Michael Mace not only has
profound insight in the mobile tech industry, but he is also a talented writer. In his
latest editorial Mike systematically analyzes why e-books, although so far they have been a failure in the consumer market, are ready to pick up steam. Some issues he raises:
- inefficiency in the traditional publishing industry
- lack of (financial) incentives for authors to write more books
- high price of e-books
- few new e-books are published per year
- consolidation among book retailers drains profits from independent bookstores
- decline of the short story market
- books going out of print
- insufficiency of e-book devices (contrast ratio, screen resolution)
- book piracy.
My favorite quote:
So most of the value added by publishers is logistical - they manage the complicated production process, get the book placed in stores, handle returns, and so on. If the printing and bookselling process is bypassed, the value-add of most publishers goes away. And so, perhaps, does the publisher.