ebook piracy numbers

[saoir]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

They're never going to stop piracy, so shouldn't even bother wasting their time on it. What they should be doing is focusing on improving the value for their customers.

I agree 10000% Shaggy.

We have to look back at the history of the Music industry's experience of piracy. They managed to lie through their teeth to government all around the world about the level of piracy and the damage that was done to their sales. They were successful in exaggerating it by orders of magnitude.
The truth is customers pirated music because the prices of CDs were outrageous. They also pirated because the Music industry removed all added value that LPs previously came with (photos, lyrics etc.). But it has been established by many independent studies that most of the big downloaders (as opposed to CD pirates) were kids who a) downloaded enormous amounts of music they had no interest in just to brag b) NEVER wold have purchased a fraction of what they downloaded c) spend more money on legit CDs that other customers.

So the whole lie by the Music industry was exposed. And for this reason we must make sure no one is suckered into the same lie by the Publishers now.

Pirates are not their customers.

I don't agree here if you are including people who download from torrent sites. These people are doing it for the same reasons music listeners were doing it ten years ago. Ridiculous prices. Downloaders often download one kind of book because of it's price, while paying for another one because it is fairly prices. Once the eBook prices are adjusted to realistic levels these people will return to being customers.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by saoir

Once the eBook prices are adjusted to realistic levels these people will return to being customers.

What do you consider to be a "realistic level"?

Let's say an eBook provides me with 10 hours of entertainment. What's a realistic hourly rate to pay for entertainment? $1/hour seems ridiculously low, and that would fairly price the book at $10. Shall we say $5/hour is a figure that most people would be willing to pay for high-quality entertainment? (Seems reasonable enough to me). That would make $50 a fair price for the e-book.

We are fortunate in that the overwhelming majority of e-books cost under $10, and provide us with quite ridiculously cheap entertainment.

[corona]

The public library has pretty much put me on the righteous path. (I really really can't afford to buy books in any manifestation, so I avoid temptation mightily.)

My library seems to have more and better e-books as time goes on. I pay taxes, I get a library, and from the library I get e-books. Other kinds, too, and sometimes I go to the actual library itself, which is quite pleasant, and look at real books. This is an arrangement that delights me.

Nobody seems to ever talk about public collections of books, music, videos as having much validity in the market. But look -- everybody who wants to gets paid, profit is made, people are cheaply entertained -- what could be better?

[ficbot]

Originally Posted by HarryT

What do you consider to be a "realistic level"?
Let's say an eBook provides me with 10 hours of entertainment.

That's a pretty generous assumption. It does not take me even near 10 hours to read a book!

I think by 'realistic' we mean at par with, or competitive with, comparably available titles. For example, if one can purchase a mass-market paperback for $7 then an ebook priced at $15 (I am looking at you, Stephen King) is not realistic and people may look elsewhere (library, borrow from friend and yes, pirate sites) for such a book.

[saoir]

Originally Posted by HarryT

What do you consider to be a "realistic level"?

For a start, when prices of many eBooks are higher than the paper equivalent.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by saoir

For a start, when prices of many eBooks are higher than the paper equivalent.

I don't see the relevance of that myself. Unlike paper books, e-books do not deteriorate with time, and they use no physical storage space. For me personally, they are therefore worth more than paper books.

My personal experience, however, has been that e-books are generally cheaper than paper books. Perhaps you're buying from the wrong stores?

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I don't see the relevance of that myself. Unlike paper books, e-books do not deteriorate with time, and they use no physical storage space.

Of course the deteriorate with time if they are DRM infested. Also most people do not backup data properly so they will sooner or later loose a lot of ebooks.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I don't see the relevance of that myself. Unlike paper books, e-books do not deteriorate with time

I have a number of books from the early 20th century, and some from the mid to late 19th century. They are still perfectly readable, and I see no reason why they shouldn't remain so for another 100-150 years. Much better chance than that ebooks made now will be easily readable then.
As long as you keep them dry, paper books can be stored more or less indefinitely.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

I have a number of books from the early 20th century, and some from the mid to late 19th century. They are still perfectly readable, and I see no reason why they shouldn't remain so for another 100-150 years. Much better chance than that ebooks made now will be easily readable then.
As long as you keep them dry, paper books can be stored more or less indefinitely.

Older high quality books used an acid free paper. Newer and/or cheaper books have acid remaining in the paper from the pulping process and will deteriorate over time.

