Penguin blames likely job losses on rise of ebooks

[Wetdogeared]

Haven't the publishing houses been trying to convince us that the reason an ebook costs us as much as a pbook is that the costs of printing, storing, distributing and returning of pbooks is negligible?

Doesn't seem all that negligible now.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Wetdogeared

Haven't the publishing houses been trying to convince us that the reason an ebook costs us as much as a pbook is that the costs of printing, storing, distributing and returning of pbooks is negligible?

Doesn't seem all that negligible now.

It's reasonable that costs per unit are negligible when in sufficiently large quantity, and if the number of units shrinks, the impact is more acutely felt.

As the commercials say, shipping a ton of cargo across country by freight train is dirt cheap. That's AS LONG AS THE TRAIN IS FULL with a couple thousand tons of cargo! If that same train had to take just ONE TON of cargo, it would not be cheap!

[ApK]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

I didn't know it was quite that bad. But the idea of a "redundancy package" for unionized book warehouse workers does sound a wee bit alien to American ears.

I assumed it was the same thing as a severance package, which didn't seem out of line, union or no.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by ApK

It's reasonable that costs per unit are negligible when in sufficiently large quantity, and if the number of units shrinks, the impact is more acutely felt.

As the commercials say, shipping a ton of cargo across country by freight train is dirt cheap. That's AS LONG AS THE TRAIN IS FULL with a couple thousand tons of cargo! If that same train had to take just ONE TON of cargo, it would not be cheap!

Exactly. Fixed costs are non-negotiable. It costs the same to run a warehouse that works at full capacity as one working at half-capacity or less.

It is that kind of overhead that is killing pbook competitivenes.

Pbook units sales were declining even before ebooks came on the scene and when ebooks came along the decline became more noticeable. For the past few years pbooks have been at best a breakeven proposition for the BPHs and that is why they have been merging like crazy, trying to aggregate enough volume to keep their facilities running at something close to profitability. Absent enough volume to cover their overhead they need to reduce the capacity of their facilities and staff.

Which means closures and layoffs.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by ApK

It's reasonable that costs per unit are negligible when in sufficiently large quantity, and if the number of units shrinks, the impact is more acutely felt.

As the commercials say, shipping a ton of cargo across country by freight train is dirt cheap. That's AS LONG AS THE TRAIN IS FULL with a couple thousand tons of cargo! If that same train had to take just ONE TON of cargo, it would not be cheap!

A standard 18 wheeler carrys by itself between 18 and 20 tons.
A freight train generally has roughly 100 cars some are stacked 2 high.
Now the catch is that the train usually carries several different companies.
On books, let's say the printing press is in Pennsylvania and the Bookstores headquarters is in San Francisco. Well now I am going to assume that neither of those has a railroad station next door.
Let's say the bookstore has bought a trailer full.
First we have cost of printing.
Someone or a machine to load the books.
Then we have to hire a driver to take all the books to the loading area.
We will also have to have lumpers. Those are the guys that will load the books on the truck.
Now here we can either use a lift off trailer or a regular trailer.
Next step will either be paying the guy to use his special crane to move the trailer onto the train or paying a lumper to move the books from one space to another.
Books get a train ride across the country.
Reverse this process at the other end.
Now we get to the warehouse, where people unbox the books and repackage them for distribution to their stores.
Note, more truck drivers and more fuel. But at least now we are at the point that one doesn't have to pay to get the trucks unloaded.
Ok that was fun.

Before anyone asks, back in the late 80's many companies had the truck drivers either load or the truck drivers had to pay someone to load the trucks.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Books get a train ride across the country.

You know, it didn't even occur to me that books might be carried by train. I was using the railroad freight industry as another example of economy of scale. I totally missed the tree for the forest.

And hey, trees can carried by train too!

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by ApK

You know, it didn't even occur to me that books might be carried by train. I was using the railroad freight industry as another example of economy of scale. I totally missed the tree for the forest.

And hey, trees can carried by train too!

