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26 Comments
- sarixe, on 07/10/2009, -0/+10Well as a writer, I'll say that I don't care what medium my work is on, just as long as I can still get it published and sold.
- lnxfi, on 07/11/2009, -0/+4I've been in the publishing industry for many years now. The publishing industry is accepting the apps, but the end user isn't. Physical paper books are the trophies of readers. That will never change. 1 slim eReader < a case of books on display.
There are also other reasons- ie. selling used copies to buy more, less eye irritation from paper than digial, etc... but the above is the main killer imo. - loudh0ward, on 07/10/2009, -1/+4I'm all for putting as much of my entertainment into an easily backed up digital format.
That said, I've used the Kindle, Wattpad, eReader and Stanza apps and still haven't been sold on reading on the iPhone. I read faster and am less easily distracted when holding a book instead of a device that is constantly ringing/vibrating for any number of reasons.
(Might be worth noting that I'm on the Stanza app right now and am liking it the best so far) - tracydanger, on 07/11/2009, -0/+3Can I buy your kindle then? I'll use my iPhone for reading books when it gets e-ink (not that I expect that).
- Propyne, on 07/10/2009, -2/+4I'm going to stop using the kindle and use the kindle app. More portability you know?
- roguewriter, on 07/11/2009, -1/+3I've use Mobipocket's reader on Palm phones for years. Having a SD card full of books, carrying around your own private library is a joy. Anyone with a phone that is "constantly ringing/vibrating" probably doesn't have enough time to read for pleasure.
- cubicledrone, on 07/11/2009, -0/+2Some estimate the average "published" novel sells about 5k copies during the entirety of its retail availability (about six weeks max, unless it sells out). There are stick-figure webcomics with six times that audience every week. The web has passed the publishing industry by.
Selling a book to a publisher is pointless unless they put marketing dollars on the table. Otherwise, it's just a writer handing over their book for nothing. In other words, business as usual. Even if they sell it, the writer is going to do all the marketing too. If the writer is going to end up doing all the work, they should keep the cash. - mrBitch, on 07/11/2009, -1/+2RE: " .. The publishing industry is accepting the apps, but the end user isn't."
The publishers download stats say otherwise... FTA :
" .. in the few months since Lonely Planet released its apps, it has already seen 300,000 phrase books and almost 100,000 city guides downloaded." - Daniellex3, on 07/23/2009, -0/+1Agreed. I'm all for the traditional print style, but now that we keep advancing I don't mind so much anymore as long as my work is still reaching an audience. However, traditional books are still huge right now so it's not like we'll be seeing everyone on Earth using a Kindle-esque utility by next week.
- sarixe, on 07/15/2009, -0/+1nothing... i'm only 19, which is no excuse, but it's tough.
- ivan423, on 07/11/2009, -1/+2...and so far what have you published?
- esc27, on 07/13/2009, -0/+1There is something to be said for a nice shelf full of books, but people had that attitude about records and later CD cases as well. Given time I expect the digital book market to exceed print, though at the moment I prefer print myself... The big problem facing books relative to music is that with music you could typically buy/acquire a song and use it on any device as much as you want. Even the "protected" music formats were easily converted to mp3. E-Books don't have that. Most are locked to a device/company and can't be used "freely."
What we have now are a few dozen competing e-book markets (one per device) when what we need is one massive market. That's where the iPhone has leverage since it can have apps that work for many different book types and has enough market share to get companies to develop such apps. - mrBitch, on 07/11/2009, -0/+1RE: " .. I read faster and am less easily distracted when holding a book instead of a device that is constantly ringing/vibrating .."
Before I start reading a PDF magazine or an eBook, I just make sure and switch my iPhone to "airplane mode". - Craig304958, on 07/11/2009, -1/+2As with music, it's mostly the corporate boards and owners, not the artists and writers, who object to the new distribution modes. But it's the corporate boards and owners who control the politicians, and there are very secretive treaty negotiations going on right now to control distribution channels. See http://boingboing.net/2009/03/13/obama-administrai ...
Every day I wonder more why I voted for the guy - mrBitch, on 07/11/2009, -0/+1Unlike the iPod Touch, and the iPhone, your iPod Nano is not running OSX touch. There is no SDK development environment, and there is no App Store for it.
Why don't you buy a competitor's mp3 player that allows you to download eBooks onto it? Are there any mp3 players that do so? - mrBitch, on 07/12/2009, -0/+1@ CrayonNo9, RE: " .. recently heard a fair point made by an avid reader who loves her printed books but now finds herself frequently reading via her iPhone for one simple reason... she has it on her wherever she goes.
She tried the Kindle for a while, however it was something that always required some degree of advanced planning. (power cords - downloads - decision to bring it or not)"
My wife couldn't believe I was reading computer magazine PDFs on my iPhone, since she said the screen was way too small for reading anything on it for very long...
