Waterstones and ebook prices - Page 7

DuckieTigger · 01-19-2012, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

It doesn't matter if the DRM works or not. What matters is that books sold with DRM from some place other then the Kindle Store will not work on a Kindle. Same for IBooks and for BN.

In the context of having to deal with Amazon because it is the dominant player in the market this matters because a non-affiliated book store would have to be able to sell books from the major Publishers without DRM in order for people to be able to read them on their Kindles. And that is not going to happen because the Major Publishers will not allow their books to be sold without DRM.

Well but that is why the DRM does not work. There is need to remove the DRM just to compete with Amazon, so you can read it on a Kindle if sold outside of Amazon. If an ebook had ONE standard for everybody including one DRM for everybody the same, then there would be no need (for the avererage-joe) to even consider circumventing the DRM and converting the book ...

Amazon could still be competetive if they sold their Kindles so that it will include Amazon credit for purchasing books from them - as a bundle a bit cheaper than sold seperately for instance.

Walmart does pretty well, and they accept the same cash that everybody else excepts, not even needing their own play-coins.

ProfCrash · 01-19-2012, 08:25 PM

I am not disagreeing with you. I know it sounds like I am but I am not.

The big issue is convincing the publishers to drop DRM so that more bookstores could compete with Amazon. Although you would still have the formatting issue since Amazon uses Mobi and everyone else uses EPub. That is easier dealt with, I am sure the stores would sell both Mobi and EPub in order to get more customers.

So far the major publishers are huge fans of DRM thinking that it stops Piracy. We all know it doesn't but that is their line. They are not lending books in the library because they claim that causes piracy. We all know it doesn't. They won't allow for loans from account to account because they are afraid of piracy. We know that is silly.

As long as the Publishers are stupid and keep burying their heads in the sand they are giving Amazon an advantage and Amazon is using it to spread its reach as far as possible. And it is working.

I don't care what company I buy from, I want the best product and the best customer service. For me, at this moment, that is the Kindle. I like my keyboard and Amazons Customer Service is great. I love their book store and how easy it is to shop for books at the one location.

If someone else can top that I will switch in a heart beat. The Publishers are doing a great job of shooting themselves in the foot and for the smaller publishing houses there is little that they can do.

Which sucks for them.

Adele Ward · 01-22-2012, 08:13 AM

There's plenty the smaller publishers can do and we're working on it. I think the bigger publishers also want ebooks in more formats than Kindle so they can get to more parts of the world, so they can sell on more websites, and also so that they can give more competitive prices. Amazon has too much control and publishers are looking for ways out of that.

We will all keep working with Amazon too - it's not a case of either/or. But I think this year you will see ebooks sold in ePub on more platforms. It's about to take off. Amazon has a few weaknesses which are letting competition in, and which will let the competition really take off. One is that they don't get to all parts of the world - we have potential customers complaining to us about this because they really want the ebooks. The other is their demand for exclusivity and so much control, and publishers don't want that.

I've been contacted by various companies and organisations offering ways to sell and loan our books using ePub. We can stay with Kindle and also offer our books on other platforms. Amazon got into a strong position, but they have built interest and success for ebooks, while shooting themselves in the foot by not providing what publishers, authors and readers really want. To be able to sell their books to as many countries as possible with an industry standard system that also lets us sell from our own websites and via other services.

People also stick with Kindle because it feels like an easy way to download ebooks, in what is actually quite tricky for many new ebook users. One of the main challenges is to make this as easy as possible for them on other devices and from other websites.

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01-19-2012, 08:25 PM	#92
ProfCrash Tea Enthusiast Posts: 8,554 Karma: 75384937 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Somewhere in the USA Device: Kindle1, Kindle DX Graphite, K3 3G, IPad 3, PW2	I am not disagreeing with you. I know it sounds like I am but I am not. The big issue is convincing the publishers to drop DRM so that more bookstores could compete with Amazon. Although you would still have the formatting issue since Amazon uses Mobi and everyone else uses EPub. That is easier dealt with, I am sure the stores would sell both Mobi and EPub in order to get more customers. So far the major publishers are huge fans of DRM thinking that it stops Piracy. We all know it doesn't but that is their line. They are not lending books in the library because they claim that causes piracy. We all know it doesn't. They won't allow for loans from account to account because they are afraid of piracy. We know that is silly. As long as the Publishers are stupid and keep burying their heads in the sand they are giving Amazon an advantage and Amazon is using it to spread its reach as far as possible. And it is working. I don't care what company I buy from, I want the best product and the best customer service. For me, at this moment, that is the Kindle. I like my keyboard and Amazons Customer Service is great. I love their book store and how easy it is to shop for books at the one location. If someone else can top that I will switch in a heart beat. The Publishers are doing a great job of shooting themselves in the foot and for the smaller publishing houses there is little that they can do. Which sucks for them.

01-22-2012, 08:13 AM	#93
Adele Ward Connoisseur Posts: 54 Karma: 490324 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: London Device: Kindle	There's plenty the smaller publishers can do and we're working on it. I think the bigger publishers also want ebooks in more formats than Kindle so they can get to more parts of the world, so they can sell on more websites, and also so that they can give more competitive prices. Amazon has too much control and publishers are looking for ways out of that. We will all keep working with Amazon too - it's not a case of either/or. But I think this year you will see ebooks sold in ePub on more platforms. It's about to take off. Amazon has a few weaknesses which are letting competition in, and which will let the competition really take off. One is that they don't get to all parts of the world - we have potential customers complaining to us about this because they really want the ebooks. The other is their demand for exclusivity and so much control, and publishers don't want that. I've been contacted by various companies and organisations offering ways to sell and loan our books using ePub. We can stay with Kindle and also offer our books on other platforms. Amazon got into a strong position, but they have built interest and success for ebooks, while shooting themselves in the foot by not providing what publishers, authors and readers really want. To be able to sell their books to as many countries as possible with an industry standard system that also lets us sell from our own websites and via other services. People also stick with Kindle because it feels like an easy way to download ebooks, in what is actually quite tricky for many new ebook users. One of the main challenges is to make this as easy as possible for them on other devices and from other websites.

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