Why aren't e-books more successful? - by Walt Crawford

[nekokami]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

Nekokami's idea of providing an ecopy of the book with the sale of the paper version, could be implemented in an easy way. This copy could be on a fragile magnetic strip or an RFID tag, taped inside the book. Any attempt to remove it will destroy it. A scanner, proprietary to an author's guild, would bring revenue by it's sale. The funds generated, plus an extra at the sale of the book, would suffice to provide the e-book without DRM.

Would the publishers believe that the purchaser wouldn't scan the book and then pass around the digital copy, if it wasn't locked down by DRM?

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by nekokami

Would the publishers believe that the purchaser wouldn't scan the book and then pass around the digital copy, if it wasn't locked down by DRM?

This is a diplomatic compromise which provides monetary incentives. They would be faced to consider them.

If you were in their place, would you face declining sales because of public upheaval against DRM or accept lower assured revenues and bigger amounts of sales?

As for sales they could add a 3 buck surcharge for the paper version containing the ebook!

I'd be a willing customer for this. The ebook would become "solid state" because of it's welding to the paper book.

For those who don't want the paper, after having scanned their ecopy, nothing prevents them from reselling it! Again we stay with the infrastructures already provided by the paper world.

Have you ever bought a computer magazine with a CD included? They're a little more expensive because of deals done with the owners of the included content. Okay! Some of the content is only demos, but a lot is of burgeoning enterprises taking a gamble because they feel the distribution of their wares is worthwhile!

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

If the scanning company simply sent the paper copy (or the cover) back to the publisher, the way bookstores do now, the reselling problem should be resolved. But they would still have to deal with the possibility of reselling digital copies, so they may have to jump through some legal hoops to satisfy the publishers that they were not, or were paying royalties on any digital books resold to other than the original party. I'd love to see someone work out a workable price point for this service, but I think we're a long way from that (unless Kinkos or some similar service can work it out).

Attaching an RFID or magnetic strip sounds interesting, but I don't see how you're going to keep just anyone from scanning the books after it's sold (or even before), without some pretty nasty DRM systems...

I am better with e-book prices being closer to PB or used prices... that seems more fair, although there are some pricey PBs out there ($6-8 for a paperback? That's a bit much to me!). E-books are the next step down the value/cost ladder, from original manuscript, to hardback, to paperback, to e-book. I see no reason why we can't expect them to be less in cost. (I left "used" out of that list, because the publisher is not involved in used book sales.)

There are a lot of parallels with cassettes involved here, and that's why I brought up that analogy. Cassettes were cheaper to produce, easier to duplicate than albums, and satisfied consumers who weren't hung up on "100% quality" sound reproductions. They also fit the value/cost ladder, from original recording, to LP, to tape. One difference: Artists didn't used to complain about their albums being "sliced up" and losing their compositional integrity (what a load)...

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

Have you ever bought a computer magazine with a CD included? They're a little more expensive because of deals done with the owners of the included content. Okay! Some of the content is only demos, but a lot is of burgeoning enterprises taking a gamble because they feel the distribution of their wares is worthwhile!

Yvan, that's a good point and analogy. I'd worry about the "demo" quality of that particular model, though... will the digital material be the equivalent of "loss leaders," or will it be missing some major part of the book (cover art, references, etc)?

On the other hand, imagine the teasers for other novels that could be included with the one you bought? Not to mention the ads...

If publishers look at it that way, as an opportunity to sell more, they might see the value of digital copies differently!

[nekokami]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

If the scanning company simply sent the paper copy (or the cover) back to the publisher, the way bookstores do now, the reselling problem should be resolved. But they would still have to deal with the possibility of reselling digital copies, so they may have to jump through some legal hoops to satisfy the publishers that they were not, or were paying royalties on any digital books resold to other than the original party.

Problem is, the copyright holder on some older books is obscure or impossible to figure out (publisher out of business, author deceased, etc.) So there would be nowhere to send the scanned books to. (In my opinion, a copyright holder who can't be troubled to register their interest in an IP should lose the rights to that IP, but that's yet another argument.)

I agree with you about the cassette tape analogy, I just thought the used book analogy might resonate more with publishers. I'll write more about this in another thread.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by nekokami

I agree with you about the cassette tape analogy, I just thought the used book analogy might resonate more with publishers.

It should, yes... but I think that, because the used book industry is basically thought of by the publishing industry as "Everybody's still profiting on our work but US," I think it may be contributing to why the publishers cannot get a handle on e-books. They do not see it as a profit source, they see it as a faster track to the no-profit-land of used books, something that I'm sure they'd nuke if they could.

