Cultural Resistance Hobbles German E-Book Market

[frahse]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Oh, my.
Somebody actually noticed the thread title!


I can think of a variety of perfectly rational reasons why people might choose to read print books instead of ebooks. And a few less than rational ones, too. Starting with smell fetishists.

Not my culture so I can't really assign probability values to any of the theories. Maybe some of the locals might chip in?

1) We should all gather round the hearth singing and toasting plib, SeaKing and others for bringing to mind for me at least that any plane or helicopter, old, new, whole, or punctured, that is still air worthy is better than that open hatchway the jump-master is pushing you out of.

2) I am an author. I like eBooks because they take zero room and don't smell and mold and collect dust and mice droppings and bugs like silverfish, etc. in them.
However for reference use as well as cost consideration, I like to get used paper backs for $4.00 or less if possible and lay them out on tables around me opened to the right spot when I am writing.

You can do something similar with eBooks, and multiple screens, and multiple devices, but it is a little more difficult.

I can take a paperback, browse through it and mark it with paper book marks that reference important things. (Usually I put the page number and book on the book mark so if the book is dropped or the wind blows, the reference is still good.) I like this method.

The Germans readers will figure out that they are being thwarted by the publishers and get what they want and need.

[plib]

Originally Posted by HappyMartin

While we are talking aircraft. In the various bush wars South Africa fought in the DC3 was used extensively. They flew well with holes in them was part of the reason. They were "affectionately" known as vomit comets.

I had a number of unpleasant experiences in them.

From the vomit, or what caused the holes?

Actually, thinking about the pilot's likely reaction to the creation of holes - probably both?

[plib]

Originally Posted by frahse

1) We should all gather round the hearth singing and toasting plib, SeaKing and others for bringing to mind for me at least that any plane or helicopter, old, new, whole, or punctured, that is still air worthy is better than that open hatchway the jump-master is pushing you out of.

You're welcome. That's one mode of transportation I've always preferred to admire in the abstract. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "any landing you can walk away from is a good one".

[LuvReadin]

Originally Posted by SeaKing

A
the UK has more bombs. .

More than who? Actually, there's hasn't really been anything here since the Tube disaster, not even in NI (and long may it last).

[Pax]

I am sorry, that I may jump back to the topic.

The biggest problem in the German ebook market are the high prices. Yes, the ebook prices are about ~10% cheaper than the printed version. But this is still too high.

For example Haruki Murakami's book 1Q84 Book 3 costs 19,99 € (~ 26,15 USD).
This price tag is too high, that's why I prefer to buy the English translation from Kobobooks. There you can get it for half the price (excluding any coupons).

I am willing to buy a high-quality hardcover version for 19,99€, but for an ebook I am not willing to spend so much money.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by plib

DC3 = C47 = Dakota = Gooney Bird. Correct?

I know they were used in everything from flying the Hump, to D-Day, Arnhem and the Berlin Airlift. There are still some used by bush pilots in northern Canada I believe. They do seem to be able to keep those in the air.

Weren't DC3s also Puff The Magic Dragon in Vietnam?

Yep. The C-47 Skytrain/Dakota was the military version of the DC-3 and nicknamed Gooney Bird. The gunship version (officially the 'AC-47 Spooky') was nicknamed Puff the Magic Dragon.

It was called Skytrain in the US, Dakota by the British.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Pax

I am sorry, that I may jump back to the topic.

The biggest problem in the German ebook market are the high prices. Yes, the ebook prices are about ~10% cheaper than the printed version. But this is still too high.

Ah!
How are those prices set?
I.e., Are there government regulations that impact them? Cultural protectionism, B&M protections, lcal publisher power, VAT hijinks like in the UK?

Or is it actual resistance to the idea of ebooks?

[CommonReader]

Originally Posted by Pax

For example Haruki Murakami's book 1Q84 Book 3 costs 19,99 € (~ 26,15 USD).
This price tag is too high, that's why I prefer to buy the English translation from Kobobooks. There you can get it for half the price (excluding any coupons).

