links for 2010-07-30

Story illusrates the promise of libraries. And problems: "(Side note: About a year ago, I tried to give my local library a stack of promotional Blu-ray movies I’d received from movie studios, figuring they'd make great loaners for library patrons. However, the friendly but puzzled library clerks — who weren’t quite clear on what a "Blu-ray" was — turned me down. I ended up putting them on the library’s "free stuff" shelf instead. Oh well.)"

“If we have a billion people using Android, you think we can’t make money from that?” Schmidt asked rhetorically. All it would take, he said, is $10 per user per year. Among other things, Google might earn such sums from selling access to digital content from newspapers.

the magazine giant has been unable to get Apple to let it sell and manage subscriptions for its iPad apps–much to Time Inc.’s surprise.

Last month, the publisher was set to launch a subscription version of its Sports Illustrated iPad app, where consumers would download the magazines via Apple’s iTunes but would pay Time Inc. directly. But Apple rejected the app at the last minute, forcing the Time Warner (TWX) unit to sell single copies, using iTunes as a middleman, multiple sources tell me.