Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg
... whether there are high-production-cost genres, such as responsible, heavily researched, investigative journalism, that will decline (even more than it has already declined) without scarcity.
|
That's possible, but we're talking about libraries and books here, for the most part. I don't get my news from there, and I do subscribe to a daily newspaper.
Quote:
I fail to see the harm if people, who can afford it, buy the eBooks, while the rest of us wait a bit. To me, financing the production of these books through voluntary payments from the affluent, while I have to wait a bit or accept a slightly non-preferred form factor, is ideal from a social-democratic standpoint.
|
As I've said, I'm neither against paying for books I read as such, nor do I fail to see the need for a workable system of author compensation. I just don't think that carrying on as though nothing had changed is the best solution for any party involved, including the authors; perhaps they only ones it really seems to suit are the publishers.
Quote:
TV shows? Here they have laid off the professional writers and actors because the production cost of reality shows is much lower.
|
There still seems to be a market for original shows, financed via commercials, and sales via iTunes or DVDs. I can get my regular shows for free via Hulu or the station's website, as long as I'm willing to put up with a few commercial breaks (or buy the whole thing for a few dollars, or download for free if I should be so inclined.)
Quote:
... and some chapters are held back.
|
Not at my university. Perhaps a different licensing deal? I know our students get the full text of all the books. We just renewed our contract for an undisclosed sum for all the books from 2008 - 2013. That said, it's just an example, there are similar deals, databases etc. As a rule, librarians abhor DRM.
Quote:
DRM'd books are vastly more convenient for getting the text onto my Kindle Keyboard than the Springer model. And Overdrive doesn't hold back chapters to get me to buy the book!
|
Yo know what's
most convenient? Exactly, no DRM at all. Nobody eber bought anything because of DRM. Sometimes people are willing to put up with it, sometimes not, but it's never a selling point for the actual users.
Quote:
I've seen this claim a few times, but I don't believe it.
|
Well, I do. I have a professional interest of going there from time to time, and I can tell you that between binary newsgroups, IRC and more than a handful of websites there is
very little that's not out there. This is certainly true for current fiction ebooks, but not just them.