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brecklundin · 09-16-2007, 10:49 PM

I read the whole thread and learned a bunch about players & content so THANKS. I also have found the debate over the DRM and costs of printing the pbooks is interesting.

From my reading it seems that the digital era pretty much renders the current publisher business models obsolete. Their current business models also inhibit or outright destroy the very market that should have existed almost since day one of the internet business. Recording industry is the same deal. Neither industry is going to back off and reduce their profits (read growth) for any quarter. That is something which is wrong with the idea of corporations vs. privately held companies. But that is a whole other topic.

Something I see missing from the arguments on both sides is the issue of used book sales. I cannot remember the last time I bought a new pback. I see no reason to spend 2x-5x more for a pback when in in a few weeks or a month I can find the same book for 1/2 the price. On sale or at a thrift thrift store is even a bigger savings.

When done with these books I sell them back to the used book store who then sells them over and over as others repeat the same cycle. So while the original publisher gets a huge profit on each book sold under the 1st sale doctrine, they get zilch outta my pocket...ever.

If ebooks are priced between say $4.00 - $5.00US each I will pretty much be willing to spend the extra $1-$2 for them over the used editions I currently buy. This will create an entire new profit center that publishers and retailers have no income from currently. And if my circle of friends is representative then I know there are LOTS of folks like myself that would be happy to switch to ebooks on a decent reader. Thus creating an entire new revenue stream where NOTHING existed before. This should easily offset any debate over production costs affecting the price of ebooks enough to require an increase in price not a reduction. If they were not selling to me before then the extra 50+ books I, and others like me, buy every year creates MORE INCOME they never had a shot at before.

I would consider a reader with a monthly fee for a specified period only if it supported pretty much any format around. I am sure this analogy has been made but my Audible sub is about $23/mo with two books. We got a free iPod 1gb player for a one year pay up front deal. But the player can play other formats too. I would never consider paying anything for a player that was in any fashion proprietary.

DRM is a fact of life and is what it is...don't like it if they do not allow portability of my content to other devices I register with the content provider. To me the biggest problem with DRM is that it ultimately costs the consumer MORE in an effort to subsidise an outdated and faulty business model used by the publishing industry. It is a model the industry has had almost 2 DECADES to change. The only change they came up with was to pass their own problems on to the consumer. So now we are forced to pay an "ineptness" fee to enjoy our entertainment.

Baen "get's it" none of the big publishers do because they are all publicly traded corporations who worship at the alter of the "quarterly report". And this is where our own "free market" system bytes us in the rear. I can live with a buck-a-book for the DRM tax (and it is a tax), but am not willing to pay more for the privilege of buying online over the cost of of a pbook. It is that simple to me. An industry's internal issues matter not to me...the power of the free market is that I can continue to buy used and not support the industry in any fashion. So, until the industry fixes itself I doubt I will be willing to spend my few pennies with them.

For those reasons I am following this idea of a reader from Amazon with great interest. But ultimately price is the whole thing. A $500 reader and they can forget it, a free-$150 priced reader and we can look closer.

09-16-2007, 10:49 PM	#209
brecklundin Banned Posts: 1,906 Karma: 15348 Join Date: Jun 2007 Device: mine	I read the whole thread and learned a bunch about players & content so THANKS. I also have found the debate over the DRM and costs of printing the pbooks is interesting. From my reading it seems that the digital era pretty much renders the current publisher business models obsolete. Their current business models also inhibit or outright destroy the very market that should have existed almost since day one of the internet business. Recording industry is the same deal. Neither industry is going to back off and reduce their profits (read growth) for any quarter. That is something which is wrong with the idea of corporations vs. privately held companies. But that is a whole other topic. Something I see missing from the arguments on both sides is the issue of used book sales. I cannot remember the last time I bought a new pback. I see no reason to spend 2x-5x more for a pback when in in a few weeks or a month I can find the same book for 1/2 the price. On sale or at a thrift thrift store is even a bigger savings. When done with these books I sell them back to the used book store who then sells them over and over as others repeat the same cycle. So while the original publisher gets a huge profit on each book sold under the 1st sale doctrine, they get zilch outta my pocket...ever. If ebooks are priced between say $4.00 - $5.00US each I will pretty much be willing to spend the extra $1-$2 for them over the used editions I currently buy. This will create an entire new profit center that publishers and retailers have no income from currently. And if my circle of friends is representative then I know there are LOTS of folks like myself that would be happy to switch to ebooks on a decent reader. Thus creating an entire new revenue stream where NOTHING existed before. This should easily offset any debate over production costs affecting the price of ebooks enough to require an increase in price not a reduction. If they were not selling to me before then the extra 50+ books I, and others like me, buy every year creates MORE INCOME they never had a shot at before. I would consider a reader with a monthly fee for a specified period only if it supported pretty much any format around. I am sure this analogy has been made but my Audible sub is about $23/mo with two books. We got a free iPod 1gb player for a one year pay up front deal. But the player can play other formats too. I would never consider paying anything for a player that was in any fashion proprietary. DRM is a fact of life and is what it is...don't like it if they do not allow portability of my content to other devices I register with the content provider. To me the biggest problem with DRM is that it ultimately costs the consumer MORE in an effort to subsidise an outdated and faulty business model used by the publishing industry. It is a model the industry has had almost 2 DECADES to change. The only change they came up with was to pass their own problems on to the consumer. So now we are forced to pay an "ineptness" fee to enjoy our entertainment. Baen "get's it" none of the big publishers do because they are all publicly traded corporations who worship at the alter of the "quarterly report". And this is where our own "free market" system bytes us in the rear. I can live with a buck-a-book for the DRM tax (and it is a tax), but am not willing to pay more for the privilege of buying online over the cost of of a pbook. It is that simple to me. An industry's internal issues matter not to me...the power of the free market is that I can continue to buy used and not support the industry in any fashion. So, until the industry fixes itself I doubt I will be willing to spend my few pennies with them. For those reasons I am following this idea of a reader from Amazon with great interest. But ultimately price is the whole thing. A $500 reader and they can forget it, a free-$150 priced reader and we can look closer.