[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by darryl

Thanks for the link. +1 on the enhanced features rubbish. These "enhanced" ebooks are what Nourry would regard as "smart", which is of course what he meant when referring to current ebooks as "stupid". It is like calling a non-smartphone a stupid phone. But it is hardly better than the wider meaning many have taken from it. It's almost as if he is mystified why anyone would buy an ebook which is just an electronic embodiment of the paper book, without multimedia enhancement. Why is there even room for such a product? And how can it have had such a disruptive effect on the cozy, settled business model? He shows a remarkable blindness to the many very real advantages that these "stupid" ebooks have for readers, which have been pointed out endlessly since the interview. Today's "stupid" ebooks are what I believe most readers want. There may be a market niche for enhanced ebooks with interactive and multimedia features. Many seem to be trying this at the moment, some quiet, some with excessive hype about the new revolutionary way to read. But to me they are indeed closer to games and movies than books. If I was tempted to buy one it would not be as a book, but as either a new hybrid media or perhaps a game, and I would enjoy it as such. Though likely I would pass in favour of a book in any event.

I suspect Nourry and perhaps other Big 5 executives are somewhat mystified at the success of these "stupid" ebooks, having expected any challenge to come only from enhanced "smart" ebooks. At last years Frankfurt book fair Caroline Reidy, CEO of S&S, said:



But of course had "stupid" ebooks not existed but only "smart" ones, it would have been far less a threat. Since most readers probably don't want those "smart" books, such readers would have stuck to paper. And self-publishing would never have taken off, since the barriers to producing enhanced ebooks are far more prohibitive. Little wonder the Big 5 were so surprised and ill-prepared to deal with the reality.

I've tried a couple of "enhanced" books (the first Harry Potter and the first Game of Thrones books). They were ok as a novelty, but the moving gifs really didn't do a lot to enhance the experience. Mostly, I suspect they are an attempt to lock you into an infrastructure or perhaps just a way to attract attention and get you to try their infrastructure.

I suspect that most CEO types tend to think in bottom line terms rather than anything else. Once you get above a certain layer in any company, it's all just widgets to them.