FastCompany: Something Is Rotten In The State Of E-Book Publishing

[avantman42]

Originally Posted by VaporPunk

I do think that there is a place for interactive content. For an e-book, it doesn't have to be flashy and intrusive. An easy one-button option that allows you to quickly go to maps or the cast of characters, for example. (Yes, X-Ray allows you to do some of these things, some of the times) Ever wonder how to pronounce a characters name? Highlight it and hear the author say it as he intends. These are features I would pay extra for.

That sort of un-intrusive interactivity I could really appreciate, but unfortunately all the articles calling for more interactive books never seem to ask for this type of feature. They all seem to want to turn e-books into apps.

Interestingly, an update has been added to the article:

The New York Times has a story today that shows just how fraught with ridiculousness (in terms of sensible business practice) the ebooks game currently is. Author Buzz Bissinger recently had a shock when Starbucks chose to promote his $2.99 book "After Friday Night Lights" as a Pick of The Week promotion via Apple's iTunes. Customers taking part in the promotion got the book for free, but Bissinger still got $1.50 in royalties from the loss-leading promo. But Amazon then automatically slashed his book price to $0 in reaction to the promotion. And that prompted his publishers, Byline, to pull the title from Amazon because it would've lost money, and because it thought it would damage the author's reputation (Byliner noted it was to "protect the author's interest".) Amazon have since responded, saying their price deal protects consumers when a price is lower elsewhere, but it still doesn't seem fair to gamble with a writer's income in this way.

It's worth noting that the publisher knew that Amazon's price bots might reduce the price to zero, but decided to take the chance:

Originally Posted by NY Times

Mr. Bryant said that when the company told Amazon about the promotion, before it began, Byliner was warned the price might drop to zero. But, he said, “we hoped that wouldn’t happen.” It did.

It may not be fair to "gamble with a writer's income in this way", but it should be noted that the publisher was doing the gambling.

[stonetools]

Actually, there IS a strong demand for ebooks with rich media-but its not reflected in the Kindle Top 100. Amazon's patrons typically want narrative text genre fiction-the cheaper the better.
Where is there a demand for rich media ebooks? In the iOS App Store.
If you browse the Books and Education categories, you will see thousands of titles of children's book apps. As I posted in an earlier thread, the print children's book is being driven out by children's content apps, with the App Store leading the way. See , for example, NOSY CROW.
The children raised on these apps are going to go to K-12 schools where they are going to learn from digital textbooks produced by (surprise!) Apple, which will also be rich media. No prizes for guessing what kind of textbooks they will be using when they get to college.
I think there will always be a demand for plain vanilla narrative text. But its also a low price, low reward game. I think Apple (and maybe Microsoft) want to go where the margins are higher.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by stonetools

The children raised on these apps are going to go to K-12 schools where they are going to learn from digital textbooks produced by (surprise!) Apple, which will also be rich media.

No, they won't. Public schools that aren't specifically part of promotional "EBOOKS FOR ALL!!!" arrangements with the school district tend to ban all electronic devices--cellphones, ipods, videogames, and whatever else they can think of. They often include non-wifi ereaders in the ban, because the teachers don't recognize the device.

Schools have no idea how to *use* the capabilities of tablets and ereaders. Most schools don't allow K-12 students to use laptops in class even if they've got them. The technological hassles of trying to prevent full web access so the students will focus on the class are substantial, and teachers aren't trained to deal with multimedia devices.

They can and do assign homework that requires a computer, but they can't cope with them as part of the classroom education.

Eventually, ebooks and ebook-ish apps will be a vital part of the educational system, but it'll take a while, maybe a long while. It requires both an overhaul of the teaching methods and considerable financial resources that have to be available across the entire district before it can be established as the standard.

No prizes for guessing what kind of textbooks they will be using when they get to college.

Same problems, different level. Book-apps aren't particularly accessible to students with disabilities. (There are some specifically made to cover for some disabilties--but useless for other disabilities.) Tablets aren't widely accessible, either.

Ebooks and apps will quickly become a part of the elite & wealthy student education system; they won't easily be adopted across all levels. (I am looking forward to one of the "Every student gets an ipad!" schools being hit with the problem of a three-day blizzard power-outage and what that does to education.)

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

(I am looking forward to one of the "Every student gets an ipad!" schools being hit with the problem of a three-day blizzard power-outage and what that does to education.)

If there is no power, wouldn't the school be closed anyway?

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

...

Ebooks and apps will quickly become a part of the elite & wealthy student education system; they won't easily be adopted across all levels. (I am looking forward to one of the "Every student gets an ipad!" schools being hit with the problem of a three-day blizzard power-outage and what that does to education.)

Or targeted viruses.

Many of the "everyone gets a computer" or "everyone gets a Kindle" programs have not worked out well. Doesn't mean they can't in the future, but this whole ebook technology is in a flux right now. And if the think the publishers dug in about publishing fiction ebooks just wait til you see what they do with Technical and Scholastic books.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Ebooks and apps will quickly become a part of the elite & wealthy student education system; they won't easily be adopted across all levels. (I am looking forward to one of the "Every student gets an ipad!" schools being hit with the problem of a three-day blizzard power-outage and what that does to education.)

