Timothy Höttges it is fed to a demonstration. The head of Deutsche Telekom does not tire to rail against Internet giants like Google, Apple and Facebook. Unfair are the conditions with which the Telekom must compete against these corporations. While these are likely to exercise freely in Germany, the Telekom must undergo strict regulation.
All the more reason brightens his mood when he has a small unit speaks, that has developed a device in Darmstadt behind closed doors, which has done the impossible: Amazon to rein in
The Lighthouse project. Telecom Innovation Division is Tolino and is a reader for electronic books, in short, an e-reader. “We clearly show what we can,” says Höttges. And indeed: The Tolino is in Germany more popular than Amazon’s e-reader Kindle
Hardware is similar to
. Who takes both devices in hand, will be surprised. The differences are at first glance hardly noticeable. The e-reader are about the same size and light weight. They show on their display the letters in high definition and have space for about 2,000 electronic books
Once charged they hold -. At half-hour use per day – equal several weeks without having to again to the wall socket. Anyone who wants can buy directly on the device and download electronic books. Because they have a so-called e-Ink display, the lighting does not dazzle, fatigue and hours of reading the eyes do not.
It is therefore not the Hardware that made the Tolino the flagship project. It is rather an unusual alliance that has gathered behind the e-reader. A concentration that exists in no other country in the world.
fear Kindle
Basically, has taken this alliance forged with unintentionally Amazon. After the online retailer had thrown his Kindle in March 2011 in Germany on the market, quickly, the dominance of the US company in the e-book market became apparent in this country.
It did not take much imagination to look three or four years into the future to see what should be paid to the German book market. In the upper echelons of the big bookstore chains discomfort <"p10" class = "text prefix_1 artContent" p id => grew.
They met in secret to develop a defense strategy. As a technology partner, Telekom offered. In early March 2013, the Alliance presented then together with the first Tolino e-Reader to the public. “Nowadays, everyone needs to think about where his strategic direction and its strategic interests lie, and which partner it is the right, to assert itself against the powerful American online giants,” said Michael Busch, head of Thalia Holding.
First efforts without success
The Anti-Amazon alliance existed at the beginning of the bookstore chains Thalia, Hugendubel, Club Bertelsmann, worldview and Telekom. Before experimenting booksellers and the Telekom with their own e-book strategies, including Thalia with the e-Reader Oyo and the Telekom with the Portal Page Place. But the efforts were largely unsuccessful and were overwhelmed by Amazon’s Kindle simply.
The cooperation of the traders was not without risk, they sat the Cartel but threateningly in the neck , “We can train ourselves of antitrust learning,” says one of the participants. For critical meeting lawyers sat at the table
So it was for the e-reader not unit price, though -. With the exception of short-term discounts – at the end in all but cost the same amount. Much more important: e-books were not sold centrally. Each participating bookseller on the Tolino it sells its own e-book store, through which the user can obtain its title.
Allianz has changed
This has not changed to this day, even if the alliance now looks a little different. Club Bertelsmann represents the end of a its operations, but remains a shareholder in the merger. The wholesaler Libri has now been joined.
Cheaper than currently expected of latest Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2015 no longer be before Christmas. Who wants to give to yourself or other fixed him, he should order soon. 
