Breaking news!!!!! Sony to sell Epub only

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ahi

I did not mean to suggest Sony added sales tax--just that the size of the price drop was underwhelming.

$10 is still about twice what I think is reasonable for the average light-reading book.

- Ahi

But, think of it this way....

Let's take a hardcover at say $25.99. Let's drop 40% off for having a Borders rewards card. Then let's ad din a sales tax of 5%. We have a grand total of $16.37. Now let's go to Sony and pay $9.99 for the same book. You've just saved 6.38. And this is on a best case scenario for the hardback. Not always will you get 40% off and some hardbacks are more than $25.99. And if you bought the hardback where there was no sales tax, you'd still be saving $5.60.

[ahi]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But, think of it this way....

Let's take a hardcover at say $25.99. Let's drop 40% off for having a Borders rewards card. Then let's ad din a sales tax of 5%. We have a grand total of $16.37. Now let's go to Sony and pay $9.99 for the same book. You've just saved 6.38. And this is on a best case scenario for the hardback. Not always will you get 40% off and some hardbacks are more than $25.99. And if you bought the hardback where there was no sales tax, you'd still be saving $5.60.

Sorry, but no.

What other products cost, to me, has no bearing on whether or not I see the pricing of eBooks as fair and reasonable.

Your numbers are right--but I don't look at it that way.

Like I said though. A step in the right direction, no doubt. May many more like this come along in the next year or two!

- Ahi

[rcuadro]

Awesome!

[igorsk]

There is some confusion in this thread regarding PRS-500's EPUB capability. Let me try to clarify some points.
When the firmware update (with EPUB support) for 505 was released, Sony said it's not "technically feasible" to do the same for 500 and instead offered the trade-in program. Some people took it to mean that PRS-500 has not enough resources (such as RAM size) for Adobe's EPUB implementation. However, it was never clarified what exactly that meant. I think it was more a decision of necessary resources (development, testing, documentation etc) versus possible return. At that point Sony eBook Store's switch to EPUB wasn't in the plans and PRS-500 owners could still get their books in LRF.
Now the situation changes. EPUB becomes the main format and if they don't provide some solution for PRS-500 owners, Sony faces the risk of alienating them. I think at this point it can be "feasible" for Sony to produce firmware with EPUB support for PRS-500. I doubt it will mean removal of LRF viewer, which takes just around 600KB. Adobe's viewer is 6-7MB and necessary space can be easily found by reducing user space for books by just a bit.
Will they do it? Frankly, I doubt it. But it would be a nice gesture and I think Sony can afford it, even though it will probably not have any direct return.

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by ahi

$10 is still about twice what I think is reasonable for the average light-reading ebook.

Yeah, $5 is my limit on ebooks. Under that, it gets almost to be impulse buy, but over it, you start to think more.

I just took a look at the other books in the atlantis series, that was recently had a free offering, and the publisher wants $25 for the ebooks, the same price as for hardcover. I'm sorry. You at least get something extra for getting hardcover.

[ahi]

Originally Posted by Hellmark

Yeah, $5 is my limit on ebooks. Under that, it gets almost to be impulse buy, but over it, you start to think more.

I just took a look at the other books in the atlantis series, that was recently had a free offering, and the publisher wants $25 for the ebooks, the same price as for hardcover. I'm sorry. You at least get something extra for getting hardcover.

Agreed.

And until eBooks universally become thoroughly proofread, corrected, and typographically as pristine as paper books, treating them as "books" in any price-comparison scenario is generous beyond my willingness to accept.

- Ahi

[Hellmark]

Well, for me, it goes beyond that. You get something physical with paperbooks. You can loan them to friends, sell them, use them for decoration, hollow them out for hiding spaces, etc. With ebooks, you can only read them. While most of us just want to read them, to charge the same amount for something that is more restrictive, and gives fewer options, well, is silly.

[ahintz]

Originally Posted by ahi

Agreed.

And until eBooks universally become thoroughly proofread, corrected, and typographically as pristine as paper books, treating them as "books" in any price-comparison scenario is generous beyond my willingness to accept.

- Ahi

? I'd love to see an example of a modern ebook from a major publisher where there is a typo present that isn't in the printed copy. Now, as far as typography goes, I'll grant that in general ebooks are inferior to the printed page. Then again, when I read the latest Grisham that isn't the most important point. Having it in an easy-to-read, legible format with a good font is important. And that is something I can get from ePub.

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by ahintz

? I'd love to see an example of a modern ebook from a major publisher where there is a typo present that isn't in the printed copy. Now, as far as typography goes, I'll grant that in general ebooks are inferior to the printed page. Then again, when I read the latest Grisham that isn't the most important point. Having it in an easy-to-read, legible format with a good font is important. And that is something I can get from ePub.

