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Old 04-26-2011, 05:05 PM   #249
boxcorner
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I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's definitely something missing from the e-book reading experience. Apart from proper editing, I think perhaps what is missing is added value. Many DVDs include extra information about the film, actors, how it was made, and so on. If all e-books contained lots of supplementary background information, perhaps a biography of the author, maybe an article by the author about why they wrote the book in a particular way, included sample versions of other e-books by the same author, trial versions of other books available from the publisher, quizzes or other competitions based on the book with free book prizes, etc. Purchasers of e-books could be offered a discount to buy the printed version. Maybe then their perceived value of the e-book version would be higher. Alternatively, include an e-version with each p-book - it might create more incentive to buy the p-book.

Anyway, the experience of reading e-books needs to be at least as good, if not better than the experience of reading a paper book. I realise that some people have stopped buying and reading paper books, they feel that e-books are more convenient, and so on, but many people who love books don't see the e-book as being a replacement, rather as supplement. So long as readers come away with an impression that the e-book versions are inferior to the printed versions then they will expect to pay less for them. Over pricing of e-books has created a lot of resentment and in my view this blatant profiteering increases the likelihood of piracy. Adding further irritations in the form of DRM and geo-restrictions only makes matters worse.
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