E-Book Fans Keep Format in Spotlight

DMcCunney · 10-22-2009, 04:49 PM

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/te...1books.html?em
______
Dennis

AnemicOak · 10-22-2009, 04:52 PM

This article caused a bit of a blow up with some authors attacking the lady who shares books with other Kindle's on the same account...

http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009...ht-rights-too/

phenomshel · 10-22-2009, 04:55 PM

Thanks for the link, Dennis. Is it just me, or is anyone else thinking "duh" right about now? We've all known this for a long time, and the NYT and mainstream are just now catching up?

JSWolf · 10-22-2009, 05:03 PM

There is no difference in what this lady is doing then for her group of friends to buy one pBook and share that. The only difference is that they can read the same book at the same time. Otherwise, it's still one book shared between up to 6 friends.

Kali Yuga · 10-22-2009, 05:45 PM

I agree with JSWolf. *gasp*

If they are all willing to share an account, that's their business. Chances are they'd just swap paper books within the group anyway.

Otherwise, unfortunately I do have to agree with what some of the publishers are saying. Due to the cost of an ebook reader, so far most of the "ebookers" are likely to be on the high end, and competition for leisure time hasn't fundamentally changed. It also seems like the question isn't as much volume as revenue; buying more books may not be great for the publishers if it results in a net loss of revenue.

That said, I do think the publishers need to be prepared for the growth of ebooks. Hype is high right now, and I don't think paper books will permanently go away, but I do think that increases in ebook sales are very likely to come at the expense of paper books sales, especially hardcovers. I'm not sure that digging trenches will turn out to be the best tactic.

fugazied · 10-22-2009, 06:50 PM

"Amazon for example, says that people with Kindles now buy 3.1 times as many books as they did before owning the device. "

Love that figure.. Ebooks can revitalize the publishing industry and will save it from the same fate as newspapers and other print media. People stopped carrying books, soon everyone will have 1000 books in their pocket at all times with simple devices like the iPhone/Kindle. Talk about market saturation!

10-22-2009, 04:49 PM	#1
DMcCunney Wizard Posts: 2,836 Karma: 13977 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Tapwave Zodiac 2, Fujitsu Lifebook p2110 w/ FBReader	E-Book Fans Keep Format in Spotlight http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/te...1books.html?em ______ Dennis

10-22-2009, 04:52 PM	#2
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 2,597 Karma: 8713 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: Opus / Kindle 2 / Sony 505 / HTC Hero (Android Phone)	This article caused a bit of a blow up with some authors attacking the lady who shares books with other Kindle's on the same account... http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009...ht-rights-too/ __________________ ~Brian "The test of any good fiction is that you should care something for the characters; the good to succeed, the bad to fail. The trouble with most fiction is that you want them all to land in hell, together, as quickly as possible." - Mark Twain

10-22-2009, 04:55 PM	#3
phenomshel Wizardess Posts: 1,722 Karma: 7899 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: The Frozen North (aka Illinois, USA) Device: ASUS T91MT (Li'l Bit); BB Curve	Thanks for the link, Dennis. Is it just me, or is anyone else thinking "duh" right about now? We've all known this for a long time, and the NYT and mainstream are just now catching up? __________________ Shel I don't see why so many think it's some kind of zero sum end game where either dedicated readers or multifunction tablets or anything else has to win. There's plenty of room for all kinds of devices that serve their own specific niches. ~dmaul1114

10-22-2009, 05:03 PM	#4
JSWolf Mobile Reader Geek Posts: 17,388 Karma: 21146 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Sony Reader PRS-505	There is no difference in what this lady is doing then for her group of friends to buy one pBook and share that. The only difference is that they can read the same book at the same time. Otherwise, it's still one book shared between up to 6 friends. __________________ Jon If you want to listen to really good music while you surf Mobileread, here.

10-22-2009, 06:50 PM	#6
fugazied Wizard Posts: 1,119 Karma: 1240 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: iPod Touch	"Amazon for example, says that people with Kindles now buy 3.1 times as many books as they did before owning the device. " Love that figure.. Ebooks can revitalize the publishing industry and will save it from the same fate as newspapers and other print media. People stopped carrying books, soon everyone will have 1000 books in their pocket at all times with simple devices like the iPhone/Kindle. Talk about market saturation! __________________ Using: Kindle DX + iPhone! EBook Fanatic!

10-22-2009, 05:45 PM	#5
Kali Yuga Professional Contrarian Posts: 563 Karma: 3577 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Kindle 2	I agree with JSWolf. gasp If they are all willing to share an account, that's their business. Chances are they'd just swap paper books within the group anyway. Otherwise, unfortunately I do have to agree with what some of the publishers are saying. Due to the cost of an ebook reader, so far most of the "ebookers" are likely to be on the high end, and competition for leisure time hasn't fundamentally changed. It also seems like the question isn't as much volume as revenue; buying more books may not be great for the publishers if it results in a net loss of revenue. That said, I do think the publishers need to be prepared for the growth of ebooks. Hype is high right now, and I don't think paper books will permanently go away, but I do think that increases in ebook sales are very likely to come at the expense of paper books sales, especially hardcovers. I'm not sure that digging trenches will turn out to be the best tactic.

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