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Originally Posted by advocate2
I agree with Lemurion. The revolution here is not the hardware, but that Sony is taking a huge step toward expanding the availability of books. What are the odds that Amazon would have taken such a step? We can rent DVD's, why not ebooks? I can't remember the last time I purchased a new DVD. I just get it on Netflix and return it after I have watched it. The is the business model for which ebooks must adapt.
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I personally agree that some sort of subscription service with a limit on how many books a user can download a month might make the most sense. Unfortunately, I expect publishers are so tied to their current business models (which is built around the concept of best sellers, multilevel pricing, etc) to ever go for it. They live for the big hardback that will sell like gangbusters for several months, then sell again when it is released in paperback. It seems to me that it makes it very difficult for them to predict revenue, but they have always done business this way and reading some articles written by people in the publishing industry, they seem incapable of imagining anything else working.
That being said, here is how I would spec it out:
$5 a month entitles you to one download per month.
$10 a month entitles you to three downloads.
$15 a month entitles you to 5 downloads.
$20 a month entitles you to unlimited downloads.
Authors and publishers would get compensated proportionately to how often their books are downloaded (Though I look Stallmans idea of paying a higher per copy rate to relatively low sellers as a way of encouraging newer authors).
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My biggest concern with Ebooks has been the requirement that they be purchased (which is fine) but not subject to passing on to others. I much prefer to rent an ebook or get it from my library which I can currently do for many titles.
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Ah, but see, the media companies really don't see it as buying a book, they see it as buying a license to use the file you download. Its the sort of semantic only a lawyer could love
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Bill