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The eBook reader wars
wraith808:
And I think the only buy one only works if your razors will only use your blades. In the book market, you are quickly finding that there is significant resistance to this paradigm, just as it was in music. If the information isn't free, people at least want it to be semi-open. And if not semi-open, then able to use open standards. I frequent a nook site, and one of the big driving factors that is causing people (including me) to look at the iPad, even if it is the inferior reading device is the fact that it resists lock in. iBooks doesn't, for sure, but there is Stanza (a completely open reader), Kindle for iPad, BN eReader for iPad, and now the Borders eReader for iPad. So no matter what the publisher war results in, you're still able to read whatever book you want. Not an ideal situation, but it's better than not being able to read a book because the device you're using couldn't get a license. A recent example of this is the book Changes by Jim Butcher (in the Dresden Files series- highly recommended). The only outlet for purchasing the digital copy was Barnes and Noble. So a friend with a Kindle had to get the dead tree edition. I personally use my iPhone currently to read, so I was able to download it for the B&N eReader and read it.
TL;DR version- DRM sucks. But if you have to have it, I'm not going to let my purchasing of hardware and your sucky DRM keep me from getting a book I want to read.
ljbirns:
Isn't this potentially the same as saying the point of selling cars is to sell oil changes, tires, air fresheners, etc?
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Well, think about it. Every time you go to buy a new car the second thing the salesman says to you is " Our service department is world class. " Then he ( she ) takes you to meet the service manager. Why ? Cause that is where the money is . HP sells printers for low prices ( and has low margins ) so they can sell INK at high margins. HP gives away the printers to sell high margin ink.
And if not semi-open, then able to use open standards.
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I agree that there will have to be one standard for all readers ( See Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD ) before e-books become really mainstream. Also, at present you are really just " renting " the book. You can't loan it, sell it or donate it. That will need to be addressed also.
wraith808:
And if not semi-open, then able to use open standards.
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I agree that there will have to be one standard for all readers ( See Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD ) before e-books become really mainstream. Also, at present you are really just " renting " the book. You can't loan it, sell it or donate it. That will need to be addressed also.
-ljbirns (July 07, 2010, 03:41 PM)
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I wouldn't go that far. It would be *nice* but that doesn't necessarily mean it won't take off without it. Again, look at music. It took a *long* time for DRM free music to become a major sight in the industry, but digital music was mainstream long before that. I would arguably say that electronic books are already mainstream, and the money involved backs that up. In many ways, like so many other things, electronic books are a victim of their own success. The market was stabilizing in terms of format, but now that there's so much money involved, that stability has been thrown away as retailers jockey for position in the market.
ljbirns:
electronic books are a victim of their own success.
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A ways to go on that..
Just some very rough figures Total Sales of e-books first 4 months of 2010 $117 Million
Barnes & Noble Sales Qtr ending May 2 ,2010 $ 1.3 Billion of which B & N .com was $ 191,000,000
Add in Amazon and all the other sellers of books ( Costco, WalMart, Borders 2500 independents. )
wraith808:
I think those numbers, combined with the trends show exactly what I was referring to. The eBook market has crested 100 million, and is the fastest growing sector of book distribution. At this point, they are becoming mainstream, and the mainstream retailers can't ignore them anymore.
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