08-08-2010, 08:25 PM | #1 |
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Back Story: Books vs. E-Books
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/08/03/b...s-e-books.html
An interesting infographic from Newsweek. Based on their information, ebooks earn less, are bought less, and are a mixed bag socially. Now that's not to discourage any one from going ebooks, but it does paint an interesting light on the ebook craze. IE, it's still a niche market, *however*, once it stops being so, it's going to be the monster of literature, pushing more books into circulation than any other time in history (proportionally, mind you). |
08-08-2010, 09:03 PM | #2 |
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Where does the "mixed back socially" come in? Or did you mean the carbon footprint stuff?
The poster/cover doesn't give us new information, but it's a lot of fun. My only quibble with it is that most books are not sold as hardbacks. The comparison should be with paperbacks (especially when you get to the carbon footprint - because most paperbacks printed end up in a landfill). Camille |
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08-09-2010, 12:13 AM | #3 |
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Well, carbon footprint is one, and so is the fact that some places that take a very dim view of anything electronic, especially ebook readers, whereas others embrace them. There's more, but that's the two big ones they touched on.
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08-09-2010, 12:33 AM | #4 |
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What about the carbon footprint of manufacturing and shipping all those bookcases?
Nice link. Repped. |
08-09-2010, 03:46 AM | #5 |
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I saw an interesting article online (sorry, I don't remember where) that posited ebooks quickly wiping out paperbacks, and paper books becoming luxury items, much better made and fancier.
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08-09-2010, 06:29 AM | #6 |
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08-10-2010, 08:10 AM | #7 | |
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I see the ebook market doing the same thing soon, if it isn't already. The question is, when are we going to hit that invisible wall, or have we already hit it and just don't realize it? And if we have hit that wall, how long will it be before we knock it down and push past it? I'm not trying to disparage ebooks, but there's a lot of ifs here and the market is still relatively new. It could be waiting for the price of ereaders to go down a bit more (a perception of price to value), and it could merely be waiting for actual habits to change, the later being a much longer, more drawn out process. Either way, we're still only really just seeing the beginnings of this market, and it's nowhere near the explosion point as so many have predicted would happen eventually. |
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08-10-2010, 10:17 PM | #8 | |
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I would love to see a return to this. I don't know about anyone else, but I cringe when I walk down the $2 paperback aisle at Wal-Mart. I want beautifully written, beautifully bound, books on my book shelf, and they are becoming an endangered species. Regards, John Michael Hileman Last edited by Dr. Drib; 09-01-2012 at 02:37 PM. |
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08-10-2010, 10:32 PM | #9 | |
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I don't think it is possible to predict all of the potential factors that would influence the growth of the eBook market. If a company were to launch a new form of liquid paper that could be manipulated like an Ipad, but fold up and go in your pocket, I think we would see an explosion in the eBook market. It's all about application. It was largely assumed that television would kill radio, because who would want to just listen, when they could see and listen? Well, as we all know, radio is still going strong- thank God for car stereos! The morning commute has ensured the continuance of radio, at least into the foreseeable future. Regards, John Michael Hileman Last edited by Dr. Drib; 09-01-2012 at 02:37 PM. |
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08-13-2010, 09:16 PM | #10 | |
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Of course, no one can predict the future, but if ebook sales did not continue to rise sharply for at least another several years, it would be really surprising. --Maria |
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08-18-2010, 03:46 PM | #11 |
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This is true, but I get the impression that most people like to read in a comfy chair or on the porch or by the pool and don't want to drag around a laptop. I do think ereader prices will play a major role in the rise of ebooks. Once my dad can buy an ereader and an ebook for $28 instead of a hardcover for $30, I think we'll really start to see a boom in digital sales.
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08-18-2010, 04:37 PM | #12 | |
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Sure, there will always be the latest and greatest expensive models for those on the cutting edge, but I have no doubt the future holds ereaders that will be offered free with the purchase of XYZ ebook package, just as we have now with cell phones and data cards. Or maybe the term "book" will come to mean a $5 electronic gadget you can buy in the corner drugstore, that just happens to have a bunch of digital files stored in it that display on its screen... --Maria |
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08-26-2010, 01:39 AM | #13 | |
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Yep the same thing happened with the VHS machine and the DVD player. New tech always starts out being expensive and the price goes down as it becomes a more common piece of technology. I also imagine that when books were first printed there were some who didn't think much of the media that was trying to replace the scroll. And before printed books there were also hand copied manuscripts that were so valuable their owners would literally chain them to their library tables so that guests wouldn't be able to 'borrow' them. In fact as far as how valuable books were back before printing goes there was a king of france (I think one of the louis's) who was considered wealthy because of his large library which contained some 24 books. Ebooks allow you to download more than that in a single evening (if you find a good supply of free books or have the $ to buy multiple ebooks). It's a matter of perspective I think. Eventually paper books will probably be found mostly in antique stores or museums.
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