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Originally Posted by thename
Interestingly enough I know many a person who skips the various eMusic stores in favor of physical CDs for things like liner-notes, disc art, special deluxe editions (e.g., this recent album springs to mind), and other factors. That you would never pay for these things doesn't mean nobody will. |
But that's a totally different thing. You're talking about physical entities and enhancement of the physical experience of ownership (not to mention collectibility). Books have been playing that game for a long time with deluxe bindings, first editions and signed copies. The question is, how do you add value when you
don't have a physical product.
DVDs are still a physical product and so can add value with fancy cases and geegaws, but there are some examples of added digital content in that domain that's worth having (rather than recycled promo puff-pieces). A publisher could certainly add to that in various ways without having to resort to spurious 'multimedia'.
Of course, one question is - what about books where the author doesn't want to add anything? I can certainly think of cases where the author would feel that extras merely distract from the integrity of the work.
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Let people buy enhanced PDFs linked to audio interviews and a special members-only book club to read on their monitors and for a premium if it means our acceptable, un-linked EPUBs can be reasonably priced.
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That's exactly the point, and something that lots of people have failed to realise. Market segmentation is good for everyone - more stuff for those who are willing to pay more, cheaper prices for those who want to pay less and a healthier industry in general.