[saoir]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I don't see the relevance of that myself. Unlike paper books, e-books do not deteriorate with time, and they use no physical storage space. For me personally, they are therefore worth more than paper books.

That is quite honestly the silliest comment I have seen in this wider eBook debate.

My personal experience, however, has been that e-books are generally cheaper than paper books. Perhaps you're buying from the wrong stores?

Yeah right ....

[Mickey330]

Originally Posted by corona

... [l'il snip here]... My library seems to have more and better e-books as time goes on. I pay taxes, I get a library, and from the library I get e-books. Other kinds, too, and sometimes I go to the actual library itself, which is quite pleasant, and look at real books. This is an arrangement that delights me.

I just wanted to re-quote this because it expresses my sentiments exactly. The whole idea of a public library delights me too!

Thanks, corona.

Happy reading, y'all.

Marilyn

[Vzzzbx]

Originally Posted by Fbone

I hear e-book prices are too expensive and unrealistic therefore it's justifiable to take from the torrents.
I hear of geographical restrictions and so they are "forced" to go to darknet because it is something I have a right to possess.
[...]
So now for those who download illegally I will question their sense of honesty, trustworthiness and character. Perhaps, it is worse than I think it is. How does their conscience work with other of life's choices? And then I feel bad that I feel this way toward others but when I lose a small amount of respect for someone it doesnt usually return.

Your location is listed as 'NJ' so I assume you're in America. If so, you have access to an enormous range of ebook content. You're not locked out of purchases by publishers, distributors and shops simply because of where you live. If you are locked out of some content, you probably haven't noticed it because the ecosystems available to you are so comprehensive.

Being in Australia, I'm not allowed to buy most ebooks. Publishers here and all over the world have gone well out of their way to lock me out of the system. The only way I can acquire certain books -- and I do mean the only way; believe me, I've tried -- is to seek alternatives that end with a Z.

If I want to buy the treebook equivalent in a local shop, I usually can, but with a huge mark-up. A book that costs you US$10 will almost always cost me $US25-35. The difference there is that I can import any treebook I like from the US (or anywhere) at the US$10 price; it's my legal right to do so. However, those same people actively prevent me importing the ebook.

Hopefully you can see that the situation is not as easy and comfortable as it in the United States. You're questioning the honesty and trustworthiness of people who have been arbitrarily excluded and shafted by a very stupid, very unreasonable industry.

[Vzzzbx]

Originally Posted by banjobama

I have often heard that piracy has nothing to do with the cost of something. Even if a song costs one dollar on Amazon or iTunes, as I think most do, people will still try to get it for free.

Some people always will, yes, but most wouldn't bother with piracy if buying were cheap and easy. Look at the iPhone/iPad app store. It's the easiest thing in the world to legitimately grab a $2 app, and as a direct consequence that business is making a fortune. There's no reason the same practice could not apply to ebooks.

[Seli]

Originally Posted by saoir

That is quite honestly the silliest comment I have seen in this wider eBook debate.

Why? It does make perfect sense, Just thinking about how much space is needed to store my books, how much bookcases I have bought, how mucch effort it is to transport them while moving, it definitely has stopped me from buying physical book I would have liked to read just because owning is too much effort. The freedom of ebooks is worth something.

[guyanonymous]

Originally Posted by BillSmithBooks

Many -- if not most -- books are available used through Amazon, Abebooks and other sites at very reasonable prices. There really is very little excuse to download...

My experience in Canada would suggest that while the prices of the books may be reasonable at times, the price of shipping is more-often-than-not where many of these retailers are making their profit....the last time I went out to complete a collection of an author's work (John Maxim), the 10 or so books I found used (couldn't find any locally) cost me ~$50...not bad, but the shipping on them averaged $6/book (and that was brought down by the few places that charged - gasp - actual postage of under $2.00 for a paperback from the US to Canada or across Canada...many of them were $9-10 to ship a pocketbook. Amazon, I find to be the worst for shipping of used books to Canada, Abe was the only place I found reasonable shipping. Alas - I wanted the series.

Anyway, my wordy point is - outside of the US, shipping costs make the purchase from many online retailers unfeasible due to added expense. There are many $1-2 paperbacks out there, but not everyone can afford the $8 to have them shipped. If I lived in the US, the costs are MUCH lower...I'm guessing you live in the US?