Focus on First Wave of E-book Marketing

[DMcCunney]

http://news.bookweb.org/news/focus-f...book-marketing
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Dennis

[GA Russell]

I see one problem. As usual, the talk is about what's good for the bookstore, not what's good for the customer.

[screwballl]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

I see one problem. As usual, the talk is about what's good for the bookstore, not what's good for the customer.

That is exactly what I am seeing too. How can the sellers profit the publishers and authors without giving the customer what they want? So far Amazon is the largest because they give the customer what they want, largest library of books, a large number of books for free, various games for free or low price.

But we as educated users also know about the other options like this site, Gutenburg Project, as well as the 30-40 other sites with free or low price books, as well as programs like calibre that can convert them if we need to.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

I see one problem. As usual, the talk is about what's good for the bookstore, not what's good for the customer.

Since it's from the perspective of the bookstore, what did you expect?

Bookstores are trying to figure out how to reinvent themselves and survive in the new world of ebooks. Frankly, most won't.

Whether that's good for the customer is another matter.
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Dennis

[leebase]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

http://news.bookweb.org/news/focus-f...book-marketing
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Dennis

Google's strategy is starting to make sense.

Still not interested personally,

Lee

[screwballl]

We saw the same thing once CDs and PCs started spreading. The introduction of mp3s where thought of as a threat to the music industry so they fought hard to scare people or make it illegal. In the end the people won out. Some companies still try to lock the music file down but when most people are buying the DRM-free versions, there is not much else they can do without losing all their customers and shutting down the business.
Right now the same type of battle is brewing over movies, and we are only seeing the first minor scratches in the surface in the ebook world. It will be at least another 5-20 years before the dust settles and a single major format that everyone accepts will become the norm, but the individual companies will still have their proprietary formats around for a while (like Amazons AZW). I suspect it will start with something like a Google eReader with a linux inspired open source OS and file format that catches on like wildfire.

[K-Thom]

To help ensure this happens, however, the store’s marketing efforts include stressing to customers how buying a Kindle limits their e-book purchasing options to Amazon.

That's when I stopped reading. If this is their best shot, hand them some additional ammunition.