There's been discussion of this recently, where people have been getting ebooks with OCR errors.

The books I got from Sony tend to be fairly good on the whole. And one thing I just thought of, is will the sony ebook library software largely go the way of the dodo with ADE replacing it, or will you still be able to buy, download, and transfer to your reader just like you can now. I really am not a big fan of ADE. I don't think ebook library is any better, but it is easier to use, especially when buying and downloading books.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ahintz

? I'd love to see an example of a modern ebook from a major publisher where there is a typo present that isn't in the printed copy. Now, as far as typography goes, I'll grant that in general ebooks are inferior to the printed page. Then again, when I read the latest Grisham that isn't the most important point. Having it in an easy-to-read, legible format with a good font is important. And that is something I can get from ePub.

Take a look at some of the threads on the mess made of the eBook Turn Coat by Jim Butcher. It's a modern eBook and has errors not in the pBook version.

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by ahi

and typographically as pristine as paper books

Most of the typographical features are up to the rendering software, not to the ebook itself. Your despising of reflowable formats is starting to look like despising PDF because it doesn't look fine when printed by dot-matrix printers in continuous paper.

You are right in that the current available rendering software is lacking on the typographic front, but again, that's not the ebooks' fault. There's no a priori reason why more advanced typographic features (to the extent they are automatable) can't be implemented in future software.

[ahi]

Originally Posted by Jellby

Most of the typographical features are up to the rendering software, not to the ebook itself. Your despising of reflowable formats is starting to look like despising PDF because it doesn't look fine when printed by dot-matrix printers in continuous paper.

You are right in that the current available rendering software is lacking on the typographic front, but again, that's not the ebooks' fault. There's no a priori reason why more advanced typographic features (to the extent they are automatable) can't be implemented in future software.

Yes. There is a reason. It's impossible to do, unless it is done in advance, by a human, for a fixed font-size and layout.

This is again, and again, and again, the whole of my point.

Advances in technology--short of creating intelligent machines--will not help in reaching software/hardware automated typographic professionalism. Hyphenation is the simplest and easiest to understand reason for that.

- Ahi

[ahi]

Originally Posted by ahintz

? I'd love to see an example of a modern ebook from a major publisher where there is a typo present that isn't in the printed copy. Now, as far as typography goes, I'll grant that in general ebooks are inferior to the printed page. Then again, when I read the latest Grisham that isn't the most important point. Having it in an easy-to-read, legible format with a good font is important. And that is something I can get from ePub.

Having to lower expectations considerably after the purchase of a multi-hundred dollar device is a sign of the times... but nothing to celebrate.

- Ahi

[ahintz]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Take a look at some of the threads on the mess made of the eBook Turn Coat by Jim Butcher. It's a modern eBook and has errors not in the pBook version.

Well, that is inexcusable and if I had purchased it, I would return it - just as I would if I purchased a pbook that was messed up.

Originally Posted by ahi

What other products cost, to me, has no bearing on whether or not I see the pricing of eBooks as fair and reasonable.

I think what other products cost is a relevant comparison. You are paying for the content - the ability to read the book. Whether you are reading it on a Sony Reader, on a Kindle, or in a paperback or hardback, in the end you are paying for the same content. Now, if you like to collect books, store them on a bookshelf, or if the physicality of holding a book and turning the page is important to you - then there is a value-add to a pbook. I doubt ebooks will ever be able to replace that.

However, if you simply want the pleasure of reading the content, then getting that same content from Sony for $9.99 or from Borders for $17 is a valid comparison. I think the combination of moving to a device-neutral format (ePub) and matching the best pricing for the content (currently Amazon) is a very big deal, and is great not only for Sony Reader users but for anyone who wants to see ebooks succeed.

I know personally, once Sony moves to selling ePub, I will go back to purchasing from them. Being able to read a book on my iPhone and on my Reader is a great feature. And ePub's constant page numbering will make it easy to do that!

Sorry for the rant!

[krischik]

Originally Posted by ahi

What other products cost, to me, has no bearing on whether or not I see the pricing of eBooks as fair and reasonable.

Ohh no - not again. Books are not about product cost. Only about 10% is for paper and ink. Books are about People cost: Author, Editor, Layouter, Graphic Designer (Cover), Marketing, Distribution.

And there is noting to save here - not for new books where all those people above still want there share. I recently found out that even the graphic designer for the cover is paid per unit sold. And there is not one you can cut out entirely - you need them all.

Martin.