"Amazon may change its advertising in 2012 and later years, and it would not serve the college store industry well if we were to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars litigating about advertisements that may no longer be used in the future," said NACS President Danny Key, CCR, Director of Bookstore Services at Wingate University, Wingate, NC.
The lawsuit arose because NACS filed a proceeding with the Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Division (NAD) complaining about Amazon's textbook price comparisons used in the 2011 spring semester. That advertising claimed students could save "up to 60%" on new textbooks, "up to 90%" on used textbooks, and that they could receive "up to 60%" on buy-back when dealing with Amazon.
Before the NAD could address whether Amazon's ads were substantiated, Amazon filed suit against NACS in federal court in Seattle seeking a judgment that its claims were neither false nor misleading under the federal Lanham Act. When Amazon filed its federal case, NAD decided not to consider the NACS complaint.
NACS sought to have the federal case dismissed on jurisdictional grounds, but the court denied the motion.
As part of the settlement process, Amazon provided NACS' attorneys, on a confidential basis, with the methodology by which it substantiates its savings claims and the results of its substantiation. While not endorsing the substantiation methodology or the results obtained, NACS agreed that it was sufficient to determine that there is no current dispute about the advertising that NACS had questioned in its NAD complaint. As a consequence, NACS and Amazon agreed to settle the litigation with no money being exchanged and an agreement not to challenge each other about substantially similar claims for at least one year.
Truth in Advertising Paramount
NACS is pleased that it was able to resolve this case efficiently, and that it has brought to the forefront once again the need for all retailers, whether physical stores or on-line sellers, the need to substantiate the claims that they make in their advertising.
NACS is convinced that students receive the best value for their textbook-buying dollars by purchasing course materials, whether in print or online, in or through the college store. Whether the student wants a new physical book, a used book, a course-pack, a rental, or an electronic book, the college store offers a range of options at the best value, and it remains the most accessible, user-friendly option for college students, while also supporting higher education.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Saturday, February 25, 2012
THE AMAZON STORE OF MY DREAMS
Michael Kozlowski of Good E-Reader is reporting that Amazon.com plans to open a retail store in the Seattle area in the coming months. The store will supposedly feature Kindle e-readers and tablets as well as other products, and is said to be an experiment to see if a chain of such outlets would make sense.
As a long-time Amazon addict–I suspect I give it more of my money than I do any other single merchant–I instinctively like the idea of an Amazon store.
(MORE: Amazon Said to Be Opening Its First Brick-and-Mortar Store)
I also understand why Amazon itself might like like the idea of such an establishment. Lots of people will order a Kindle over the web, sight unseen, but some folks would prefer to try one in person. And while Kindles are available at a bevy of retailers these days–everywhere from RadioShack to airport shops–Amazon has little or no control over the quality of the salesmanship provided by its retail partners. None of them offer an Apple Store-level shopping experience. Or, really, anything as pleasant as Amazon’s own website.
But how should Amazon translate its (mostly) wonderful online experience into a retail environment?
Part of Amazon’s online wonderfulness is the phenomenal selection–gazillions of products offered by Amazon itself, and gazillions more from third-party sellers. No store that Amazon is likely to open will try to recreate that endless choice in brick-and-mortar form, and that’s OK.
It would be cool, however, if Amazon tried its hand at other sorts of gadgets besides e-readers and tablets. It already several house brands and offers a somewhat random assortment of AmazonBasics products. If there were Amazon HDTVs or Amazon set-top boxes or Amazon phones, I’d consider buying them at an Amazon store.
Read more: http://techland.time.com/2012/02/07/the-amazon-store-of-my-dreams/#ixzz1nQXrWWWC
As a long-time Amazon addict–I suspect I give it more of my money than I do any other single merchant–I instinctively like the idea of an Amazon store.
(MORE: Amazon Said to Be Opening Its First Brick-and-Mortar Store)
I also understand why Amazon itself might like like the idea of such an establishment. Lots of people will order a Kindle over the web, sight unseen, but some folks would prefer to try one in person. And while Kindles are available at a bevy of retailers these days–everywhere from RadioShack to airport shops–Amazon has little or no control over the quality of the salesmanship provided by its retail partners. None of them offer an Apple Store-level shopping experience. Or, really, anything as pleasant as Amazon’s own website.
But how should Amazon translate its (mostly) wonderful online experience into a retail environment?
Part of Amazon’s online wonderfulness is the phenomenal selection–gazillions of products offered by Amazon itself, and gazillions more from third-party sellers. No store that Amazon is likely to open will try to recreate that endless choice in brick-and-mortar form, and that’s OK.
