Microsoft Announces eBook Alliance With Amazon.com

Posted on August 28, 2000

Microsoft Corp. has announced that online retailer Amazon.com has selected Microsoft Reader as the preferred format for Amazon.com's future eBook store. Under a strategic alliance announced at Seybold San Francisco/Publishing 2000, Microsoft will create a customized Amazon.com version of Microsoft Reader, giving consumers the ability to purchase and download eBook titles directly from Amazon.com and read them in Microsoft Reader format.

``We are thrilled that Amazon.com, the number one online bookseller, has selected Microsoft Reader as the software that will evolve the reading experience for book lovers everywhere,'' said Dick Brass, vice president of technology development for Microsoft. ``We believe the combination of Amazon.com's incredible shopping experience and the unique capabilities and great content available with Microsoft Reader will make electronic reading a powerful new reality.''

``Books are at the heart of Amazon.com, so it is with special pleasure that we welcome the relationship with Microsoft,'' said Lyn Blake, general manager of Amazon Books. ``This represents another milestone for Amazon.com, demonstrating once again our commitment to offering our customers the widest possible range of products. eBooks are an exciting new way to read that combines the transforming qualities of literature with the unique advantages of the digital realm.''