Will eBooks create an elite reading class?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by pholy

Actually, in March 2010, Kobo announced their first reader at $149.00, for delivery in May. I still have mine, and it still works, if slowly compared to my AuraHD. I think it was Kobo's announcement that started the price cutting.

I've seen the "Kobo started it" thing before but...
...It was an old rebadged netronix. With no wireless. Almost identical to the Foxit and other models selling for even less.
If it triggered Nook's bad decision, they sure took their time responding. And at $199 in June it wasn't much of a counter.

On the other hand, June was when the Agency conspiracy kicked in, "guaranteeing" Nook a fat 30% margin on ebooks, which makes it a more likely trigger for the shift in pricing model that took the entry level price for connected readers from $259 to $139 in less than six months, all based on the premise of Agency margins.

[Katsunami]

Even though the thread is old, I'll still reply I think the answer can be short:

"No."

Most technology doesn't create "elite" classes, as the price will steadily become lower. Of course, many people won't be able to afford the latest and greatest, but at some point, almost everybody can own a serviceable device. Because of this, for many people e-reading can become almost free. I've seen Trekstor readers in Germany being sold for under 35 euro's new. I've seen second hand readers for even less.

I can hardly call that "elite pricing"... e-reading dropped my reading costs to almost nothing compared to when I was reading paper. I had to buy every paperback at full price, because borrowing books in English in the Netherlands is almost impossible apart from the classics and the greatest best sellers.

[Froide]

SparkNotes' vocabulary builder tools (aimed at standardized test-takers in the USA) include five SAT/ACT Vocab Novels. The SAT and ACT are standardized college admission tests, and the basis for many other standardized tests (e.g., for graduate school admission, scholarship selection, and various professions).

[Geralt]

"On the other hand, here is a device that is so expensive that only a select few can afford it."
That is just for lols.
I guess they never heard of basic kindle or a number of PC apps that anyone can download for free, be it kindle, kobo, or any other.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Geralt

"On the other hand, here is a device that is so expensive that only a select few can afford it."

Also, what did the first Kindle cost? $400 or something?

If that is a price only "a select few can afford", then the western world has sunken very low in the last 30 years or so. Of course, there will always be people who won't be able to afford a device if it is not free, but $400 is hardly a back-breaking amount of money for a normal working person. Even a person working for minimum wage, who doesn't do any weird things can eventually afford this if he really wants, after a few months of saving.

(Note: I'm talking about the Netherlands here.)

I know people who easily spend $100 on a night out, four times a month (every weekend), and then complain that this or that is 'expensive'....

As said, for many people, it's just a matter of prioritizing.

[saoir]

I haven't read the whole thread through, but something we are all forgetting here is reading on smart phones. I started reading on my iPhone and that is how I discovered eBooks for the first time. I ploughed through them at a fantastic rate and really enjoyed them. Even now I often read some of my books on my iPhone 5.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

As said, for many people, it's just a matter of prioritizing.

There are also professional handwringers, always on the lookout for new issues to lobby over.

If it weren't for smartphones there might be a shred of an issue there but,while eink readers are getting marginally more expensive, phones and tablets are getting ever cheaper and cost about the same at the lowest levels.

[QuantumIguana]

If the price doesn't drop, books can't become an elite market, because few people would buy the devices. If the price does drop, then e-readers become affordable to most people, so books don't become an elite market. The price drop was inevitable, because that's what happens when there is competition.

The article ignores reading on phones, and most people have phones. Are phones elite? In rural areas, the nearest bookstore might be an hour away or more. With e-books, books are available in an instant, without having to go anywhere. Plus, nothing is out of stock. E-books allow you to change the font size to one more comfortable for you. E-readers are great for someone who has difficulty holding a paper book. There are tens of thousands of e-books that are available for free, and vast numbers that can be had cheaply.

What could be more anti-elite?

[Geralt]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

What could be more anti-elite?

The people who wrote that article are living in a bubble. I don't take anyone like that seriously.

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

Wonder how long it takes people who "can't afford" an ebook reader to spend $200 on cigarettes? On beer? On cable TV? On junk food? On sporting events? It isn't what money you have-- it is how you choose to spend it.

Originally Posted by nomesque

"so expensive that only a select few can afford it" ?????

*boggle*

OK, maybe my viewpoint is thoroughly skewed because I'm not in the USA... over here a paperback often costs $17-20. A paperback classic (out of copyright) is often around $10. So a device which costs the same as 20 new books doesn't strike me as being particularly elitist, ya know? Especially when I wander around my low-income city streets and see all the ipods...