Plus the cost of the high speed WIFI connection for every household.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

If there is no power, wouldn't the school be closed anyway?

If there's no power, students whose homework assignments are "read paper books" and "write in a notebook" can still get them done. Students whose assignments are "work through quiz in this app" cannot.

If schoolwork is dependent on rechargeable devices, or worse, login access to the school's servers, students will stop doing schoolwork any time there's a power outage.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

If there's no power, students whose homework assignments are "read paper books" and "write in a notebook" can still get them done. Students whose assignments are "work through quiz in this app" cannot.

If schoolwork is dependent on rechargeable devices, or worse, login access to the school's servers, students will stop doing schoolwork any time there's a power outage.

Power outages around me last for minutes unless there is a natural disaster. Where do live that school kids are likely to have both tech dependent homework and multi day power outages! ?

[kennyc]

Well, in recent years I've seen half-day outages at work and a few minutes to a few hours at home...

[stonetools]

Ebooks and apps will quickly become a part of the elite & wealthy student education system; they won't easily be adopted across all levels. (I am looking forward to one of the "Every student gets an ipad!" schools being hit with the problem of a three-day blizzard power-outage and what that does to education.)
__________________

This seems way too pesssimistic. Students are using Kindles in US schools NOW. Heck Kindles have been tried in AFRICAN schools LINK.
Will there be iPads for everyone next year? Nope. But will digital textbooks be commonplace in US high schools and colleges in ten years. It ain't certain- but that's the way to bet.
Why do you think Apple entered the ebook market, created IBooks author, and started the digital textbook initiative? Why did Microsoft invest in BN, specifically including BN College Bookstores? Its because they are seeing a bright future , where you are seeing obstacles.

[dkperez]

I've gotta paraphrase ProfCrash:

I want to read books at a price that is EXTREMELY reasonable and without DRM. It REALLY is not all that complicated.

I won't buy hardback books. I didn't before ebooks, and I'm sure not gonna now.

I want e-books with words from the authors I like to read, and to pay A LOT less than for a paper book since it costs them less to produce an e-book.

And if the publishers want me to try new authors, GET THE !#$%$& BOOKS INTO THE LIBRARY. 'CAUSE THAT'S THE WAY I FIND NEW AUTHORS.

That is all.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by ApK

Where do live that school kids are likely to have both tech dependent homework and multi day power outages! ?

One word: ICESTORM.

We've been seeing them all over NorthAmerica for ages.
Quebec got a near legendary one a few years back.
The tornado alley midwesterners get at least one somewhere in the region each year.

And it's not just the fozen rain storms;
I recall NJ having extended power outages last fall from a "small" storm that went by.

It's a valid concern.

[ProfCrash]

Kindles, heck the Kindle Fire, are far more likely to work their way into K-8 schools due to cost. Do you want to trust a First Grader with a $500 machine or the $100 machine?

That goes for Nooks, Kobos and the like.

As the e-readers move more into the tablet market we will see a growth in e-textbooks that will work on the less expensive devices. I would guess that most college students cannot really afford a laptop and an IPad, you can buy a fully functional laptop for less then a 64 GB WiFi only IPad these days but it is easier to justify a Kobo Vox or Nook Tablet.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

Kindles, heck the Kindle Fire, are far more likely to work their way into K-8 schools due to cost. Do you want to trust a First Grader with a $500 machine or the $100 machine?

The devices are nowhere near as kidproof as they'd need to be. To be issued to under-12-year-olds on a large scale, they'd need to be built more like the Nintendo DS: solid block of plastic, durable buttons, buffered insides that can take a short drop. I think it's do-able, but it'd take a total redesign, and I haven't seen any movement in that direction.

As the e-readers move more into the tablet market we will see a growth in e-textbooks that will work on the less expensive devices. I would guess that most college students cannot really afford a laptop and an IPad,

Many, perhaps most of them, can afford both; it's just too much hassle. Having your books on one device and your notetaking & spreadsheet programs on another is a nuisance. In order to push solidly into the college market, a textbook reader needs to *replace* the laptop--because the students still need to take notes, write papers during their breaks, manage their schedules, download course materials, print out instructions and finished papers, and so on. Until the tablet can integrate smoothly with a full-power computer, and contains easy ways to do most of the schoolday tasks, tablets won't be a standard part of the college education system.

As long as the tablet is "use this along with your laptop!" it'll be an occasional luxury device. Until they connect with a printer, they're not going to be a full-service device; until they've got an easy keyboard attachment, they won't be useful for writing term papers; until they support both MS Office and the Adobe Suite (or equivalents), they won't be usable for complex assignments, and so on.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

Many, perhaps most of them, can afford both; it's just too much hassle. Having your books on one device and your notetaking & spreadsheet programs on another is a nuisance. In order to push solidly into the college market, a textbook reader needs to *replace* the laptop

Au contraire! The hassle is flipping windows or sharing screen real estate to go between your research book and the paper you are writing.
Two devices is the only way that makes sense.
One day, when reading, and writing and researching can be done equally well on one device, though I really can't imagine that device's form factor or human interface, maybe it will be two of the SAME device.

Now, FARTHER down the road, when our data is projected into our field of vision by direct neural interface, and we can switch from content creation to a research display just by shifting our attention, THEN one device...the one implanted in our brains....will suffice.