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BMaloney · 01-12-2011, 10:13 AM

Hello everyone. I like the idea of this old thread being re-opened once in a while. It's like a testimonial, an open-ended archive of opinions and facts.

I was recently given my Sony Reader as a gift, so ebook prices were a shock to me. I have been searching the web for reasons, explanations, but Google keeps sending me back here. So I've decided to add my two cents' worth.

Of all the posts here, only one is traditionalist, defending printed books against "the new novelty" of Ereaders, but the author doesn't mention the irresistible advantages of ebooks, like being able to carry 1000 books at once, or the lovely feature of being able to search whole libraries for keywords. Yes, I think the digital book is here to stay. The only question is who is going to make money out of it.

Everyone else seems to agree that the publishers are the ones causing an artificial and irrational hike in ebook prices, discouraging ebook sales, holding on to their antiquated "material distribution" business model. It is a question of control, everyone says.

But if that were the case, why are the publishers not branching out and taking control of the new market? If there is no longer a reason to pay a middle man, then why don't HarperCollin, Penguin or the Oxford Univ Press, for example, start becoming their own retailers? They have the budget to invest in a web site, some bandwidth, and to sell their own epublications directly. It would be a simple matter to arrange DRM with Sony etc. to maintain control in that sense too.

So, I guess my question is: is it really about control or is it more about a lack of corporate imagination/adaptability?

Thanks very much for taking the time to hear me out. Happy reading!

01-12-2011, 10:13 AM	#12
BMaloney Connoisseur Posts: 52 Karma: 126 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: PRS-650	Hello everyone. I like the idea of this old thread being re-opened once in a while. It's like a testimonial, an open-ended archive of opinions and facts. I was recently given my Sony Reader as a gift, so ebook prices were a shock to me. I have been searching the web for reasons, explanations, but Google keeps sending me back here. So I've decided to add my two cents' worth. Of all the posts here, only one is traditionalist, defending printed books against "the new novelty" of Ereaders, but the author doesn't mention the irresistible advantages of ebooks, like being able to carry 1000 books at once, or the lovely feature of being able to search whole libraries for keywords. Yes, I think the digital book is here to stay. The only question is who is going to make money out of it. Everyone else seems to agree that the publishers are the ones causing an artificial and irrational hike in ebook prices, discouraging ebook sales, holding on to their antiquated "material distribution" business model. It is a question of control, everyone says. But if that were the case, why are the publishers not branching out and taking control of the new market? If there is no longer a reason to pay a middle man, then why don't HarperCollin, Penguin or the Oxford Univ Press, for example, start becoming their own retailers? They have the budget to invest in a web site, some bandwidth, and to sell their own epublications directly. It would be a simple matter to arrange DRM with Sony etc. to maintain control in that sense too. So, I guess my question is: is it really about control or is it more about a lack of corporate imagination/adaptability? Thanks very much for taking the time to hear me out. Happy reading!