I'd go so far as to venture that the exact opposite will happen - that ebook readers will go mainstream and we'll find MORE people reading, not less. Partly because the shorter ebooks - ones which would never be published as DTBs because they're too low on wordage - will perfectly suit those with short attention spans and slow reading speeds.

Edited to add: I acknowledge that I'm writing from a very Western-world kind of viewpoint, where every house has a TV and the vast majority of houses have at least one computer... but surely one of the beauties of digital publishing is the possibility of printing it onto standard printer paper if needed?

This and that. I am by no means rich. I'm a librarian at a community college, for Pete's sake. I don't go out to bars and concerts every weekend and I rarely go to the theater to see a movie. I have a Kindle Paperwhite that I love. Like Nomesque, I realize that, though I am not rich by the standards of the United States or Western Europe, I am far better-off than most of the world.

[QuantumIguana]

iPods now cost between sixty and two hundred fifty dollars, but the device revolutionized how we purchase and listen to music. I don't think many can argue that an eBook reader does the same for books--they have replaced a printed page with a digital one--but, barring the technological leap, can we honestly tell ourselves that just as many people are interested in reading books as are listening to music? Anyone with a teenager in their home can attest to that folly.

It's blindingly obvious that the e-reader transformed how we purchase and read books, for reasons which were listed earlier - and was blindingly obvious in 2010. But that wouldn't go along with the author's agenda. It may be the case that less people are interested in music than in books, but that's an utterly irrelevant red herring. In any case, it's always been true that people have been more interested in music than are interested in books.

I remember a couple years ago, someone published a censored version of Huckleberry Finn. There was some heated argument about that, but the censored book ranks #1,196,280 on Amazon. If someone tried to pass off a censored version as the uncensored version, people would notice.

And as long as there are paper books being printed, there will be used books. Paper books aren't going away any time soon.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Also, what did the first Kindle cost? $400 or something?

If that is a price only "a select few can afford", then the western world has sunken very low in the last 30 years or so. Of course, there will always be people who won't be able to afford a device if it is not free, but $400 is hardly a back-breaking amount of money for a normal working working person. Even a person working for minimum wage, who doesn't do any weir things can eventually afford this if he really wants, after a few months of saving.

(Note: I'm talking about the Netherlands here.)

I know people who easily spend $100 on a ight out, four times a month (every weekend), and then complain that this or that is 'expensive'....

As said, for many people, it's just a matter of prioritizing.

Ah, but if you are on a fixed income then that $400.00 can be a lot of money to set aside for just one item. It was still a bit of an investment when I bought my 1st Kindle a few yrs back when it was around $130.00 but it was manageable at least. As for what caused prices to drop I think it was more a matter of following the pattern of what usually happens with new Tech. The 1st TV's, VCR's, and DVD players were very expensive at the 1st as well but then as they became more common place and it was shown there was a real market (ie. people willing to actually buy them) the prices went down.

[Katsunami]

Yes, but you waited some time, prioritized, and got your Kindle. If it was an elitist item, like a Leica camera, or worse, a Ferrari, you wouldn't have stood a chance. To be honest, I could afford the new Leica and two lenses if I utterly save almost everything I can for two years and then heavily prioritize, but it would be a stretch indeed. The Ferrari? No way in hell.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Yes, but you waited some time, prioritized, and got your Kindle. If it was an elitist item, like a Leica camera, or worse, a Ferrari, you wouldn't have stood a chance. To be honest, I could afford the new Leica and two lenses if I utterly save almost everything I can for two years and then heavily prioritize, but it would be a stretch indeed. The Ferrari? No way in hell.

True, there are some things I may want to get that I'll never be able to afford. The point I was trying to make is just that most things do come down in price as they become more common place. Watch old re-runs of 1950's game shows where the couple wins a brand new b&w TV set. To their generation that was an expense that many might never be able to afford. Or if they could afford it they bought it on time by making payments and hoped they'd pay it off before it wore out. Prior to flat screen TV's the price had really dropped. I have no doubt it will do so again as flat screens become more common place.

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by crich70

Ah, but if you are on a fixed income then that $400.00 can be a lot of money to set aside for just one item. It was still a bit of an investment when I bought my 1st Kindle a few yrs back when it was around $130.00 but it was manageable at least. As for what caused prices to drop I think it was more a matter of following the pattern of what usually happens with new Tech. The 1st TV's, VCR's, and DVD players were very expensive at the 1st as well but then as they became more common place and it was shown there was a real market (ie. people willing to actually buy them) the prices went down.

I wouldn't have spent $400 for a Kindle, but at $139, it was reasonable. I could have come up with the $400 easily enough, it just didn't seem like a good use of my money. If someone doesn't want to spend even the $69 for a basic Kindle, there are plenty of paper books to choose from.