPod Touch.

Note that like millions of amazon customers I have an iPod Touch, not an iPhone, so amazon's app, which I believe requires wi-fi or mobile phone access to use is of no use to me.

Even if amazon were to add offline capabilities, I've used Bookpedia to catalog 100s of books I already own. I'm not about to spend many hours re-entering that data into some amazon app just because someone in a Dilbert cubicle at amazon HQ thinks I should. Amazon's web site and apps don't have anything approaching Bookpedia's capabilities for this task.


2. In the last 2 years, amazon has faced increasing competition in the ebook world -- B&N Nook, for instance, and Apple. I'd think they might be more receptive to making friends now their strategic position is under greater pressure.

I'm still puzzling over amazon's decision of 2 years ago; it just seems like such a bad decision for them when I look at their best interests.

Good luck,

Al B.

[Alex]

Thanks Al,

So far Amazon hasn't given any indication of changing their policy. In any case, we are already hard at work to solve this issue and hope to be able to bring back Pocketpedia soonish.

[judocama]

We are expecting a good review of your program for iPhone and iPad.

I still am using and still no update is fantastic.

Thanks in advance.

[Ronin]

Alex,

I need some sort of app to carry around my list of DVDs & etc. I don't know what timeframe you have in mind for pocketpedia...sooner would be better ...but is there any way to export the DVDpedia database as a text based document or anything else in the mean time?

How about posting a point of contact for Amazon for everyone to "provide feedback"?

[Nora]

Take a look at this post on our blog for some alternative ways to have your collections with you on the go. Also, one of our users wrote a very useful Evernote template and shared it with others here.

Unfortunately we don't have a point of contact with Amazon either. Like everyone else, we have to go through their website's customer service line.

[FineWine]

Alex,

I need some sort of app to carry around my list of DVDs & etc. I don't know what timeframe you have in mind for pocketpedia...sooner would be better ...but is there any way to export the DVDpedia database as a text based document or anything else in the mean time?

How about posting a point of contact for Amazon for everyone to "provide feedback"?

I too, along with all other Pedia users are hanging out for an iDevice version. But in the mean time I have managed to get my DVD & Book lists onto my iPhone4 and iPad2 using the Print, Save to PDF, Save to Desktop, then dragging it into the Books Library of iTunes and using iBooks to read it on my iDevice. I have modified the ListThick template to suit the amount of info I want to display:

Bookpedia
Cover Art
Title
Author
Co-Author
Series
Volume
Genre
Pages
ISBN
Publisher
Format
Release

DVDpedia
Cover Art
Title
Series
Director
Duration
Genre
Sound
Rated
Picture Format
Custom Field
Composer

Hope this helps

[Ronin]

Amazon says the person to write to is, I kid you not, Jeff Bezos.

I have not bothered. I suppose I should have written, but I find it difficult
To take any company seriously which has the CEO as the only point of contact.

JeffBezos@amazon.com

Have fun.

{Edit] P.S. I have not bothered to write Mr. Bezos and so I have not checked the email address out. If that one is not correct try putting a dot between Jeff and Bezos.