Poll on obstacles to ebook buying

[Bremen Cole]

I am in the US, but I see geo restriction as an issue for the industry as a whole. For me it's DRM.... I have to say I'm a little surprised by the results of the poll at this point. The DRM issues total 60%, while price over $9.95 is only 25%.... wish the sellers, publishers and authors would get it....

[NightGeometry]

Originally Posted by alvico

And again...

And again.

Second biggest would be - the book I want just isn't available (regardless of geo restrictions). As such - no vote. Seems wrong to vote something that isn't one of my major concerns.

[basschick]

i didn't vote in the poll. my biggest impediment tends to be books that are not in a format my ebook reader reads. other issues for me - books being unavailable, or only certain books in a series being available as an ebook.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

I voted, but in truth, my biggest impediment would be lack of titles I'm searching for, both old and new books, in any format at all. Over this little East Coast blizzard we've been experiencing this week, I have gone back and re-looked for specific books I'd like to see in e-formats, only to find they are not available at all.

[rhadin]

I appreciate everyone's input, but admit that I am perplexed. The poll asks of the "following choices" which is the biggest obstacle to you. Should I understand from those who didn't vote because geo restrictions weren't included, that if publishers suddenly did away with geo restrictions you would have no complaints about any of the listed items? That seems to be what you are saying.

If so, then the recurring threads about DRM and price are misleading. All publishers need do is sack geo restrictions and all will be rosy in ebook world.

[Katti's Cat]

I checked out the poll but as you don't have geo restrictions I didn't vote. Price and DRMs whilst sometimes not comfortable are not as big an issue for me as not being able to get the book I want from the shop of my choice.

DRMs can be getting rid of these days (so I have heard, I just don't bother with it), prices will change with the acceptance of the eBooks. Geo restrictions might not be an issue in the US but they sure are in the rest of the world.

[sabredog]

Originally Posted by Wetdogeared

My current greatest impediment in buying eBooks is geographical restrictions.

the same for me.

[alvico]

Originally Posted by Katti's Cat

I checked out the poll but as you don't have geo restrictions I didn't vote. Price and DRMs whilst sometimes not comfortable are not as big an issue for me as not being able to get the book I want from the shop of my choice.

DRMs can be getting rid of these days (so I have heard, I just don't bother with it), prices will change with the acceptance of the eBooks. Geo restrictions might not be an issue in the US but they sure are in the rest of the world.

I agree. Before geographical restrictions were imposed, I was able to read the authors of my choice. If the books were too expensive, I waited until the price came down. That choice has now been taken away.

[sabredog]

Originally Posted by rhadin

I appreciate everyone's input, but admit that I am perplexed. The poll asks of the "following choices" which is the biggest obstacle to you. Should I understand from those who didn't vote because geo restrictions weren't included, that if publishers suddenly did away with geo restrictions you would have no complaints about any of the listed items? That seems to be what you are saying.

If so, then the recurring threads about DRM and price are misleading. All publishers need do is sack geo restrictions and all will be rosy in ebook world.

I voted for capped prices below US$9.99. That and removal of geo restrictions and I can "liberate" ebooks of DRM shackles once I buy them.

[desertgrandma]

Did your poll, and since I am in the US, geo restrictions aren't a issue for me.

However, price is. I rarely buy anything over $4.99........unless its an author really special to me, or the continuation of a series I am reading. Stephen Kings latest was the last one I bought above that price, and thanks to Amazon's price war, got it for $7.

Even then........I can usually always get best sellers as an ebook thru my local library. The wait, if any, is no big deal when you figure you get to read it for free. It closes after the loan period, so there are no late fees.

If I pay for a book, I feel I have rights to it, so formats and drm are not a problem. Convert and liberate. Problem solved.

Poor formatting and spelling are no an issue either........at least not one big enough for me to worry about. I generally can 'lose' myself in a book long enough to ignore the problems. Its the story that captures me, and everything else just 'goes away'.