It would be cool, however, if Amazon tried its hand at other sorts of gadgets besides e-readers and tablets. It already several house brands and offers a somewhat random assortment of AmazonBasics products. If there were Amazon HDTVs or Amazon set-top boxes or Amazon phones, I’d consider buying them at an Amazon store.
Read more: http://techland.time.com/2012/02/07/the-amazon-store-of-my-dreams/#ixzz1nQXrWWWC
Friday, February 24, 2012
Amazon takes a company's e-books out of stores after disagreement
Five thousand of IPG’s books were taken out of the book giant’s Kindle e-book store. Paper versions of IPG’s books are still available on Amazon’s website.
“They decided they didn't like the terms we offered,” Suchomel said of the contract dispute between IPG and Amazon. “And we said, 'We're not going to change,' and they removed [the e-books].”
Would Google hire you? 10 test questions to find out
He said he didn’t feel he could further discuss the disagreement between the two companies.
“Amazon has issues with us talking too much,” Suchomel said.
IPG is the second-biggest distributor of books published independently in the country. Mark Suchomel, president of IPG, told the Chicago Tribune that e-book sales on Amazon only accounted for about 5 percent of the company’s earnings, so there isn’t any possibility that the removal of their e-books will cause them to go out of business.
“If they want to buy our books, they can buy them,” Suchamel said of Amazon. “We are happy to deal with them.”
Amazon didn't return calls for comment, said the Tribune.
“They decided they didn't like the terms we offered,” Suchomel said of the contract dispute between IPG and Amazon. “And we said, 'We're not going to change,' and they removed [the e-books].”
Would Google hire you? 10 test questions to find out
He said he didn’t feel he could further discuss the disagreement between the two companies.
“Amazon has issues with us talking too much,” Suchomel said.
IPG is the second-biggest distributor of books published independently in the country. Mark Suchomel, president of IPG, told the Chicago Tribune that e-book sales on Amazon only accounted for about 5 percent of the company’s earnings, so there isn’t any possibility that the removal of their e-books will cause them to go out of business.
“If they want to buy our books, they can buy them,” Suchamel said of Amazon. “We are happy to deal with them.”
Amazon didn't return calls for comment, said the Tribune.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
The Amazon Store? Maybe Try an In-Store Shop First
Five years ago, Amazon sold no physical merchandise of its own. Today, it sells five Kindle devices — more, if you count models with or without advertising or 3G wireless — plus a wide range of cables and accessories, both for the Kindle and now, for other devices.Hyper Smash
Amazon’s shift from electronics retailer to electronics manufacturer was scoffed at by many at the time, but it’s since transformed the company.
Nevertheless, Amazon still has nowhere near as much company-branded hardware as Apple or even Microsoft. It sells the bulk of its Kindles through its own online superstore. It’s managed to get Kindle readers into retail stores all over the U.S. without hanging up a single shingle. So why would Amazon be interested in opening up a boutique shop of its own?
Amazon’s shift from electronics retailer to electronics manufacturer was scoffed at by many at the time, but it’s since transformed the company.
Nevertheless, Amazon still has nowhere near as much company-branded hardware as Apple or even Microsoft. It sells the bulk of its Kindles through its own online superstore. It’s managed to get Kindle readers into retail stores all over the U.S. without hanging up a single shingle. So why would Amazon be interested in opening up a boutique shop of its own?
Kindle Fire Hits Four Million Sales Estimate For Q4, Says IHS
Amazon’s Kindle Fire chomped away at Apple and Samsung’s tablet market shares in the fourth quarter of 2011
On February 19, 2012 by Clint Boulton eWEEK USA 2012. Ziff Davis Enterprise Inc. All Rights Reserved 0
Amazon managed to sell 3.9 million Kindle Fire tablets during the fourth quarter, living up to analysts’ sales estimates for the seven-inch Android slate before it launched 15 November for $199 (£126), said researcher IHS iSuppli.
The Kindle Fire grabbed 14.3 percent of the nascent tablet market. That is good for Number Two in a market segment easily dominated by Apple’s iPad, which with 15.4 million units sold commanded 57 percent of Q4 tablets sales.
On February 19, 2012 by Clint Boulton eWEEK USA 2012. Ziff Davis Enterprise Inc. All Rights Reserved 0
Amazon managed to sell 3.9 million Kindle Fire tablets during the fourth quarter, living up to analysts’ sales estimates for the seven-inch Android slate before it launched 15 November for $199 (£126), said researcher IHS iSuppli.
