Cultural Resistance Hobbles German E-Book Market

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

Brussels Sprouts are good! Just choose the small ones, and don't overcook them, and toss them with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I've also enjoyed them baked, but I haven't prepared them that way.

But somehow, I think I might not have converted you to Brussels Sproutism.

I would rather die of starvation than save myself by eating a plate of brussels sprouts. For me they are the most disgusting food I have ever encountered. And yes, I had the 1000-year-old eggs.

[plib]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

I would rather die of starvation than save myself by eating a plate of brussels sprouts.

I quite like brussels, as long as they're not cooked to mush. Also broccoli, cauliflower, snow peas, green beans and carrots.

I must have been dropped on my head as a child.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by plib

I quite like brussels, as long as they're not cooked to mush. Also broccoli, cauliflower, snow peas, green beans and carrots.

I must have been dropped on my head as a child.

Cauliflower, snow peas, green beans, carrots --- all taste good. I personally would only put broccoli in the brussels sprouts category. Although nowhere near as awful. But I don't claim to speak for anyone else.

[VaporPunk]

Originally Posted by HappyMartin

And fantastic bicycle races

Belgians + Cycling! Every race is like the superbowl here. Certainly an acquired taste though I'm learning to love the TdF. A lot more strategy in it than one would think at first glance.

And I cast my vote fully in favor of "spruitjes". The small ones, especially. Don't overcook them and tossed with butter and salt, yum.

And yet another topic I have derailed. (hangs head in shame) Though food + sport are part of culture, right?

[johnnyb]

I wonder which "large book chain" B&N are teaming up with...?

[fjtorres]

Businessweek picked up on the subject (euro ebooks, not vegetables):
http://www.businessweek.com/articles...nt-ebook-sales

Germany isn’t alone in showing disinterest in digital books. The same is likely true in the rest of Europe (except the U.K.), where the rate of e-book sales tends to hover around just 1 percent, if that, according to a Global eBook Market report (PDF) compiled for the 2011 Frankfurt Book Fair. The report notes cultural barriers in France, where e-book sales are estimated to be about 1.8 percent: “Defending a diversified cultural infrastructure—notably, a tightly knit network of bookstores—resonates in various and continuous media reports and political activism aiming at curtailing a supposed negative impact from both online sales of books and the emergence of e-books, which is seen as an imminent threat to smaller libraries [bookstores],” reads the report.

Sounds like an organized campaign by the entrenched powers to keep the tech at bay and prices high.

Hope springs eternal:

It’s likely things will change with time. “In Germany we’re still at 1 percent, but that’s already an increase of 77 percent from the previous year,” says Pleimling. “If the growth rate continues like this, we’ll have similar rates as the U.S. in a few years. You can buy the Kindle here, the iPad is very successful in Germany, iPhones are very successful, and now Barnes & Noble is coming to Germany, too. If these devices keep getting cheaper, more and more people will buy them, and everything may change very quickly.”