Why Did Facebook Buy an E-Book Publisher?

August 2, 2011, New York Times.

By NICK BILTON

Is Facebook about to get into the e-book business?
On Tuesday the social network announced that it was acquiring Push Pop Press, a digital book maker that specializes in interactive books for the Apple iPad and iPhone. The e-books built by the publisher feel like movies; interactive graphics with words sprinkled about cross the page.
Could we expect Facebook to start making and selling e-books on its Web site where it would go head-to-head with Apple, Amazon and Google?
Facebook denies such a claim. A press release on the Push Pop Press Web site said, “Although Facebook isn’t planning to start publishing digital books, the ideas and technology behind Push Pop Press will be integrated with Facebook, giving people even richer ways to share their stories.”
That could be a good use of Push Pop. But there is reason for some skepticism. Facebook has made it apparent over the last few years that it is not just a social network, but an entertainment distributor, too.
Facebook has one of the largest gaming platforms in the world, with its hundreds of millions of users playing video games like Zynga’s FarmVille on the site for thousands of hours a month. Earlier this year Facebook also began testing streaming movies on its Web site in a partnership with Warner Brothers.
Facebook’s move into other forms of entertainment, like gaming and movies, demonstrates that the company is looking at other forms of revenue beyond standard advertising. Of course, it doesn’t need to own a book company to distribute books. It doesn’t own a movie studio or a game maker.
Full story at New York Times.