I was going to start a new thread for the Yahoo new article, but I'm not sure there's much point. I thought the quote from the publisher of the 9-11 Report was pretty interesting.
Quote:
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"I can tell you that with respect to the `9-11 Report,' the free download did not seem to hurt sales at all," Norton publisher Drake McFeely told The Associated Press on Saturday. "There were people who wanted it quickly, in a less convenient form, and that was clearly a different market from the people who wanted the traditional book."
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So what happens when ebooks are no longer "less convenient," as will soon be the case with eink readers and other improved technologies for ebooks. The masses may find ebooks less convenient now, but it just takes that one "iPod of ebooks" (which the Kindle hasn't yet come close to becoming) to change everyone's perception. For the most part, people still think of ebooks as something you read on your computer. I really hope publishing companies don't shy away from using free ebooks as a promotional tool as this view begins to change. I don't think ebooks will ever replace pbooks the way mp3s have mostly replaced CDs.