07-16-2009, 09:31 AM | #1 |
Enthusiast
Posts: 41
Karma: 500
Join Date: Apr 2009
Device: Nook Color
|
"The book industry is gonna get Napstered..."
Although the article talks mostly about the Kindle, the issues raised are quite relevant to all ebook readers. This sort of short-sighted thinking on the part of publishers won't work in the long run and will only serve to fracture the market further. Sadly, Sony doesn't seem to have Amazon's foresight in trying to drive the market to a new place by subsidizing ebooks and forging alliances with major publishers to issue Sony versions at reduced prices.
http://www.slate.com/id/2222941/ I especially love the remarks about how bad the early MP3 music stores on the web were: "The other commercial sites, wrote the New York Times, were "complex, expensive and limiting" and "failing because they were created to serve the interests of the record companies, not their customers." Sound familiar? |
07-16-2009, 11:32 AM | #2 |
zeldinha zippy zeldissima
Posts: 27,827
Karma: 921169
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Paris, France
Device: eb1150 & is that a nook in her pocket, or she just happy to see you?
|
thanks for the interesting article, coase. i'm going to move this thread to the news and commentary forum which seems more appropriate.
|
Advert | |
|
07-16-2009, 03:17 PM | #3 | |
hopeless n00b
Posts: 5,110
Karma: 19597086
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: in the middle of nowhere
Device: PW4, PW3, Libra H2O, iPad 10.5, iPad 11, iPad 12.9
|
Quote:
|
|
07-16-2009, 03:24 PM | #4 |
Banned
Posts: 5,100
Karma: 72193
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: South of the Border
Device: Coffin
|
The Napster of books is already here, it's called the ebooksbay. Fully searchable, indexes torrents and pdf giveaways etc. It's been around for awhile too Some of these 'tech' journalists really need to do some research.
|
07-16-2009, 03:39 PM | #5 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 9,707
Karma: 32763414
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Krewerd
Device: Pocketbook Inkpad 4 Color; Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
|
Yes, but it's not as big as Napster was in its golden days (and it didn't offer legal stuff only at that time either!). It is as he writes, right now, it's hardly worth the trouble. But what if the prices rise spectacular or books just won't be published?
|
Advert | |
|
07-16-2009, 03:48 PM | #6 |
Banned
Posts: 5,100
Karma: 72193
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: South of the Border
Device: Coffin
|
The more I digest of Chris Anderson's book (Free: The Future of a Radical Price) and the more I experience of the culture around me as it grows, the more convinced I am that selling any digital product will become frankly impossible in the future. Writers are going to have to pair free digital downloads along with something of value made of atoms if they want to survive (this goes for publishing companies also). Books will always be published, maybe more now than ever before because of the ease of digital publishing. You won't need a Napster if everything is free to begin with (approaching that state ever more rapidly).
|
07-16-2009, 05:09 PM | #7 | |
Professional Contrarian
Posts: 2,045
Karma: 3289631
Join Date: Mar 2009
Device: Kindle 4 No Touchie
|
I have to say, I think mis-pricing could harm the book industry as a whole, and in some cases delaying the e-book version will very likely turn some people to piracy. But I don't think e-books will get pirated to death. Let's face it, it takes all of 2 brainless minutes to make a high-fidelity copy of an entire CD; it takes hours to scan, format and edit a paper book into a digital format. A book will have to be fairly popular for someone to put that effort into it.