I maintain that publishers need a fresh perspective, to see how this new medium can profit them. We've made quite a few good suggestions in these forums, from better-designed formats and DRM, to paper/digital packages, co-ops, ads, delivery systems, price-point guidelines, and similar industries (like music). It's up to them to read, and learn, and apply these suggestions, as companies like Adobe and Sony are at least trying to do, and as independent publishers (and little guys like me) are trying to do.

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Artists didn't used to complain about their albums being "sliced up" and losing their compositional integrity (what a load)...

Hmm, so that's what they call forcing me to buy 9 crummy songs to get the 1 song I actually like ....

I guess it's a way of reminding me that they aren't really very good, they just get lucky one time in ten?

[wgrimm]

I have some opinions about "why e-books aren't more successful" and much experience with various readers. First of all, to date, the best e-book readers I have owned are PalmPilots and the RocketBook/Reb1150. Palmpilots because of ereader.com, RocketBook because of the screen and ease of getting html into the reader. I recently bought a Sony reader, and am very disappointed in the "PDF support." Very difficult to take a commercial pdf (for example, one I download from a publisher's site after buying the hardcopy book) and read it. The most readable pdf's are the ones distilled with 18pt or larger fonts and for 5.24 X 6.69 page size.

Anyways, here is why e-books aren't as "successful" as the sellers wish-

1. Greed. If I can go to Borders and buy a new hardcover for $20, I should be able to buy the ebook for less than half price. Printing and transport costs account for over 40% of the price of a book. My guess is, the publishers could probably revamp their model and sell the $20 hardback for $5 in ebook form and make it work.

2. Problems with readers. For ease of use and comfort, the Rebs beat everything to date. I am amazed that Sony could make their readers so "un-ergonomic." Lovely screen and great battery life, but crappy design.

3. Crappy reader software/proprietary formats. Many users want to put their OWN content on their readers. As long as stores- like Gemstar and Sony Connect stay with their unrealistic pricing, their business model will fail. Make it hard for readers to put their own content on a device, you will fail. Why is it so hard for the manufacturers to realize this?

4. Crappy e-book stores. The best e-book store is ereader.com, for Palm readers. Nice selection, but they could lower prices. If someone could offer the list that ereader.com does, at lower prices, they would corner this market.

5. Book publishers with their collective heads up their rear ends. These are the people that won't embrace this technology, not the user. Do we have to let China pave the way with low-cost textbooks deployed on ebook readers? Greed rears its ugly head here again. Greed and fear of change.

Here is how Sony could make their reader a big hit, the "ipod" of the ebook world-

1. Redesign the unit to make reading as easy on it as it is on the Rocketbook. maybe add a backlight.
2. Do something in firmware or software (conversion program) to REALLLY support PDF format. If I download a book from Manning, for example, it oughta work- njo changes needed- on the reader.
3. Give away good conversion software- html, chm, etc. to Sony format so that people can put their own content on the device.
4. Release specs on the OS for developers and on the file formats used.
5. Work with publishers to offer a wide selection of ebooks online, and to price these fairly.

I'm getting very tired of all the disappointments that ebooks and readers have to offer. And of all the work it requires to put non-purchased content on these devices.

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by wgrimm

I am amazed that Sony could make their readers so "un-ergonomic." Lovely screen and great battery life, but crappy design.

Hmm, most folks seem to find the design pretty nice, though no-one says it's perfect.

What do you find so nonergonomic? Just out of curiousity, you understand.

Originally Posted by wgrimm

Make it hard for readers to put their own content on a device, you will fail. Why is it so hard for the manufacturers to realize this?

I find the RTF option to be pretty suitable for my needs of putting my own content on my reader. Sure the PDF support is problematic, to put it mildly, but that's really more an issue with PDF's not being re-flowable. A problem, but not one that Sony really can control. A more flexible zoom/pan arrangement would help, but I think I'd find it more of a pain than a help.

Originally Posted by wgrimm

maybe add a backlight.

Can't backlight it, e-ink is opaque. Front-lighting like a LightWedge type of approach would work, but the battery life would suffer massively. It's a trade-off.

Originally Posted by wgrimm

Give away good conversion software- html, chm, etc. to Sony format so that people can put their own content on the device.

That would be nice for some things (like files with in-line pix), but I find that RTF handles upwards of 99% of what I need

Originally Posted by wgrimm

Release specs on the OS for developers and on the file formats used.

Well, the OS is Linux, and we've got most of the specs on it (they've been out since the Librie, more or less), enough that there's a good hacking effort underway in the Developer's Corner of MobileRead.

They've said they'll release full BBeB specs, but you're right that they haven't done so yet.