The Kindle Fire grabbed 14.3 percent of the nascent tablet market. That is good for Number Two in a market segment easily dominated by Apple’s iPad, which with 15.4 million units sold commanded 57 percent of Q4 tablets sales.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
amazon kindle/The online giant hopes it's created the ipod of digital books.
Amazon's portable, handheld reader, which allows users to download digital versions of books, newspapers, and magazines, represents one of the first consumer uses of a low-power, easy-to-read electrophoretic display. The $399 device is a breeze to use, and though the company has not disclosed sales numbers, demand quickly outstripped supply. However, the success of the Kindle may depend on consumers' willingness to bear the price of using it: though e-books, at $9.99, cost less than most physical books, newspapers, blogs, and other content available free on the Internet will cost money (for instance, $1.99 per month for Slashdot and $13.99 per month for the New York Times).
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Puzzles improve math skills
An important context for figuring out problems through reasoning is puzzle play, say researchers at University of Chicago.
Psychologist Susan Levine and colleagues recently conducted a study that found 2-4 year-old children, who play with puzzles, have better spatial skills when assessed at 4 1/2 years of age.
After controlling for differences in parents' income, education and overall amount of parent language input, researchers say puzzle play proved to be a significant predictor of spatial skills--skills important in mathematics, science and technology and a key aspect of cognition.
"As early as the preschool years and persisting into adulthood, there are individual and gender differences on certain spatial tasks, notably those involving mental rotation [of objects]," the researchers write in their report, published in Developmental Science. "These variations are of considerable interest because of their reported relation to mathematics achievement."
Improvements in math education are a point of emphasis for the National Science Foundation, which partly funded the study. "This study brings greater awareness of the learning opportunities for children in everyday activities," said Soo-Siang Lim, program director for the NSF's Science of Learning Centers Program. "It is important because this and follow-up studies could potentially lead to relatively easy and inexpensive interventions to improve spatial skills important for STEM education."
STEM education involves science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities such as early puzzle play may lay the groundwork for development in these areas. In particular, the ability to mentally transform shapes is an important predictor of STEM course taking, degrees and careers, say researchers.
"The children who played with puzzles performed better than those who did not on tasks that assessed their ability to rotate and translate shapes," said Levine, a leading expert on mathematics development in young children.
The study was the first to look at puzzle play in a naturalistic setting. The researchers followed 53 child-parent pairs from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds for a two-year period. Researchers recorded parent-child interactions on video during 90-minute sessions that occurred every four months between 26 and 46 months of age.
The researchers asked the parents to interact with their children as they normally would and about half of the children in the sample played with puzzles at least one time. Higher income parents tended to engage children with puzzles more frequently. Both boys and girls who played with puzzles had better spatial skills, but boys played with more complicated puzzles than girls, and the parents of boys provided more spatial language during puzzle play and were more engaged in the play than the parents of girls.
The boys also performed better than the girls on a mental transformation task given at 54 months of age.
"Further study is needed to determine if the puzzle play and the language children hear about spatial concepts actually causes the development of spatial skills and to examine why there is a sex difference in the difficulty of the puzzles played with and in the parents' interactions with boys and girls," said Levine. "We are currently conducting a laboratory study in which parents are asked to play with puzzles with their preschool sons and daughters, and the same puzzles are provided to all participants.
"We want to see whether parents provide the same input to boys and girls when the puzzles are of the same difficulty," Levine said. "In the naturalistic study, parents of boys may have used more spatial language in order to scaffold their ability to put more difficult puzzles together."
Alternatively, the difference in parent spatial language and engagement may be related to a societal stereotype that males have better spatial skills. "Our findings suggest that engaging both boys and girls in puzzle play can support the development of an aspect of cognition that has been implicated in success in the STEM disciplines," Levine sai http://www.nsf.gov/
Friday, February 17, 2012
What is kindle fire
The Kindle Fire is about to be released and people want to know if it lives up to the hype. In a word: Yes. The Fire is best for those that want a tablet PC that handles all of the most important functions and does away with some of the least used functions found on other tablet PCs like the iPad 2. This focus on the most important functions of a tablet PC has allowed Amazon to offer the Fire at an incredible price-point of only $199. If you always wanted to get a tablet PC but couldn’t afford something like the iPad 2, this is for you.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
how to select a good proper toy for your kid
toys for kids
What some parents forget is that toysfor kids play a crucial role in the development of their child. They can help your kids improve their spatial reasoning skills, encourage their creativity, help them learn how to interact with other ,children, improve their memory and even encourage them to be more physically active. For these reasons, it is important for parents to take a more active role in choosing what toys their kids should play with..
