Stars fall in Amazon protest about ebook prices

[speedlever]

Those are good points Tommy. But aren't they pretty much directly related to the EBR on which the ebook is being viewed? I've seen a YouTube video comparing the Kindle to the Nook relative to highlighting, searching, and annotating and wow, was there ever a difference. I suppose there's something to be said for the fact that it's available, regardless if you can take advantage of it or not.

And for me, not being that familiar with how it all works, is it the EBR/firmware that enables searching, etc., or is it the ebook that enables those capabilities?

And of course you are right that DRM negatively impacts the equation too.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Russell Brooks

With print books: Ink, paper, book cover, shipping, warehouse storage, shelf placement (or in-store book pyramid) costs.

Ebooks: none of the above.

There's no excuse as to why an ebook should cost as much as a print book. They're much less costly to produce. Print books cost less than $3 to make. How much does an ebook cost to make in your opinion?

Actual manufacturing costs for a major trade publisher are roughly .50-$1 for a mass market PB, $1-$2 for a trade paperback, and $2-$4 for a hardcover (as of 2008, but they probably haven't gone up enormously since then.)

Manufacturing is the print/bind steps above. Warehousing/distribution is another matter.

Print/bind/warehouse/distribute amount to perhaps 20% of the total budget of the average book.

Most costs are incurred in the process of acquiring the book and and putting it into publishable form, and occur before the book is published in any format.

Those are the costs that must be covered in an ebook publication.
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Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by speedlever

And for me, not being that familiar with how it all works, is it the EBR/firmware that enables searching, etc., or is it the ebook that enables those capabilities?

The firmware. An ebook is an electronic format. Text in electronic format is searchable. The question is whether the viewer software implements a search function. Every electronic text viewer software I'm familiar with does.

(Since being able to search text in electronic format is a significant feature, it would be stupid to not include a search function. A buyer looking at getting a book viewer would consider the lack a show stopper, and pass on that product.)
______
Dennis

[NVash]

Originally Posted by speedlever

Those are good points Tommy. But aren't they pretty much directly related to the EBR on which the ebook is being viewed? I've seen a YouTube video comparing the Kindle to the Nook relative to highlighting, searching, and annotating and wow, was there ever a difference. I suppose there's something to be said for the fact that it's available, regardless if you can take advantage of it or not.

Which one was best, if you dont mind my asking and could you provide a link?

[speedlever]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

The firmware. An ebook is an electronic format. Text in electronic format is searchable. The question is whether the viewer software implements a search function. Every electronic text viewer software I'm familiar with does.

(Since being able to search text in electronic format is a significant feature, it would be stupid to not include a search function. A buyer looking at getting a book viewer would consider the lack a show stopper, and pass on that product.)
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Dennis

Thank you for that clarification Dennis.

Then the extra value of being able to search an ebook is directly related to the EBR itself and is not a function of the ebook.

[speedlever]

Originally Posted by NVash

Which one was best, if you dont mind my asking and could you provide a link?

This review posted in this link is from a Kindle fan and has a bogus test dealing with TTS which the Nook doesn't even have. (He could have tested for epub compatibility just as easily... equally bogus since the Kindle is not epub friendly).

Regardless, the YouTube video does illustrate significant differences between the Kindle and the Nook. I do not know the firmware version of the tested Nook, but am reasonably sure it was not 1.5. I don't know if 1.5 brings enhancements to those functions or not. This comparison also used the K2. I assume the K3 has equal or better capabilities.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxkCELCrQ_A

The video came from this link which has more background info, should you wish to read it.

[Red Alert]

Maybe, as readers we should boycott the purchase of books in any form. I suggest we support our local libraries instead long enough to get the attention of the book industry.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by speedlever

Thank you for that clarification Dennis.

Then the extra value of being able to search an ebook is directly related to the EBR itself and is not a function of the ebook.

Well, directly related to the viewer software.

But yes, the search function is in software in the viewer. I'm trying to think of an ebook format that wouldn't let you search it, and failing.

It does get fuzzy at one point. For things like the iPhone, there's currently a question of what the best way is to package ebooks. One group favors the book as an app, so when you buy an ebook, you get a package bundling the viewer software and the actual book. The other approach is that the viewer software is something you get and install once, and then you buy and load books to be read with it.

In the "ebook as app" model, you could say the search function was part of the book.
______
Dennis

[NVash]

Originally Posted by speedlever

This review posted in this link is from a Kindle fan and has a bogus test dealing with TTS which the Nook doesn't even have. (He could have tested for epub compatibility just as easily... equally bogus since the Kindle is not epub friendly).

Regardless, the YouTube video does illustrate significant differences between the Kindle and the Nook. I do not know the firmware version of the tested Nook, but am reasonably sure it was not 1.5. I don't know if 1.5 brings enhancements to those functions or not. This comparison also used the K2. I assume the K3 has equal or better capabilities.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxkCELCrQ_A

The video came from this link which has more background info, should you wish to read it.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Red Alert

Maybe, as readers we should boycott the purchase of books in any form. I suggest we support our local libraries instead long enough to get the attention of the book industry.

Wasnt there just a thread about how libraries are getting their budgets cut? I think that may make that plan very hard to follow through with.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Well, directly related to the viewer software.

But yes, the search function is in software in the viewer. I'm trying to think of an ebook format that wouldn't let you search it, and failing.

CBR/CBZ, the comic book formats. They're image-only; there's no searchable text.

I suppose some enterprising coder could make a comic/manga reader that would allow searchable metadata/text to be included, but creating that text wouldn't be nearly universal; it might happen for scanlations, but it's not likely for 150dpi comic book scans.

I've considered converting CBZ files to PDF by running them through FineReader so I can have a searchable collection, but the image quality is low enough that the OCR is atrocious; it basically requires hand-typing all of the text.

But other than "ebooks" that are just image collections, I think they're all searchable with the right software. (There might be some DRM setups that kill search along with printing, TTS, and display on unauthorized machines. I don't think that counts.)