Quote:
Let me know when Facebook and YouTube actually generate a profit -- or better yet, let me know when Anderson releases an e-book version at no charge. Then we can talk about how everything should be Free. |
|
07-16-2009, 05:18 PM | #8 | |
Banned
Posts: 5,100
Karma: 72193
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: South of the Border
Device: Coffin
|
Quote:
Anderson has released the book at no charge. I listened to it as an audio book on Spotify, there's a PDF version at Scribd, a Sony version through their store. Can we talk now? |
|
07-16-2009, 05:37 PM | #9 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 5,185
Karma: 25133758
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA
Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3 (Past: Kobo Mini, PEZ, PRS-505, Clié)
|
Quote:
Think people won't pay for what's available for free? Look at the bottled water industry. They'll pay for convenient packaging (which, in the case of ebooks, may mean "nice format" and/or "download from a site I already visit") and sometimes from brand loyalty. |
|
07-16-2009, 05:42 PM | #10 | ||
zeldinha zippy zeldissima
Posts: 27,827
Karma: 921169
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Paris, France
Device: eb1150 & is that a nook in her pocket, or she just happy to see you?
|
Quote:
Quote:
|
||
07-16-2009, 05:43 PM | #11 | |
Banned
Posts: 5,100
Karma: 72193
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: South of the Border
Device: Coffin
|
Quote:
It's not such a bad future, profits will still be made, livings will be had, but it will disrupt and dismay the trad publishers along the way. |
|
07-16-2009, 05:51 PM | #12 |
01000100 01001010
Posts: 1,889
Karma: 2400000
Join Date: Mar 2009
Device: Polyamorous
|
Speaking as a novelist, if my books were free or on a donation basis, I'd turn to another way to make a living. I'm not in this for charity.
|
07-16-2009, 05:59 PM | #13 | |
Banned
Posts: 5,100
Karma: 72193
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: South of the Border
Device: Coffin
|
Quote:
Who mentioned charity? You are being paid not for the digital product which has zero worth in the digital economy, but for your time and effort/your perceived value to the reader. At least that would be the case on any donation based model used. Actually I would have thought authors would be elated to know that fans were subsidizing them out of genuine love and a desire to nurture their talent, rather than just buying a product (a product that can be ignored and tossed aside, because in the end that's all it is, a product made of atoms). |
|
07-16-2009, 05:59 PM | #14 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 5,185
Karma: 25133758
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA
Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3 (Past: Kobo Mini, PEZ, PRS-505, Clié)
|
I'm trying to figure out how to get a copy of the ebook. Can't visit Scribd from work (they seem to think it's a content storage & download site, fancy that), and a couple of the reviews online seem to say it can't be downloaded from Scribd. I have a Sony, but the Library software isn't working for me; I can't get it to connect properly. (I suspect it has something to do with dialup. Too slow; the pages crash before they finish.)
I don't think the product itself will be valueless, but money will be based on presentation, not contents. We may see a return to the pay-per-chapter cliffhanger; when the author gets enough money, the next chapter is released. Or we may see subscriptions to publishers or authors--$15/month or $120/year gets you two ebooks per month, with heavy social DRM (your name and address in the headers, maybe your CC#... editable, but that'd take some work). One of the worries about digital content dropping in price, is we may see a return to exclusive, tiny print runs, for authors who would rather get $50 from each of 200 readers, than the maybe-chance for $2 from each of 5000 readers. |
07-16-2009, 06:02 PM | #15 |
Too Maner Secrets
Posts: 32
Karma: 10
Join Date: Jul 2009
Device: Hanline V3 (current) Hanlin V5 (future)
|
Totally agree with the article, even if it's misinformed about current illicit availability.
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Yep. It's official. Sony Reader has "ruined" books for me. A final "review." | WilliamG | Sony Reader | 48 | 01-14-2011 03:49 AM |
Book Industry Study Group "1/5 of US Readers Switched to Digital Only in 2009" | Dulin's Books | News | 3 | 01-26-2010 06:38 PM |
Ok...when are we gonna see the Oxymoron reader from "Pocketbook" | brecklundin | PocketBook | 4 | 11-17-2009 02:04 PM |
Synchronising "Book" and "Code" views | HarryT | Sigil | 2 | 08-11-2009 07:07 AM |
New "E-Book Devices" "Bookeen Opus" forum desired | ericch | Bookeen | 3 | 08-06-2009 06:31 PM |