why is that guy the EX ceo of Random House ?? he has great vision ! that is an excellent article and i think there are many very important points made, including but not limited to the points about pricing (although, his idea of "dynamic prices" starting at 39.99$ for a new best seller to capitalise on "pent-up demand and the relative price insensitivity of his most devoted fans" to drop to 4$ later seems a bit extreme to me... 40$ for an ebook ??? in what reality ???).
i particularly find interesting how he puts the focus on publishers in "their unique role as intermediaries has always been about discovering and promoting talent and content—rather than printing and distributing" which i think is a key point which is often lost sight of in the debate about ebooks / the future of the publishing industry.
for instance, he points out that the real questions that publishers should be asking themselves are not "will ebooks kill publishing" etc. but rather :
Quote:
1. How can we enhance the reader’s overall experience—not just reading, but browsing, purchasing and library-building, and not just through print or digital media, but through a combination of both?
2. How can we create pricing options that will increase demand for books and offset the decline in book readership?
3. How can we build a new business model that is attractive to authors and sufficiently profitable for publishers and online retailers?
|
i really hope that this article will be read by as many people as possible in the industry and they will take it to heart, and i hope also that both Peter Olson and Bharat N. Anand will play active roles and have significant influence in the emerging ebook landscape.
ps. "internet made of tiny tubes" you mean it's not ?
