While the publishing world obsessed over Amazon (AMZN) and Macmillan’s continuing showdown, another story broke about Apple (AAPL) and changes to a popular eReader application owned by Amazon.
At Apple’s request, the makers of the iPhone and iPod Touch reader Stanza removed the application’s ability to transfer books between a PC and Stanza using a USB cable. This missing feature caused debate around the eBook side of the Internet. The LA Times scored this explanation from Apple: “We requested Stanza remove the USB functionality in their app as it was a simple case of the developer using private APIs in violation of the developer agreement.”
Our digitally obsessed sibling did some reporting last night, getting to the bottom of this technical, but important story. Here’s an excerpt: “You actually have to be registered as an app developer with Apple in order to log in to Apple’s iPhone Dev Center and access the SDK, of which the agreement is a part. But, a source with access to the SDK pointed eBookNewser toward Apple’s agreement, which was recently altered, forcing Stanza to make the change to their app.”