Still Not Betting On An eBook Revolution
from the any-day-now dept
eBooks have been touted as the next big thing for quite some time now, but invariably, each new generation of the new technology fails to win over consumers. Of course, that's not going to stop the publishing industry from pursuing them in their belief that they'll be the savior of the industry. The latest iteration comes from Amazon.com, and for $500 it offers the ability to connect wirelessly to an eBook store, meaning you won't have to plug the device into a computer in order to make a purchase. For eBook aficionados, this might be a nice convenience, but it's pretty hard to imagine this feature proving pivotal to winning over the broader population. Of all the problems people have with eBooks, the fact that you have to connect them to a computer probably isn't a significant one. The above article also mentions Google's planned foray into digital publishing, as it intends to sell digital versions of books from select publishers. But it's not clear why Google thinks that customers will be particularly interested in this service. After Google's previous foray into selling digital content, with its now-defunct video store, you'd think the company would stay away from this kind of business.
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I also have a problem with old novel storage. Very reluctant to throw them away, but I run out of shelf space.
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Re:
I read books in both ebook and print format as each has its attractions. I don't think one should ever replace the other; it's simply nice to have alternatives.
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E-Ink
You could even have separate paperback and hardcover sizes... but the reality is that people are not going to use any sort of e-book until the cost comes down a LOT. If you could get one for $40 or $50, and then get new books for it for a few dollars (there is no cost to distribution, after all), a lot of people would jump on board... maybe even if the device cost ~$100.
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Re: E-Ink
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Apple
Apple just needs to get off their rear ends and do for the ebook market what they did for music distribution and pricing. Last time I checked, books were categorized as media too...
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Re: Apple
While driving you could listen to your book, and while waiting in line, you could read at a faster pace.
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Re: Apple
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DRM and Price
The other big problem has already been mentioned. Why do I pay the same price for a ebook as I do for a real book? and I have to pay for the product to read it on also.. not to mention if they decide to get into a format war.
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if i had time to read...
oh and make it cheap ;)
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More like real books
Until I can load my tech manuals in them and use as reference an eBook reader has no appeal to me. I do like my fiction books, but it's not enough for me.
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First, they have to take responsibility for marketing the readers into their own hands. If the reader is for sale at the local geek toy store, then the people who love to read aren't going to see it and think of it as an alternative. But if the readers are for sale at the local bookstore right next to a kiosk where you can buy the novel of your choice (that means any novel, in or out of print, from any publisher) on a usb stick, then the idea of reading ebooks will start to percolate out from the propeller-head crowd into the minds of normal non-techy bookworms.
Also, if the readers cost hundreds of bucks, they won't sell no matter where they're marketed. So the publishers have to subsidize the cost of the readers, either directly by selling them at a loss (less than $99, I'd say), or indirectly by offering a coupon with each reader good for ten or twenty free ebooks. Or both.
Second, ebooks have to sell for less than the cost of mass market paperbacks. Right now, ebook editions cost as much or more than paperbacks. Considering that you don't get an actual physical book for your money, that's far, far too much. Instead, charge half the cost of the cheap paperback edition -- say $5. That way it's a clear savings to buy the book in electronic format. And since there's no printing or distribution cost, and no shelf space taken up in the store, the bookstore, publisher and author can still take home as much or more profit per ebook than they make per dead tree copy.
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The problem isn't the ebook format...
"My problem with e-books is that i pay the same price for an electronic copy as I would a paper copy, especially since I need to buy a reader for a few hundred dollars."
Exactly. I have been in the printing industry for almost 30 years. It takes 100th of the time and money to create an ebook than it does a dead tree book. Pricing the electronic books the same as the dead tree is just theft.
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Not until DRM resolved
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It wouldn't be hard to get a working system
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Re: It wouldn't be hard to get a working system
So true, besides books can be "free" anyway. Just head on over to the nearest library.
The trying to keep that from happening electronically, DRM if you will, is keeping what could be a reading revolution from taking off.
Exactly. If they made some sort of check-out system, so let's say you have a library and own 1 copy of the book. Then you could read it, but if your friend wants it, let them check it out and they can read it, but you can't. That way it is more like "trading" a book rather than duplicating it.
