Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant
This does not make sense.
Let's consider two scenarios.
(i) 100 people buy a new book when it comes out. It has no DRM. They share it on facebook with 100 other people each, and those people also share it with 100 other people. Result: You get 100 sales but over a million copies out there.
(ii) 100 people buy a new book when it comes out. It has DRM. Only one of the 100 knows how to strip DRM, does so, and shares it on facebook with 100 other people. They share it on facebook with 100 other people each, and those people also share it with 100 other people. Result: You get 100 sales but over a million copies out there.
If mass casual sharing is a problem, then it's a problem with or without DRM.
Or perhaps the publishers are scared of lots of people sharing with one or two people.
(i) 1,000 people buy a new book, with no DRM. They each share it with a couple of friends. Result: 1,000 sales and 3,000 copies
(ii) 1,000 people buy a new book, with no DRM. 100 know how to strip DRM, do so, and share it with a couple of friends. Result: 1,000 sales and 1,200 copies.
Or perhaps you think the couple of friends each of the 900 who couldn't remove the DRM will go out and buy their own copy? Wishful thinking. How many real-world friends do you have that share your taste in literature?
Mass casual sharing is a problem with or without DRM.
Small scale casual sharing is not a problem with or without DRM.
I'm sure you're going to argue that there's a third scenario for small scale sharing:
(iii) 333 people get together with 667 friends (about 2 each) and jointly buy 333 copies of a new book (without DRM) which they share with their friends. Result: 333 sales and 1000 copies.
This might happen. But if they are keen enough readers to actually organise this, it's likely that they buy as many books as they can afford. No net loss - the publishers and authors are already getting the maximum cash from these customers.
In short: ebooks might cause publishers big problems in the transition from paper books to ebooks. But that's a separate issue from DRM, which can at best be neutral, and most likely will hurt publishers both directly (cost of DRM) and indirectly (loss of customer goodwill).
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I have to say that word of mouth is a powerful tool for promoting books. I have several family members and friends who are "book buddies" with me and we have turned each other on to various authors over the years and, yes, there have been book sales as a result. That is the only thing about eReading for me, I can't share with ease. Of course, I don't have to worry about people not returning my books, either.
Anyway, I know one of my cousins, at least, would really like that Hounded book that is coming out, so I'm going to buy it in paperbook form so I can share it with her. I'd buy the eBook, too, but it is only on Amazon and B&N in eFormat and I have no intention of stripping DRM, so a lost sale there. Shame. It is a decent price, too, $7.99, same as the trade paper, just under $16 for both.