![]() |
#526 |
Guru
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 820
Karma: 11012
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Device: Bookeen Cybook
|
If you mean specialized search engines like filestube, I believe Google still gives more results, if searching for rare material. Perhaps I don't have enough experience searching to know about more effective methods though.
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#527 |
Member
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 17
Karma: 382
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Austin, Texas
Device: iPad
|
![]()
What an interesting (and really long) thread!
I'm almost afraid to post anything here, because maybe I'm just repeating an argument that happened on (say) page 14 of this thread. But I have a few semi-random comments ... It seems to me that, pragmatically, the ebook sellers need to figure out the "sweet spot" in pricing for an ebook -- where that's a price plus ease-of-process that (for most people) beats searching for a pirated version. This "spot" won't be the same for everyone, but if you can come up with something that works for 80% of the population, you've really got something. I think iTunes got it right pricing songs at ~99cents. Looking at ebook prices on Amazon, B&N, and elsewhere -- I gotta tellya, $10.99 is *not* the "sweet spot". Not in this economy. But -- $4.99? With no shipping, direct download of a quality edition? That might be more realistic. Also -- I hate DRM, but I could probably learn to live with it if I got a DRMed ebook with my purchase of the paper book. My biggest issue with DRM is that it's practically a guarantee that the book will be unreadable 5+ years down the road. I sometimes wonder about "time-lock" DRM: the book is DRMed for 3 years, and then it automatically opens itself up. Given the average lifespan of books in bookstores -- would that be so bad? I think that the ebook sellers should emphasize that they're providing a quality product. I don't know how many of you have actually *looked* at any of the ebooks that're out there in torrent-land, but a surprising number of them are junk: no formatting, or OCR'ed by someone who never bothered to inspect the output. Or just irritating formatting that would take hours to fix. The publishers have a definite edge here, and I think they should exploit it. I really do think that copyright law in the USA is broken badly. IMHO, copyright should last until the author's death. And finally -- something that I think gets overlooked when talking about piracy is that many people, once they have a shiny new ebook reader in their hands, immediately want to go out and fill it with electronic books that they already own and enjoy in paper. This in mind, I think that many "pirates" are simply people who don't feel that they need to pay twice for the same book. And you even have people like Randy Cohen, the author of the NYT's column "The Ethicist", saying that it's okay to do this: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/ma...thicist-t.html Okay, I'm done. I hope you had as much fun reading this rant as I had writing it. Craig |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#528 |
Banned
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 102
Karma: 7860
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Washington Island, across Death's Door, Wisconsin, USA
Device: KINDLE 3 WiFi
|
My first post here.
Napster was the music market telling RIAA that their product is worth only stealing. So I signed up for BB-Napster for $100/year and learned that that 'service' is no more valuable than the product they push. Amazon, take a lesson! |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#529 |
Wizard
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 2,157
Karma: 7068605
Join Date: Dec 2007
Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, B&N Nook Colro
|
I do download books, I don't have any guilt regarding that because I do buy alot too...and it's given me access to authors that I wouldn't even come close to buying. And end up buying because I enjoyed it that much.
I think that .99 iTunes that was stated above is a good spot, but obviously you can't do that with books...I DO think it's fair that perhaps you pay maybe .99 per 125 pages or so = the paper book up to 1,000 pages or whatever. That way authors can't go crazy with eBook fonts to pad their page count, and the publishers won't publish in paper format something that is crazy font wise because of production costs. That way if you are paying $5 for a 400 page book, or for a longer book you are paying more because it takes a little more work to create, so it would be like $12-$13 for a 1,000+ page book. And I'm talking new releases here, so after a bit I would expect them to go down. In that instance I think that I would buy it because it's more convenient to just search and download and then format the book because it's been formatted crappy. I will say that there are alot of people that are upping bought books, and stripping DRM, or checking them out from the library and stripping DRM etc. The quality is getting better, but I would rather pay a little for a book for the convenience sake. |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#530 | |
Feral Underclass
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 3,622
Karma: 26821535
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Yorkshire, tha noz
Device: 2nd hand paperback
|
Quote:
|
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#531 | ||
Grand Sorcerer
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 8,478
Karma: 5171130
Join Date: Jan 2006
Device: none
|
Quote:
Quote:
|
||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#532 | |
Feral Underclass
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 3,622
Karma: 26821535
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Yorkshire, tha noz
Device: 2nd hand paperback
|
Quote:
If/when ebook readers become mainstream, most of the new users will turn to Amazon or similar for their content, just like the late adopters of mp3 players turned to Itunes. It doesn't really matter what everyone else does. |
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#533 | ||||
Grand Master of Flowers
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 2,201
Karma: 8389072
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Naptown
Device: Kindle PW, Kindle 3 (aka Keyboard), iPhone, iPad 3 (not for reading)
|
Quote:
If the only price that publishers could get for new e-books was $4.99, they would stop producing e-books. And it's hard to take seriously complaints about "this economy" by people who are using e-book readers (including iPads). And I do think it's kind of cute how everyone now goes on and on about how ebooks should be so much cheaper than paper books because of the $2 or so that publishers don't have to spend on ink and paper and shipping - when the difference between hardback and paperback prices has always been much greater than the difference in the cost of materials. Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Although I do wonder if e-book piracy will ever be as widespread as music piracy, simply due to the inconvenience of making the copies and the inconvenience of obtaining the copies. (Particularly if you have become accustomed to Amazon's free 3G delivery). |
||||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#534 | ||
Member
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 17
Karma: 382
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Austin, Texas
Device: iPad
|
Quote:
Quote:
Craig |
||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#535 |
Fanatic
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 527
Karma: 1048576
Join Date: May 2009
Device: bebook; prs-950; nook simple touch; HTC Jetstream tablet
|
I was curious about how rampant piracy really is, so I searched for popular fiction torrents. I was really shocked. For science fiction/fantasy I could have downloaded at least 15,000 different books and short stories. I had more difficulty finding other types of fiction; for example, although I could find all of Agatha Christie's stories, I could not find many Rex Stout's Nero Wolf books, and I couldn't find any works by many popular mystery writers. Of course these are almost entirely pdf files, but I think they are text, not image pdf's and so can easily be converted to other formats.
