tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4990922102626688253.post9131495326978714728..comments2023-04-15T11:42:35.385-04:00Comments on Go To Hellman: Business Idea #2: eBooks are not BooksErichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14172740163003223132noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4990922102626688253.post-73034136470208177332010-01-24T17:27:02.075-05:002010-01-24T17:27:02.075-05:00I'm always amused when people say they can'...I'm always amused when people say they can't read on a computer screen after they've just finished reading and perusing a blog on a computer screen. It also assumes a model that never really existed, i.e. ebooks to be read on a large computer screen. I read constantly on my Kindle, nook, iTouch, and Droid. They work remarkably well. <br /><br />What publishers have failed to understand is that they are fighting a rearguard action to protect distribution, not content. Editors and authors, content providers are now in a position to completely ignore them. They seem to think if they lose the hardcover-makes-us-all-our-money model the world will come to an end. Nonsense. The people who really should worry are used bookstores. Publishers, if they had any sense, could wipe them out. Make ebooks ubiquitously available and price them inexpensively and they earn vastly more revenue. A personal example: I read a nice review of a book on Goodreads by one of my friends; I click on the Amazon link; if an ebook is available I buy it immediately and have it forthwith, loaded either on my Kindle or iTouch or both. If the ebook is NOT available or priced too high (more than the paperback), I'll buy a used copy for ridiculously small prices (I've gotten lots for one cent), and if no used is available, I'll order a copy from my library. Note that under the last two scenarios, the publisher and author earn exactly zero. 50% of $9.99 is a whole lot better than 50% of nothing. A second copy of that ebook would have cost them absolutely nothing to produce or ship. <br /><br />To paraphrase Stephen Roxburgh, when the titans begin to do battle Amazon, Google, and Apple, the industry will be remade.<br /><br />Libraries will survive just fine, because we've always been in the service industry, not the book business. As far as digital distribution from libraries, why not sell digital copies to libraries and then charge a nickel/dime per circulation. No late fees nonsense, always a copy available, and the publisher gets revenue commensurate with use. The Netlibrary model is stupid and obsolete, serving no one.Welch's Rarebitshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09183345901778644627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4990922102626688253.post-50870576075064143562010-01-22T17:38:45.954-05:002010-01-22T17:38:45.954-05:00Perhaps a public Library will become a system of s...Perhaps a public Library will become a system of servers, with access at many terminal points to digital books and media. The system of servers could also be networked between many Libraries around the country, perhaps the world. All the books in that system would be available to anyone free of charge, but access is limited to a terminal in the Library itself. <br />Lending of digital books outside of the building would become more problematic, and publishers will likely fight it. Perhaps online access to the system could be granted to the patrons. That idea is a little more difficult to implement as a sustainable model, and will also likely be fought by publishers. Furthermore, it will not serve the public that has no online access at home.<br />I for one can't read on a computer screen, it hurts my eyes after an hour or so. I hope books never go away.Douglas Rhyshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01490546033949361505noreply@blogger.com