Yes, I know I am in the minority here.......spelling and editing should be top notch.......especially considering the prices being charged for best sellers. But hey...........I just want to read, and will do so any way I can.

edit: You asked about "self published" There are many jewels out there that I would never have considered had I not joined MobileRead. As it is, I feel my reading experience has been enriched by trying new authors.

[alecE]

I voted for any form of DRM being the biggest obstacle, but included a rant against geographical restrictions - I understand why/how this happens, but the lunacy of being able to buy a pbook but not buy the equivalent ebook makes me incandescently furious! Grrrr!!

[vaughnmr]

For someone that's involved in the industry, it's surprising you DIDN'T think geo restrictions were a problem. This tells me the publishers don't even listen to their customers.

[Xenophon]

Originally Posted by rhadin

I didn't include geo restrictions in this go round but will include it in future polls. As with all polls, not evey possibility is covered, just what the pollster is inerested in . I will admit that I didn't think of geo restrictions, probably because I haven't found that to be a problem So to you for whom that is the only impediment, I apologize; for those for whom that is but the most important impediment among several, I ask that you choose from among the choices given.

Hmmm... Availability is the #1 problem for me. None of the other issues even begin to matter when the book is made of unobtanium.

Xenophon

[wdreamsmaycome]

Originally Posted by vaughnmr

For someone that's involved in the industry, it's surprising you DIDN'T think geo restrictions were a problem. This tells me the publishers don't even listen to their customers.

I think it's not surprising that a lot of people wouldn't find this as much of an issue: the people most aware of georestrictions are expats and/or people living abroad trying to learn English and/or people who have travelled extensively and have seen first hand how it does happen that sometimes books will be published in one country but not another, or published in other countries only after some 'localization' changes (look at Harry Potter for example, and the 'Americanization' of several terms).

Personally drm is the #1 issue for me (because I do not think that "I don't care about drm, I will just 'liberate' anything I buy anyways" is a valid position) with geolocation a close #2 (living in Canada means that I don't get all the books available in the US/UK/Australia and it also means that, say, for amazon I am charged an extra $2 per title even if I do not d/load it wirelessly) and book availability in general a close #3 (why is it that so few titles are available in e-book format is beyond me, look for example at the excellent Rai Kirah series by Carol Berg, book 2/3 are available in ebook, but not 1, why?)

It seems like the twilight zone that people have to work hard at trying to find ways to purchase things legitimately, and that what they purchase is often of low quality (formatting/proofing) and inconvenient to use (due to drm and e-babel in general).

It goes to show that despite what publishers (of videogames, music, books) try to reiterate over and over, i.e. that all consumers are thieves, the vast majority of people is actually quite honest, and will go to considerable lengths to remain so (just look at all the hoops people try to jump through to get georestricted books).

It's unfortunately easier for a publisher to sound the 'it's all the fault of the pirates' clarion call any time their sales don't meet their projections rather than fix the real issues, because very few corporations care about honest customers (O'Reilly for example does, with no drm and the safari library, which is awesome) treating them like 'guilty until proven innocent' criminals and taking advantage of them whenever they can.

Personally until the drm issue is solved once and for all I will remain paper based (save my subscription to safari, of course), this way I will be sure that any book I buy will remain easily readable 5 years from now, not to mention that I will be able to buy books from amazon.com/.co.uk if I choose to, and not to mention that I will be able to check books out at the library if I want to make sure that a book is good before purchasing it.

This is unfortunate because I would love to buy a kindle and a lot of books (I read a lot, and I would easily spend $100/month in ebooks if I was able to) but what can you do.

[vaughnmr]

Originally Posted by wdreamsmaycome

I think it's not surprising that a lot of people wouldn't find this as much of an issue...

It's not a surprise when someone in the US doesn't understand the geo restrictions, it doesn't apply to them for the most part, but it's another thing entirely when an insider doesn't think it's important enough to include in a poll. Mobileread is an excellant place for the industry types to get a read on the customers, and the fact that Richard totally missed it is very telling...