I guess my point is that with so many, many pirate ebooks available they must affect the profits of their authors. I don't see how anyone can defend this on legal or ethical grounds. Last edited by bobcdy; 11-06-2010 at 12:20 PM. |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#536 | ||
Member
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 17
Karma: 382
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Austin, Texas
Device: iPad
|
Quote:
Quote:
Craig |
||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#537 |
Addict
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 279
Karma: 1188010
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: London
Device: I pad air, kindle pw2 and kindle touch , kindle had fire Nook pad nook
|
I bought some books from a well known store a few months ago . I downloaded them . I changed my book reader and my laptop so had no copy of these three books. Went in to my account at the bookstore and found that the link to the URL FOR These books are no longer valid . So Basically I would have lost these books even through I paid for them and had not read two of them. I think I would morally have the right to download them if I came across them in the ether otherwise I feel I have been cheated of my rights.
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#538 | ||
Member
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 17
Karma: 382
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Austin, Texas
Device: iPad
|
Quote:
Quote:
It strikes me that an advantage the publishing industry has over the film / television / music / game industry is the "personal" nature of the relationship between author and reader. Like it or not, people in general find it easier to rip off a billion dollar multinational than (say) the guy running an independent toy store down the street. I guess what I'm trying to say is: I think the publishing industry should really try to push the message that most writers are not Stephen King or J. K. Rowling, and that pirating an ebook is taking money out of an author's pocket. Yes, they've heard this message before from the film and music industry -- but it hits closer to the heart when the focus is on their favorite niche writer who they know is still working a day job as a tech writer while they crank out great (but largely unappreciated) literature every night. Craig |
||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#539 | |
Country Member
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 9,058
Karma: 7676767
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Denmark
Device: Liseuse: Irex DR800. PRS 505 in the house, and the missus has an iPad.
|
Quote:
|
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#540 |
Plan B Is Now In Force
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 1,894
Karma: 8086979
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Surebleak
Device: Aluratek,Sony 350/T1,Pandigital,eBM 911,Nook HD/HD+,Fire HDX 7/8.9,PW2
|
I began to hate DRM when I had bought songs with them. I wound up subsequently getting a new computer, put my old hard drive in an external case and was able to access all of my files - except those DRM'd songs. They would not play on my new computer and I could not redownload them or get a new license for them from place I had bought them. Since that time, I will strip DRM off anything that I buy, or I won't buy it if it can't be stripped.
I used to pick up songs here and there years ago, especially when AudioGalaxy used to be what it was, not because they were free, but because I could find individual songs without having to buy an whole album, which was the only option open to me after 45rpm records became history. My rule of thumb for buying an album, cassette or CD has always been that I have to like at least 3 songs on it to justify the price. Once the 99-cent/song pricing came along, I started buying songs that way. Now, unless I'm buying a physical CD, I get my music via Amazon MP3 downloads, because the pricing is reasonable for the product I'm getting and I can find exactly what I want. I can also try new music without paying for an entire album and winding up hating all of the music on it. If publishers put ebooks out there by the authors I read for $4.99, then I'm there. I want to support the authors I enjoy. I can see paying a higher price for an ebook if it has been specifically reformated to be readable on a 5" or 6" reader. I'm referring to non-fiction/technical/instructional books that are always put out in PDF format which makes them virtually unreadable on the smaller ereaders. But if a publisher is gouging the public by charging a hardcover or trade paperback price for an ebook (and yes, I do regard it as price-gouging) then I will give a thumb's up to anyone who puts that book up on the 'net. Charge us what the author would get paid for a mass market paperback sale, with a small handling fee; that way the author gets paid for the sale and the publisher gets a token for the virtual non-cost of a file transfer. Last edited by Xanthe; 11-06-2010 at 01:42 PM. |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|
![]() |
||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
ebook reading in samsung wave 8500 | beryurt | Android Devices | 1 | 09-17-2010 06:00 AM |
ebook piracy numbers | sassanik | General Discussions | 212 | 08-21-2010 02:41 AM |
ebook piracy | andyafro | News | 86 | 08-12-2009 10:28 AM |
Is ebook piracy on the rise? | charlieperry | News | 594 | 08-20-2008 07:00 PM |
Ebook Piracy | JSWolf | News | 130 | 12-31-2007 12:34 PM |