Quote:
Originally Posted by delphidb96
What needs to happen is getting dedicated ebook readers out to students, preferrably middle-school and high-school, but even college students would do for now, and get them in the habit of thinking about a decent-sized screen and ease-of-use that counter-balances the cost of the device. But it's still a drawn-out process.
Until buying a dedicated book-reader becomes a Hundred-Dollar purchase and the vast majority of new titles are released in the MMPB price range, most people are not going to want to own one.
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If you look at my posts here you'll see that I've always said the same. The academic market needs a decent sized screen (10 inches) and they can afford it. The same goes for heavy documentation consumers of short-lived info. Specially lawyers and doctors. They can afford a reader in the $800-900 range.
Plus academic publishers are a relatively small community, agreements would be easier, and relevant content could be available rather quickly.
And n a large screen reader you can easily charge a premium if you project small sales.
The way I see it Universities should go first and take the hit, since they have plenty of money to burn. For middle-school and high-school the need isn't that urgent.
Even in Europe, where college isn't nearly as expensive as in the US, some unis give their freshmen a new laptop. It would be trivial to ad a reader to the mix.
Even without content savings in xeroxing (paper, staff, machines, time) would make it worth it.
The reason this hasn't happened yet is that large screens have been difficult to manufacture. But 2008 is the starting year.
There is a lot of potential for ebooks. There is all the potential, because in 5-8 years ebooks will have replaced the market. Question is who will survive to see and sell....
I wish NAEB the best of luck, you are probably the nicest ebook venture.
PS: I'm eagerly waiting for your review of the new software.
