03-10-2006, 04:36 PM | #1 |
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Slashdot on the e-book and its slow acceptance
Few of us dispute the potential benefits of e-books. But why hasn't acceptance been swifter? A Slashdot reader raises a number of interesting points which may (at least partly) serve as an explanation:
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03-10-2006, 05:43 PM | #2 | |
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03-11-2006, 03:04 AM | #3 |
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quite a number of them dont seem to be aware of ePaper technology...
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03-11-2006, 07:47 AM | #4 |
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ePaper devices have not really been hyped...which is a bit of a problem...
You need good devices (e.g. e-paper) to attract content publishers and you also need content to make people interested in buying devices. ebooks never got started because the few devices that could actually handle content well enough did not get "fed" with content. A company like Sony needs to go ahead and start the ebook hype, if their store can offer beststellers early or at the same time as the harcover comes out and make it cheaper than the actual book...then we're in for a treat. imagine a world where you just have one device that contains your library...you can save space and money...no more hardcover editions for beststellers you simply have to have as soon as they're out...schoolbooks, newspapers, everything could be beamed to a (fixed or flexible) epaper device. Many people are afraid of change, and that is a pretty large change...but think about what happened to tapes when the CD came out and what is now happening to VHS cassetes due to the fact that DVD is now becoming more comfortable as a viewing AND recording medium. The trouble is that there has been no "breakthrough" so far, and if Sony and it's competitors don't start hyping their ebook readers and shops pretty soon the new reader will sink without a ripple just like the Librié. DRM is a problem too, but iTunes is DRM infested as well and they sell like world-champions... |
03-11-2006, 12:10 PM | #5 | |||||
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With few exceptions, eBook sellers have not gotten this. Quote:
Quote:
If you mean "people who read alot of books" you are mostly wrong. People who read plenty of books would love to be able to carry around all the books they want to read in the immedate future on one device. The people who stand to lose the most are the middlemen. Just like music downloading means that the RIAA is becoming irrelevant, so do eBooks mean the irrelevancy of publishers. Authors can now write their books on their PCs, pack them into the correct format, and sell copies on eBay or Amazon.com. The publishers are the only ones that will have no place in the eBook economy. Quote:
After a while, like PCs and PDAs, the price will drop so that anyone can get an eBook reader (assuming that DRM doesn't stifle competition - that is) and then the "casual" reader will get one. Quote:
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03-11-2006, 12:16 PM | #6 |
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I know I have a minority opinion, but here goes. Yes, those four things are issues, but I also think those are issues the general public doesn't know squat about. I don't think having the right device is going to solve the issue.
People were hesitant to move to CDs because of the high cost of players and discs. But the difference in quality, durability and portability overcame those hesitations. When DVD came out, it supplanted CD much more quickly because people were already used to the concept of optical disc. Again, quality, durability and portability made a difference, and unlike CDs there was not a huge price premium attached to purchasing DVDs. Proprietary DRM is pain, but that didn't stop Apple from selling a billion downloads, or stop Rhapsody/Napster/Yahoo Music Engine/fill in the blank here from taking a stab at it. They aren't raking in the billions, but they are generating real revenue. There is an essential difference between electronic books and the other electronic media discussed here. You can't play a video game without an electronic device, nor can you play a sound recording or a video recording. Books, on the other hand, have a 100% non-electromechanical variety. It never crashes, the printed format never becomes obsolete, can change hands without restriction, and doesn't require batteries. I honestly think electronic books will remain a niche market for a long time to come for the reason I've already stated: they don't solve problems most people have. I see electronic replacements for periodicals (magazines and newspapers with material that has a short but very topical shelf life), for reference works (programming documentation, service documents, how-tos, encyclopedias), and for things like text books. For pleasure reading and general fiction/non-fiction, I think it is going to take a hell of a lot longer. To use a buzz-word, what's the "killer app"? |
03-13-2006, 06:14 PM | #7 |
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