In choosing a toy, always try to focus on the right balance of "educational" and "fun". pick a toys that focuses too
much on the "fun" aspect and you deprive your kids of the benefits of a very useful educational tool; choose a toy that is very "educational" and your kids would consider them as duty or homework.
Buying Toys for kids plays an essential and basic role in the evolving of kids. Unlike when we buy from online
wristwatch sales where it's fine to just choose the item that would look good most on us, buying toys for kids should involve more broad thought. Use these tips and reminders to ensure that you only buy the best kinds of toys for your kids.
Buying toys for children is no child play. If you have gone buying from a toy store recently, you know this to be
true. Buying toys for kids can be a very tedious job. There are a few things we need to remeber when choosing toys.
Not only do we want safe toys, but also useful toys, toys, which help our kids in their development. The unsuitable toy could end up damaging the kid instead of leading towards the development.
while buying a toy for your kid,choosing one that is age appropriate is a must if you desire your child to enjoy the toy,
and if we intend the toy to help with the development of the child. So while a skipping rope will be a good toy for a 6 year old, it will be a useless and even harmfull toy for an infant. Most toys come with age range noted on them, and this helps one to judge if the toy will be age appropriate for our kids
The toy manufacturers usually know their stuff. If it labeled "Not for babies" then it's not a baby toy. Maybe your 3-year-old is ready to play checkers, but toys with small parts should be kept out of reach and little kids should only play with a grownup. put in mind that many injuries and deaths from toy schoking happen to kids as old as 10 or 11. Choking isn't only threatening babies and toddlers!
In fact Times are tough! But it is wise to have one $10 toy than 10 $1 toys. the point is about how toy companies can possibly produce, package, import and sell that toy for just a buck! Many companies cut corners by outsourcing their toys to cheap manufacturers and sometimes quality fails.
Consider that safety is the key while buying toys for kids, no matter the age of the kid, Is the child mature enough to handle and understand the toy? While a child may want what's advertised in the latest TV ad campaign, purchasing age-appropriate toys is the best way to making sure that your child will have a fun, interesting, and safe childhood.
What some parents forget is that toysfor kids play a crucial role in the development of their child. They can help your kids improve their spatial reasoning skills, encourage their creativity, help them learn how to interact with other ,children, improve their memory and even encourage them to be more physically active. For these reasons, it is important for parents to take a more active role in choosing what toys their kids should play with..
In choosing a toy, always try to focus on the right balance of "educational" and "fun". pick a toys that focuses too
much on the "fun" aspect and you deprive your kids of the benefits of a very useful educational tool; choose a toy that is very "educational" and your kids would consider them as duty or homework.
Buying Toys for kids plays an essential and basic role in the evolving of kids. Unlike when we buy from online
wristwatch sales where it's fine to just choose the item that would look good most on us, buying toys for kids should involve more broad thought. Use these tips and reminders to ensure that you only buy the best kinds of toys for your kids.
Buying toys for children is no child play. If you have gone buying from a toy store recently, you know this to be
true. Buying toys for kids can be a very tedious job. There are a few things we need to remeber when choosing toys.
Not only do we want safe toys, but also useful toys, toys, which help our kids in their development. The unsuitable toy could end up damaging the kid instead of leading towards the development.
while buying a toy for your kid,choosing one that is age appropriate is a must if you desire your child to enjoy the toy,
and if we intend the toy to help with the development of the child. So while a skipping rope will be a good toy for a 6 year old, it will be a useless and even harmfull toy for an infant. Most toys come with age range noted on them, and this helps one to judge if the toy will be age appropriate for our kids
The toy manufacturers usually know their stuff. If it labeled "Not for babies" then it's not a baby toy. Maybe your 3-year-old is ready to play checkers, but toys with small parts should be kept out of reach and little kids should only play with a grownup. put in mind that many injuries and deaths from toy schoking happen to kids as old as 10 or 11. Choking isn't only threatening babies and toddlers!
In fact Times are tough! But it is wise to have one $10 toy than 10 $1 toys. the point is about how toy companies can possibly produce, package, import and sell that toy for just a buck! Many companies cut corners by outsourcing their toys to cheap manufacturers and sometimes quality fails.
Consider that safety is the key while buying toys for kids, no matter the age of the kid, Is the child mature enough to handle and understand the toy? While a child may want what's advertised in the latest TV ad campaign, purchasing age-appropriate toys is the best way to making sure that your child will have a fun, interesting, and safe childhood.
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