I might be a utopist to some people but here is my take on the subject.
What I'd like is an e-copy of the book printed(
yes printed) on an inside page of a paper book using this
new scanning code . This thread a little while back went by largely unnoticed. To me it was incredible news.
Look at it this way. You buy a paper version of a book and there is a page in it where the e-version is printed. You scan it with a special device and bingo! There is your e-version, all ready to download to your reader!
The price of that electronic version would be spread to all buyers, just like wrapping and puplicity costs. Only the techno savvy will know the benefits of that page. The costs would be recovered just like the CD in that PC magazine you buy.
An other market could be instituted of selling only these specific pages, thus saving paper.
Of course I can already hear the complaints those who invested in internet reselling. We have to remember that the current ebooks are of use only to computer users who are connected, quite a small number of the population.
If we want to democratize ebooks for their practicality would'nt it be nice for those who refuse the computer or those with no means to maintain and own one, to only buy a reader and a direct link scanner? I know quite a number of people who would be happy with such a state of things, starting with me.
