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Azayzel · 02-08-2007, 07:09 PM

Heheh, seems like several people beat me to the punch with the ref to the Librie's failed DRM expiration policy. There is no way that I would ever pay for digital content that expires after a given period, not when I've been used to owning books, magazines, CD's, and DVD's all my life (not including tapes, floppies, VHS, ad nausium...). That is one of the main reasons that the Librie did not take off as expected here in Japan, not to mention Sony's perpetual lack of product for sale - Come on Sony, do better sales forecasting and you'll get less complaints. I talk to many people over here and some have never even heard of the Librie, even when I stopped by Akihabara (supposed Tech-Mecca of the world), none of the shops had even heard of it (Ach!). What does that tell you about marketing?

Anyway, I totally agree with the sample chapters of books; i.e., exerpts, as being good marketing tools. The one issue I take with the previously mentioned suggestion is about charging for it; it should be free for the first chapter or two (depending on the size of the book). Since there is virtually no over head in extracting a brief sampling of a book, no fee should be incurred. I can usually tell if I will like a book or author after the first couple of chapters, which will decide if I'll continue reading it or in this case, want to make the purchase. An excpert should not be so far into the book that you are lost or that it will ruin the story for you in the longrun.

I also like the library concept. Perhaps some day our local libraries, that we support with tax dollars paid whether we use it or not, will support digital content for portable devices. It took them a while, but they eventually moved to CD audiobooks, so maybe this isn't too far into the future.

I think ultimately the issue is with expiration of content and loaner programs is that the publishers are still concerned with the strength of their DRM, which they should be, as it's only a matter of time before its hacked, cracked, or owned by those pesky kids with too much time on their hands.

02-08-2007, 07:09 PM	#9
Azayzel Cache Ninja! Posts: 643 Karma: 1002300 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Tokyo, Japan Device: PRS-500, HTC Shift, iPod Touch, iPaq 4150, TC1100, Panasonic WordsGear	Heheh, seems like several people beat me to the punch with the ref to the Librie's failed DRM expiration policy. There is no way that I would ever pay for digital content that expires after a given period, not when I've been used to owning books, magazines, CD's, and DVD's all my life (not including tapes, floppies, VHS, ad nausium...). That is one of the main reasons that the Librie did not take off as expected here in Japan, not to mention Sony's perpetual lack of product for sale - Come on Sony, do better sales forecasting and you'll get less complaints. I talk to many people over here and some have never even heard of the Librie, even when I stopped by Akihabara (supposed Tech-Mecca of the world), none of the shops had even heard of it (Ach!). What does that tell you about marketing? Anyway, I totally agree with the sample chapters of books; i.e., exerpts, as being good marketing tools. The one issue I take with the previously mentioned suggestion is about charging for it; it should be free for the first chapter or two (depending on the size of the book). Since there is virtually no over head in extracting a brief sampling of a book, no fee should be incurred. I can usually tell if I will like a book or author after the first couple of chapters, which will decide if I'll continue reading it or in this case, want to make the purchase. An excpert should not be so far into the book that you are lost or that it will ruin the story for you in the longrun. I also like the library concept. Perhaps some day our local libraries, that we support with tax dollars paid whether we use it or not, will support digital content for portable devices. It took them a while, but they eventually moved to CD audiobooks, so maybe this isn't too far into the future. I think ultimately the issue is with expiration of content and loaner programs is that the publishers are still concerned with the strength of their DRM, which they should be, as it's only a matter of time before its hacked, cracked, or owned by those pesky kids with too much time on their hands.