A second poll on ebooker views

[rhadin]

The past week's poll on obstacles to buying ebooks has closed. The results and a followup poll (of multiparts) can be found at An American Editor. Please participate in the new poll. It will run for 1 week. Thanks.

[Moderator's Note: Please try http://americaneditor.wordpress.com/ ]

Sorry about the bad link. My fingers do not work as fast as my brain and I misspelled wordpress. I have fixed it and appreciate the moderator's fixing it and RedHeadPeter for catching it.

[RedHeadPeter]

Typo in link. Try http://americaneditor.wordpress.com/

[RedHeadPeter]

Quote from the article that goes with the poll:

"However, there were a lot of complaints that geographical restrictions were not a choice, with many readers saying that is the biggest obstacle to their purchasing an ebook. I wonder how much of an obstacle it really is."

I'm quite offended by that - and no, not the punctuation error (a question mark fits in there I think). It is a determinedly US-centric point of view. Many readers said it was the biggest obstacle. I think the majority of people saying that were from outside the US saying they couldn't buy in the US-based e-book stores. And you wonder how much of an obstacle it really is! How many different ways do you want to hear the same thing before you believe? It's not a problem for e-book users in the USA so, q.e.d, it isn't a problem?

[Penforhire]

I can only say I'm surprised that you are surprised about the results. DRM is a huge worry for a reason. Not only will I not be using the same device in five years from now but any DRM server is not guaranteed to be around after some years, several having been already shut down.

[GeoffC]

In my order of preference I would put,

Geographical restriction (unless the UK starts being realistic, removes the tax and the unrealistic price difference that (often) means books are prices at $=£ !

No DRM or formatting/spelling mistakes.

DRM can be stripped;
mistakes can be corrected, but why should the purchaser have to do that; one doesn't buy a less expensive car whilst knowing that one of the wheels may fall off (no Toyota jokes please).

Price is an issue : lower than the equivalent pback. (though I admit ebook downloading is more convenient and cost-effective than a drive into town/or waiting on the post).

[dsvick]

In the new polls the third one "Part one of 2" should have a "None of the above" option so that people can say that no restrictions are acceptable.

[GeoffC]

but aren't polls designed according to the answer the polster wants !

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by RedHeadPeter

I'm quite offended by that - and no, not the punctuation error (a question mark fits in there I think). It is a determinedly US-centric point of view. Many readers said it was the biggest obstacle. I think the majority of people saying that were from outside the US saying they couldn't buy in the US-based e-book stores. And you wonder how much of an obstacle it really is! How many different ways do you want to hear the same thing before you believe? It's not a problem for e-book users in the USA so, q.e.d, it isn't a problem?

Perhaps inartfully said, but my question really was how much of an obstacle was it in relation to other obstacles. I fully understand that if you cannot buy a book because of geo restrictions that is an obstacle, but if you can have the geo restriction removed but the book carries a price of $24.99, would you buy the book? Or is price a bigger obstacle than geo restrictions.

Everything is relative. If you wouldn't buy a book because it has DRM, then it doesn't matter whether there are geo restrictions or not as long as there is DRM. In that case, DRM is the bigger obstacle.

I am sorry that you felt insulted. I certainly did not intend to be insulting.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by Penforhire

I can only say I'm surprised that you are surprised about the results. DRM is a huge worry for a reason. Not only will I not be using the same device in five years from now but any DRM server is not guaranteed to be around after some years, several having been already shut down.

What surprised me was the near equal split in the DRM responses. For half of respondents DRM isn't an issue if it doesn't interfere with device portability, which means that DRM is less of an issue than most people would suppose based on discussions here on MR and elsewhere. I would have expected the no DRM response to have far outpaced all other offered options combined.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by dsvick

In the new polls the third one "Part one of 2" should have a "None of the above" option so that people can say that no restrictions are acceptable.

No, the poll should not have had that option. With that option people wouldn't weigh alternatives. The current reality is that ebooks are restricted. Some restrictions are more problematic than others for most people. I am trying to determine how people rank restrictions. I suspect that given the option of "None of the above" 90% or more of respondents (perhaps even 100%) would choose that response and what would be learned then about the relativity of the restrictions?

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

but aren't polls designed according to the answer the polster wants !

Some polls are, but these polls are not. I am not looking for a specific answer; I am trying to determine the relationships between various options and how ebookers prioritize them. I am not a pbulisher and not a seller of ebooks; I am just an ebook reader. The poll results have no commercial value to me, they are merely of scholarly interest, and thus I have no reason to skew the poll to obtain a particular result.

[dmaul1114]

Of those price is still my main concern.

$9.99 is the most I'll pay for an e-book. Ebooks I buy are stuff I only plan to read once, so I'm not willing to pay more than that. At that price and under it's just like a movie ticket--paying for the experience one time.

DRM isn't a big issue to me--again since I only read books once for the most part (and will by a physical book of something I love and want to keep around long term). And it's all easily strippable for people who need to change devices etc.

Geo restrictions aren't an issue being in the US. And even if something wasn't available I generally wouldn't care as there are a gazillion more books that interest me than I'll ever get around to reading in my life time, so I don't get bent out of shape when I can't find a book. I just read something else.

[petermillard]

Originally Posted by rhadin

...but if you can have the geo restriction removed but the book carries a price of $24.99, would you buy the book? Or is price a bigger obstacle than geo restrictions.

Well, that depends on the book, doesn't it? If it's something I really want to read and don't want to wait for, then I'd happily pay that price - and have paid more than that, actually. But with Geo Restrictions, that choice is taken away from me; I can't buy the ebook, no matter how much I'm prepared to pay.

The trouble is that these decisions don't translate well into a simple response in a poll. As an example, I couldn't answer your second question regarding DRM as I felt there wasn't an option that reflected how I felt on the subject - I'm generally not bothered about DRM schemes and certainly wouldn't insist on device-independent DRM, but I wouldn't buy regardless of the DRM applied either, as it has to be appropriate to the devices I own.

Just out of interest, what kind of numbers of responses were you getting? Just curious...

Thanks, Peter

[Pardoz]

Originally Posted by rhadin

Everything is relative.

Except when it's not. If a book is infected with DRM I can choose to buy, or not. If a book has a high price tag on it, I can choose to buy, or not. If a book is poorly edited, I can choose to buy, or not. If a book is poorly formatted, I can choose to buy, or not. If a book isn't available in my format of choice, I can choose to buy, or not. If nobody is willing to sell me the book, I don't have any choices; all those other factors only come into play once I have the option of actually buying the book in the first place.

[dsvick]

Originally Posted by rhadin

I am trying to determine how people rank restrictions. I suspect that given the option of "None of the above" 90% or more of respondents (perhaps even 100%) would choose that response and what would be learned then about the relativity of the restrictions?

You're assuming that they are relative, when to a lot of people they aren't. You're asking people to choose the lesser of four evils, but just because they choose one doesn't mean the others aren't evil as well. If you are not giving respondents all of their possible choices then the results you interpret from the data you receive are skewed. By not giving them that choice you're implying that they wouldn't really mean it if they did say it.