Originally Posted by wgrimm

Work with publishers to offer a wide selection of ebooks online, and to price these fairly.

In all fairness, that's what Sony is trying to do. Sure, the Connect store needs lots and lots of work to make it what you could call 'user friendly' without starting a laugh riot, but they're trying to work with the Pubs, and offer a wide range of content. Actually, others are disgusted with them for handling the Reader and the Content both, so I guess they're gonna draw fire on that whatever they do.

As for the pricing, while I agree that it's still got a ways to go, the Publishers tell them what they have to charge, so there again, it's not really Sony's fault -- they have to choose to sell for the Pub-mandated price, or have less content to offer. It seems they've decided to have as much content as they can so that the e-reading/reader thing can have a better chance of catching on. If that happens, the prices ought to come down on both content and hardware, but we early adoptors are the ones who make the investment in that future vision. Comes with the territory.

[jæd]

Originally Posted by wgrimm

Here is how Sony could make their reader a big hit, the "ipod" of the ebook world-

If you want to make it an ipod of the book world, then you need to understand why the ipod is a success:

1) Reasonably priced songs with minimal drm
2) Can use the owners existing mp3 collection without having to convert them.
3) Connects seamlessly with the owners computer and allows drag + drop file transfer.

So the next Sony Reader needs to drop silly proprietaty formats and be able to display pdf/html/chm/rtf/word files without conversion. And it has to be three clicks to buy, download and transfer a $4.99 bestseller to your Sony Reader.

Do that and you'll make a fortune. How do we convince Sony, etc, to do it...?

[radleyp]

I thought I was alone in considering this device unergonomic. When I played with it, I tried holding it in my left hand and pressing the page advance button. Not easy, because there is too much weight at the top (as you must hold it at the very bottom) to hold it with two fingers by the left bottom edge. This makes it a two-handed device (especially if you need to use the middle button, as even the "my opinion is changing yet again" Mike Cane admits) which means that I cannot stand anywhere and hold another device at the same time. The main problem for me, however, remains the (un)availability of books and other reading material, though consider (as I have been) how terrific it would be if, say, ereader were ported over.

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by radleyp

... though consider (as I have been) how terrific it would be if, say, ereader were ported over.

Mmmm. That is a happy thought.

[wgrimm]

[QUOTE=NatCh]Hmm, most folks seem to find the design pretty nice, though no-one says it's perfect.

What do you find so nonergonomic? Just out of curiousity, you understand.

Compare the Rocketbook/Reb- much more comfortable to hold, better placement of page-turning buttons.


I find the RTF option to be pretty suitable for my needs of putting my own content on my reader. Sure the PDF support is problematic, to put it mildly, but that's really more an issue with PDF's not being re-flowable. A problem, but not one that Sony really can control.

Well, is rtf a "standard?" Many times when I buy a hardcover tech book, I can download the book in pdf form because pdf is a "standard." Haven't seen any of these distributed in rtf, nor any scientific journals either....And the Connect software has crashed many times when I try to import an rtf.

As for the pricing, while I agree that it's still got a ways to go, the Publishers tell them what they have to charge, so there again, it's not really Sony's fault

I can think of one thing to do- ereader has tried it. Start offering older (not pd) books for sale at vastly reduced prices. How many publishers have books that have been out of print for years that would be willing to deal on the pricing? What I am seeing here is greed and shortsightedness. Gemstar tried this same thing several years ago, and Sony hasn't learned from their mistake.

I am waiting to see how Jinke does when they release their new reader. They understand the problems with pdf display, and know that readers want the capability because pdf has become a standard. If it's a bust, I'll probably end up buying a UPC.

BTW, I have seen statistics that the avergae person in the US reads less than 2 books per year. Avid readers are not of the mainstream. So how many books per year does the average Sony executive read? Do they truly understand their market?

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

The "average" person may only read 2 books/year, but I'll bet they read a lot more periodicals... in newspapers' case, the "average" person reads a daily newspaper... well, pretty much daily... and a magazine subscription means 12 mags a year, or 52 issues a year for weeklies, at $15-$30 for each. That can amount to some good sales numbers per person.

Sony may understand this, and hope the Reader will crack the periodical market eventually. If it does, maybe it'll pull e-books along with it.

Sony also probably expects a value-added advantage to work in their favor, like playing music, or (in the future) tying in ads and online purchasing, to make the Reader more popular and spur sales.

I think Sony knows the market. The only question is whether or not their hardware will hit the mark.

[yvanleterrible]

Right! Bring in color, internet and magazines...Then it will be popular!

Sony is doing the right thing in positioning itself now.