IE Sliding, Chrome Picking up the Slack

For the first time since 1999, Internet Explorer's share dipped below 60% in the internet browser market. Although Internet Explorer (59.95%) still has a considerable market share advantage over Mozilla Firefox (24.59%) and Google Chrome (6.73%), recent trends indicate it will continue to lose market share. According to data published by Net Applications, users are dropping IE6 and IE7 for other brands, rather than upgrading to the current IE8. And although IE8 continues to grow at a steady rate, it is simply unable to keep up with its predecessors’ losses.¹

The New Face in Town
Perhaps the most surprising development in the browser market has been Google Chrome’s rapid growth. Chrome, which Google released back in September 2008, gained .60 points in April and was the month’s biggest winner in the market share battle.² However, it remains to be seen if Chrome can unseat Firefox as the industry’s runner-up.

The Comeback Kid
With its current crop of browsers sliding, Microsoft is focusing on Internet Explorer 9 and its reputed performance improvements.³ Although IE9 is still several months away from public release, beta testers and curious parties can install its preview model here; (requires Windows Vista or later).

Will Internet Explorer make a comeback with IE9? Will you even use it? Have you ever tried Chrome?
Leave some comments below.


¹http://www.netmarketshare.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qprid=0
²http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/05/chrome-continues-surge-as-ie-drops-below-60-market-share.ars
³http://www.conceivablytech.com/796/science-research/internet-explorer-falls-below-60-market-share/

Audiobooks on CD Represent Majority of the Market, MP3 Audiobooks’ Share Miniscule

In a 2009 sales survey, Audio Publishers Association (APA) measured the growth and divisions of the one billion dollar audiobook industry. (Check out the survey results here.)

APA found that audiobooks on CD account for 72% of the audio market. And while the market share for downloadable content has increased at a noteworthy rate, audiobooks on MP3 discs have maintained a steady market share over the past few years at an unimpressive 1%.¹

On his blog, RickLibrarian cites an online AudioFile survey that found that the largest percent of audiobook listeners prefer audiobooks on CD.² And in a 2008 article entitled “A Rapidly Growing Electronic Publishing Trend,” Jan. J. Engelen cites the “the universal usability” of CDs as one of the major reasons audiobooks on CDs remain the popular choice for audiences. Additionally, Digital Rights Management (DRM) issues have made audiences, especially libraries, weary of the MP3 format: “In practice, however, DRM lead to quite a lot of customer frustration as it hindered copying in general or made it sometimes impossible to play the legally acquired files on a whole series of devices.”³

Because of its lack of market share and universal usability, Midwest Tape doesn’t currently carry audiobooks on MP3. The demand does not yet exist, and with its sluggish growth, we’re not sure when it will. We’re always keeping our eye on the industry, though.

What’s your take on the MP3-disc format? What patron feedback have you received on the many audiobook formats?

¹ http://www.audiopub.org/2009SalesSurveyRelease.pdf

² http://ricklibrarian.blogspot.com/2005/06/hear-here-audiobook-trends-in.html

³ http://elpub.scix.net/data/works/att/217_elpub2008.content.pdf

Midwest Tape Presents a Free Webinar on Collection Development Services

On Tuesday, May 11th, Inside Sales Representative Lisa Smith will lead a free webinar on Midwest Tape’s collection development services.  The webinar runs in the afternoon from 1:30 to 2:30 EST, and you can register for the webinar by following this link.

Below is a brief description of this webinar:

Collection Development Services     May 11, 2010     1:30-2:30 EST
Do you have a special collection project underway?  Whether it is as simple as a new format launch or as complex as opening a new branch, let Midwest Tape lighten the load!  In this session, we will explore how Midwest Tape's Workflow Solutions' Team can assist in building and preparing a complete collection—completely processed, cataloged and ready for your shelves.  Log on and Learn!

Have you attended our free webinars? Share your experiences and feedback here.

Is Your Fiscal Year-End Approaching? Midwest Tape is Here to Help

Summer is quickly approaching, and while that usually means barbeques, sandals, and sunscreen, for many libraries it also means the end of your fiscal year.

Midwest Tape understands your needs as a library, and it is our goal to make this process as manageable as possible.

We would like to offer you assistance in making your year-end experience successful and stress-free. Here's how we can help:

• We can provide product in hand and invoicing by a specified date.
• We can offer tools and information to assist you in tracking and reconciling your budgets.
• Our collection development team can aid you in fulfilling remaining budgets.

Let’s enjoy the summer together. Let Midwest Tape help you wrap up your year-end.

Call ahead and speak to one of our customer service representatives. It is important to give your representative time to handle your inquiries and requests.

Contact us today at 800.875.2785.

New Features for MidwestTapes.com

At Midwest Tape, we take pride in our time-saving, user-friendly website. Recently, we made some improvements to www.midwesttapes.com. Below is a list of those changes followed by a detailed description of each.

April Website Updates

• New Release Panel
• Calendar Function Enhancement
• Blu-ray and Playaway Format Separation
• Revised Help Tab 

New Release Panel
We’ve redesigned the new release panel on our homepage, adding additional collections and giving it a cleaner, brighter look. You can now select which collections within each of our formats (including Blu-ray and Playaway) you would like to view.

Click image to enlarge.

Upon hovering over a title within the new release panel, a textbox displaying product details will appear.  If you mouse away from that title, the textbox will disappear. This feature also exists on our Calendar tool.

Click image to enlarge.

Calendar Function Enhancement
We’ve added a new tab along our top header labeled Calendar.

Click image to enlarge.

Upon clicking this new tab, you’ll be directed to our enhanced Calendar (also accessible via Quick Links). The new Calendar has dropdown menus that allow you to sort by media format and collection.

Click image to enlarge.

If you click the “Art View” option, the calendar will change from the list view display to an artwork display.

Click image to enlarge.

You will now be able to view the artwork for products in order of street date.

Click image to enlarge.

Blu-ray and Playaway Format Separation
Because our Playway and Blu-ray collections continue to grow, we have separated the two from the DVD and Audiobook formats.  You will now be able to view Playaway and Blu-ray titles via the new release and Quick Links panels on the homepage:

Click image to enlarge.

Additionally, when you search for titles via SmartBrowse, Blu-ray and Playaway results will show up separate from DVDs and Audiobooks:

Click image to enlarge.

Revised Help Tab
In order to make it more usable, we have redesigned the Help tab on the webpage. We’ve now reorganized items and made all links readily accessible:

Click image to enlarge.

For questions regarding our latest website updates, please contact Customer Service at 1.800.875.2785. You can also post your questions and feedback here as comments.