I bought that book on the day of its release and I believe that the price is appropriate as the publisher commissioned a translation directly from the Japanese by a top translator instead of going the cheap and nasty way of using a translation of the English version. The German version of books 1&2 was also available a full year prior to their release in English. This sort of quality publishing receives my support, whatever the format.
To my knowledge the English version also had a different interpreter for book 3 than they had for books 1&2. What sort of nonsense is that for a novel?

As to DC 3s: I recall flying on one on a regular flight in Venezuela in the late 1990s. A fabulous flight at low height across the Orinoco delta and over the table mountains.

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Ah!
How are those prices set?
I.e., Are there government regulations that impact them? Cultural protectionism, B&M protections, lcal publisher power, VAT hijinks like in the UK?

Or is it actual resistance to the idea of ebooks?

Publishers set the prices (endprice including VAT) and then they are fixed for 18 months. That's the "Buchpreisbindung" mentioned in the article.

Though ebooks prices are fixed, too, the VAT is higher (7% for books, 19% for ebooks), which is stupid and make the ebooks even pricier.

And most of the time prices of ebooks are a little cheaper than prices of the cheapets version of the book. If there's a hardbound version, for example, that costs about 32 USD, the ebook will be about 26 USD.

After a trade paberback version is released, the ebook price will drop as well. So if you can buy the tpb of the book for 15.5 USD, the ebook will be around 13 USD. If the ebook is not different from the version that was released in time with the hardcover, prices can only drop after 18 months. So sometimes tpb are far cheaper than the ebook.

Discounts are not possible.

And than there's the ereaders. Cheapest current models are Kobo Touch and Kindle 4 (? - the latest non-touch Kindle) which are about 130 USD. So if you are not interested in reading free classics or library lending and ebooks are cheaper about 2 USD (in average), you'd have to buy 65 new books until your reader is paid for and until you start to save money on new books (not taking the energy needed to charge your battery into account).

Of course used books are much cheaper. So people will often rather buy a used tpb for about 5 USD than a new one for about 15.5. And you can resell you paberbooks or give them to friends or family afterwards, unlike ebooks.

That's why there is so much "resistance".

People reading a lot in English, like me, will be much more inclined to buy an ereader. Lots of ebooks that are easier to get, cheaper, released earlier than the translated versions... and discounts are often possible, too.

Can't beat "A Song of Ice and Fire" box set, for example. German books are not 1-4, but 1-8 (each is split in half), and each ebook costs 13 USD at least, some up to 17. Even at 13 USD, you'd have to pay 104 USD for them. English ebook box set (cheapest undiscounted version) is 19 USD - saved 85 USD. Half my reader is "paid for" (bought it for about 170 USD).

[ProfCrash]

How likely is it that the silly pricing will lead to people trying to find ways of buying e-books from other markets where the pricing is lower? For example, there are Australians on this board who circumvent geographic restrictions in order to buy e-books not availaible in Australia and e-books that are sillily priced.

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by HappyMartin

If you pass laws to protect the life of a fetus why not pass laws to protect innocent helpless children from the cruel stupid names inflicted on them by dum ass parents?

And yet it is perfectly legal to tatoo a child that is 3 or 5 years old. Go figure?

[QuantumIguana]

I'm a cultural resister. I buy what I want, not what someone tells me what I want.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

I'm a cultural resister. I buy what I want, not what someone tells me what I want.

Don Draper is not happy with you so Madison Avenue just put out a contract on you, you heretic, you.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

How likely is it that the silly pricing will lead to people trying to find ways of buying e-books from other markets where the pricing is lower? For example, there are Australians on this board who circumvent geographic restrictions in order to buy e-books not availaible in Australia and e-books that are sillily priced.

Yes, but that doesn't work for Germans who want the book in German.

[ProfCrash]

True.