UPS is one of the users of the railroad. They literally put their truck trailers on flatbed rail cars. So your package from Amazon could literally take a train, a plane and a truck before it reaches your house.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

UPS is one of the users of the railroad. They literally put their truck trailers on flatbed rail cars. So your package from Amazon could literally take a train, a plane and a truck before it reaches your house.

Amazon has been buying trailers they pack themselves and contract with ttucking companies to move the trailers as "black box" loads. It hasn't been mentioned but there is no reason they couldn't ship the trailers by rail, too.

For that matter, if the regulatory hurdles ever get settled, those trailers could be moved via self-driving robot trucks between robotic warehouses. Untouched by human hands.

[Fiat_Lux]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

there is no reason they couldn't ship the trailers by rail, too.

Seattle rail traffic is way too congested for that to be practical. If BSNF would at least double track, if not triple track their line as far north as Bellingham, and as far south as Olympia, and over both passes, then the congestion issue in the Port of Seattle might be cleared.

For that matter, if the regulatory hurdles ever get settled, those trailers could be moved via self-driving robot trucks between robotic warehouses. Untouched by human hands.

The current projected starting date for cross-country driverless 18 wheelers is 1 January 2020. The biggest non-technical hurdle is insurance, not government regulations.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Fiat_Lux

The current projected starting date for cross-country driverless 18 wheelers is 1 January 2020. The biggest non-technical hurdle is insurance, not government regulations.

That's a lot sooner than I would've hoped for.
Have a reference handy?
(Just curious about the details, not doubting. Pilot runs, etc.)

The train stuff doesn't have to be out of Seattle, though. The "Amazon Air" cargo operation is being run out of Ohio. And the Prime Air research is moving faster in the UK. Amazon is pretty decentralized, what with all those distribution centers scattered all over. They seem to be developing a multilayer transport system using planes, trucks, drones, and probably trains in some fashion.

http://the-digital-reader.com/2015/11/24/94248/

They're not standing still waiting for competitors to catch up; not in ebooks, and not in logistics.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by Fiat_Lux

Seattle rail traffic is way too congested for that to be practical. If BSNF would at least double track, if not triple track their line as far north as Bellingham, and as far south as Olympia, and over both passes, then the congestion issue in the Port of Seattle might be cleared.



The current projected starting date for cross-country driverless 18 wheelers is 1 January 2020. The biggest non-technical hurdle is insurance, not government regulations.

Similar hurdles to flying cars.

[leebase]

Ebooks have killed my purchasing of physical books. And increased my overall spending on books as I read more

[crane3]

Originally Posted by Fiat_Lux

Seattle rail traffic is way too congested for that to be practical. If BSNF would at least double track, if not triple track their line as far north as Bellingham, and as far south as Olympia, and over both passes, then the congestion issue in the Port of Seattle might be cleared.



The current projected starting date for cross-country driverless 18 wheelers is 1 January 2020. The biggest non-technical hurdle is insurance, not government regulations.

Oh? Will the driverless trucks be able to put on chains at chain controls; or even stop off the road to remove the tire chains in the winter snow? Same with driverless cars.

Haven't seen any tests that show the driverless vehicles slowing down at traffic controled areas of construction sites or areas for tree trimmings. No videos of driverless vehicles moving to the next lane when there are a left/right lane closure signs.

There haven't been any indication that the driverless vehicles will stop for a school bus that has the "stop" paddle extended or even slowing down when encountering a slower speed limit sign. Or better yet, nothing on what the driverless vehicles will do when encountering emergency vehicles' red-light & sirens going.

Technically, will the programming for the driverless vehicles be better than for windows 10 or OS X or IOS or Android???

I want to see how the driverless trucks/cars behave outside of what has been shown so far since none of the videos or documentations showed me what happens on real life driving experiences.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The article makes it sound like it is our fault for preferring eBooks that these people are going to lose their jobs. It's like trying to guilt us to go back to pBooks.

Well If they ARE trying to guilt me into going back to paper, it isn't working. We ALL face job obsolescence in the face of technological advancement. some get hit earlier some later. But in time, it will happen to every profession.

I'm not giving up the good just because people lose their jobs. They must adapt to changing circumstances.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by tomsem

US-based companies brag about laying people off. It supports the stock price.

Please document that moronic statement.