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Re: Re: It wouldn't be hard to get a working syste
BTW, the idea of the reader deleting a library book is no big deal because: 1) It was free to begin with. 2) You can just check it out again and as may times as you want. Unlike regular books, your borrowed copy doesn't prevent anyone else from having it. 3) Lending is not an issue. All of your friends can get the books you recommend for free from the library as well. 4) Most books that people buy are only read once while spending the rest of its life on a self collecting dust (references, manuals, etc are obvious exceptions of course).
For most purposes, this is a better system then cutting down thousands of trees for books that will scarcely be used. However, it would turn the library lending system in to a tax feed subsidy for book publishers (yes taxes support public libraries too), but since they would only have to cover royalties and administration cost, that won't too be much to ask.
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price is the killer
There is only one publisher who really has embraced electronic publishing, and that's Baen books. They have a free library of ebooks that anyone can access. They are mostly older titles, usually in ongoing series. In other words, they're giving some of their content away to act as a promotion for their newer stuff. It's a page straight out of Techdirt's playbook. They also give the opportunity to buy a lot of their books in ebook format as advanced copies. A few months before publishing you get the first part, a month later, the second part and so on until you have the whole thing. These cost more, but you're paying to get access to it ahead of time and a lot of people are perfectly willing to do that. When the books are released as ebooks, they are typically $4-6, even when the hardbacks are out at $25 or whatever.
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Re: price is the killer
As a result of pretty much now only read ebooks. I have not purchased a paper book in years and have no plans to. I certainly hope that one day the whole ereader mess will be figured out and all books will become available as ebooks. BTW, I love Baen's model and I hope more publishers follow the path they are creating.
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I cant wait
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Re: I cant wait
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It's the price
I think there's a market for them... textbooks, technical books, and even some kinds of non-fiction are all things I'd rather have on the computer - where they're easily searchable, clip-able, and cite-able. But the price should be a fraction of what a physical copy would cost, not more.
(Even better, they should look into releasing advertising supported versions of books as web pages. eBooks in general do have a whiff of the NYT's failed TimesSelect program)
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Re: It's the price
Don't give publishers ideas about this, and it WON'T be a way to reduce the price of a book, but rather be viewed as a new revenue stream.
So, that textbook for your class will still cost $90, but there will be a banner ad on each page.
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Again, Codonology!
Traditionally: Useful knowledge >> stored >> re-use (in paper form taking longer time back to another brain)
Digitally: Useful knowledge >> stored >> re-use (but taking much less time back to another brain)
The difference is that a "new concept forming time" (NCFT) is significantly reduced. However, at same time, much more new concept must be absorbed by a thinker before a true new concept(s) or theory can be formulated. Now, the basic unit of conceptual content is a Codon, one "(LCP)", LawConceptPhenomenon. Therefore, to complete setting up human knowledge library, the first thing is to digitize all the books, documents, etc like what Google is doing. However, the most significant will be the things afterwards, which are that conceptualization of all the contents from the digital contents, or called "Codonization". Once it's done, such condonized system will provide spontaneous reasoning mechanism like combined brain powers from all the experts in the world. It will serve every individual in the global society at minimum cost. Although it sounds fantastic, it won't be just a dream. Let's act and see (www.Codonology.com).
Codonologist, Hua Fang
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ebooks
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When I can upload info to it then will would be more useful to me then just ebooks from the store.
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Books on iPhone
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cost is too much
1. Cost $100 or less for the reader.
2. NO DRM
3. The DRM free eBook files need a cost that is equal to or less than a standard paperback.
baen books is good if you like Sci-Fi. It's too bad there's nobody else selling eBooks at reasonable prices. I've spent a few hundred bucks over the years on reasonably priced files. If they were priced higher I'd probably not have even started reading eBooks.
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Baen
If anyone is interested, he has a very interesting discussion on the subjects of copyright, drm, and the value of promotional material on his website. The guy could practically write for techdirt with some of his views. http://www.ericflint.net/index.php/2007/04/27/eric-flint-on-drm-and-copyright/
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