03-18-2011, 08:33 AM | #1 | |
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Germany: eBooks not yet a mass market product
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03-18-2011, 08:43 AM | #2 |
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The German Booksellers' Association has been trying very hard to keep down ebooks as much as possible. They are routinely priced at the same level as hardcover books, but released at a later date... they'd just wish for the whole thing to go away.
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03-18-2011, 08:47 AM | #3 |
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unfortunately, ebooks aren't going away anytime soon. i love that it provides me a wide selection of books without the extra physical delivery charge (whispernet still charges me $2 though). besides, it's kind of childish of them. it's better to just confront it head on and make laws that are beneficial for both sides.
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03-18-2011, 09:33 AM | #4 |
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03-18-2011, 09:48 AM | #5 |
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Slightly surprising, I was in Germany (Munich) a few times last year and there were large iPad adverts on all of the station platforms, almost all showing it being used as an ereader, so I figured it must be a selling point there.
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03-18-2011, 10:11 AM | #6 |
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I wonder if it only seems like Germans are not buying ebooks because they are downloading them from stores outside the country? I saw dozens reading in the Berlin airport. I saw them reading in every coffee shop. In fact, i would not hesitate to say that i saw more "in the wild" in Germany than i have seen here at home.
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03-18-2011, 10:24 AM | #7 |
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If I can buy the same book for cheaper, at a site based out of the country, why wouldn't I? It isn't like you're buying low grade, bootleg copy.
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03-18-2011, 10:35 AM | #8 |
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Who offers a compelling platform (device plus store) for the Germans?
By the way, I'd assume that "compelling" includes ebooks that are actually in German. |
03-18-2011, 10:45 AM | #9 |
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addition: ebooks are pricebound the same way as pbooks but do not profit from the lower VAT pbooks do. (AFAIR)
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03-18-2011, 11:58 AM | #10 |
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Maybe we descendants of Gutenberg need a little more time to say goodbye to "real" books.
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03-18-2011, 12:50 PM | #11 |
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or need a blind guy to anounce its "Time to say Goodbye" (again)
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03-18-2011, 09:08 PM | #12 | |
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I have wondered whatever happened to them because I never see the txtr mentioned here. |
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03-19-2011, 08:22 AM | #13 | |
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Last I heard (a few weeks back) they were retrenching. I wouldn't hold my breath. As for, a compelling german ebookstore, whoever is out there had better hurry. Both Kobo and Amazon are headed there; it's a toss-up who gets there first. |
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03-19-2011, 09:04 AM | #14 |
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I bought my PRS-505 the first week it was officially sold here in Germany and got the PRS-650 last october but I have yet to buy a single e-book from a german bookstore. I get most of my books from Baen - so much easier to handle without DRM
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03-19-2011, 09:13 AM | #15 |
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There are shops like buecher.de with a reasonable selection of ebooks. Obviously they can only sell what the publishers are providing. Some publishers seem to be moving slowly into the right direction. Haruki Murakami's new novel 1Q84 (apparently not published in English yet) was a big seller in Germany last year and it was available as an ebook right from the start for a cheaper price than the HC (still a hefty 26.99 € instead of 32 € for the HC, though).
Ebook readers (mostly Sonys) are increasingly available at bookshops and consumer electronics shops. The publishers really do have to decide on the strategy they want to pursue as there is a very substantial selection of German ebooks available in the darknet. |
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