She now reads all of her books on her Touch, and while on holiday she just packed her iPod Touch instead of the 4 or 5 books she usually takes over 2 to 3 weeks. - Craig304958, on 07/11/2009, -1/+2Why then do publishers want also to control digital distribution rights? - cost of warehousing all those electrons?
- dimcomp1, on 07/11/2009, -0/+1I have a customer that is a University. They are playing around with Kindles and IPhones for delivering content and Books for students. It is much cheaper and you dont have to lug around as many books. "Dimension Computer of Ballwin, MO is the author of this commentary. It is just our opinion. Hope you enjoyed."
- CrayonNo9, on 07/11/2009, -1/+1I recently heard a fair point made by an avid reader who loves her printed books but now finds herself frequently reading via her iPhone for one simple reason... she has it on her wherever she goes. She tried the Kindle for a while, however it was something that always required some degree of advanced planning. (power cords - downloads - decision to bring it or not)
- HonoredMule, on 07/11/2009, -1/+1Faced with either getting flattened by a steamroller or stabbed in the kidneys, which do you choose? I can't even imagine how much worse McCain would have been.
- HonoredMule, on 07/11/2009, -1/+1Despite claims to the contrary and actual growth in the ebook market, not all pieces are yet truly in place for the general public to happily use them in place of print. ALL of the following must apply to a single platform:
1) convenient
- no cord
- long lifespans
- portable, comfortable form-factor
- though not a sticking point, the best form factors would need folding screens
2) easy on the eyes
- good quality e-ink
- excellent handling of typography/fonts
- in some edge cases, (good) color can be really necessary
3) affordable hardware
- must be in the realm of commodity-level affordability, like good mp3 players that can be had for $80
4) affordable books...at absolute highest price no more than the print version
- has no resale value
- cheaper to distribute
- no market "losses" to 2nd-hand sales
- conclusion: I don't appreciate being fleeced like a sucker.
5) full title access
- the books I want on the hardware I want.
- no excuses, exceptions, or restrictions allowed
Until all of these are satisfied in a single ecosystem, ebooks won't truly replace print media in very many homes, but their time is coming soon. The technology is almost there--we're just edging toward the affordability factors and better hardware form factors. Convenience and overall hardware quality have room for improvement but are getting there too. As for title availability and DRM, publishers really don't have a choice. They're going to have to play ball with customers *really fast* or they'll get reamed so badly the Big Media's war on music piracy will look like a wild success story by comparison.
Book lovers have already shown an eager readiness to hand-copy any books that reach moderate popularity, and auto-scanning text from print is quickly reaching widespread accessibility. Homemade rigs are well capable of automating the entire process of ripping a book, and with a little wiki-like editing the quality of grammar/spelling/presentation quickly surpasses that of the original. At this point, it's no surprise that publishers are on board with a product for which they can charge more and sell more times to the same audience, yet retain more control and protection from unlicensed copying (for now). But customers aren't yet exerting pressure on the publishers because of the many technical factors not yet fully satisfied.
As a publisher or author, I wouldn't be surprised if you were to overlook the interest and investment that customers /are/ putting into ebooks, because the pressure really isn't on you, yet. - lnxfi, on 07/11/2009, -1/+1"If the writer is going to end up doing all the work, they should keep the cash."
I suppose the author also does all the warehousing, sales calls/visits, complies with all the data standards with Bowker, B&T, Ingram, Borders, B&N, processes all charges for books sold, takes the losses bad debts, covers shipping costs from printer to warehouse, pays for the printed ARC and finals, pays for jacket design, pays the editor... ok, I'll stop now. You don't know what yo are talking about. - Mesmeriser, on 07/12/2009, -1/+1Will this stuff work on my Nokia 6210 .. from 1999? I plan to move on to colorful screens in the near future..
- cubicledrone, on 07/11/2009, -0/+0"warehousing, sales calls/visits, complies with all the data standards with Bowker, B&T, Ingram, Borders, B&N, processes all charges for books sold, takes the losses bad debts, covers shipping costs from printer to warehouse, pays for the printed ARC and finals, pays for jacket design, pays the editor"
And sells 5k copies. Then keeps all the money. - deadpoetic333, on 07/11/2009, -2/+1Apple failed considering book readers who use the iPod nano. I read this and get mad, I can't download books straight on to my iPod because it only has an audio book feature. I didn't want a iPod touch because I need something light and portable to listen to music on. But I would love if i could throw something onto my iPod in Mobipocket format and read a book on commute. The only way I would be able to read a book on my nano is if I threw it into notes, which only carry 4000 characters each, and it would have to be in plain text (Most of the eBook websites i find are in PDF and Mobipocket format).
I mean come on Apple, if you think the screen on my new Nano is big enough to watch movies and videos on it should be more then large enough to have an eBook feature. - aVaultDweller, on 07/11/2009, -3/+1Print is dead.
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