Funny, I didn't hear any "pop." I'm getting a little tired of Reuters writing pieces every few weeks that claim the eBook market is depressed, or collapsing, or otherwise doomed.
Quote:
Bubble Bursts for E-Books
Fri October 10, 2003 11:50 AM ET
By Paul Majendie
FRANKFURT, Germany (Reuters) - At the height of the Internet boom, e-books were hailed as the shining new tomorrow for publishers and paper books were heading for the scrap heap.
But the bubble has burst and electronic books are still the poor relation to the printed word with consumers preferring to turn the pages themselves when they curl up by the fire with a good book.
The article may be valid (I invite you to read it all, don't just stop with my excerpt). But the title is more than misleading. The article, imHo, refers to the dot-bomb bubble burst of 2000 (which, if my math is correct, was 3 friggin' years ago), and the title indicates that something has happened this summer.
Oh, yeah. Something did happen. MS Released 1 or 2 updates to their software and proved to publishers that their "secure" DRM5 model was as secure as wet toilet paper. "Pop!" A-ha, there's that bubble burst I thought I heard....
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Current PDA: Casio E-125. Past: Casio CQ-1 c. 1977. Seiko UC-3000, c. 1986. Casio B.O.S.S c. 1991.
We all live in a Yellow Submarine.
Oops, I posted "Other (please post)" option to the poll, but it's not showing. Okay, the "Other" choice is the "post reply" button.
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Current PDA: Casio E-125. Past: Casio CQ-1 c. 1977. Seiko UC-3000, c. 1986. Casio B.O.S.S c. 1991.
We all live in a Yellow Submarine.
I think they are competitively priced. The range is OK, but can only benefit from getting bigger. The client applications are ok (especially the PDM version) but they need to be more ubiquitous, and I think some-one should enter the smartphone market. Why is there no palm reader for the p800 (now 900 ) yet?
And most of all of course, there needs to be more marketing.
I read a LOT of ebooks. I love the format, I love the idea, but I hate the "hooks" that most commercially available ebooks come with. If reading an ebook is more difficult than finding a paperback on your bookshelf, that particular ebook format has failed.
As has been said before, the only disadvantage to the medium that I see is that the majority of digital rights management schemes are too draconian to be workable in their present form. If I pay for a book, I want to have all of the advantages that I'd get from buying a paper book. I want to be able to read it at any time, on any of my devices, whenever I want, for as long as I want.
Removing these fundamental aspects of the reading experience in the interest of generating additional revenue streams is reprehensible at best and criminal at worst.
Books are NOT like music - they will not be shared in the same volume as songs, as they are not as disposable as songs. They require an investment on the part of the user that is much longer than the 3 to 5 minutes that a song needs. Reading a book is a commitment, and in my opinion, the bond between the reader and the author is much greater than that generated between a musician and listener.
I think that publishers would make a killing if they released their books in unrestricted plain text format. If I could pay $3 for something that effectively (in comparison to the razor thin profit margin of traditional books) costs the publisher nothing, I'd be deliriously happy, and would buy MORE books than I do now.
... Every time I go to Costco (U.S. warehouse "price club" store), and browse the book table, I see one or two books that I might like to read. Then I think, "Hm, I wish I could just check out and buy an eBook." Same at my favorite bookstores. "I'd like to read this $15 book, but would prefer to buy the $10 eBook and download it to my PDA in the store. And start reading while I sip some coffee any my daughter squeals with delight in the kids' book section."
A company out west (I think) was developing an application which could beam information to PDAs (Palm/PPC) with the requisite client software on them (oh, and the terminals, I think, could beam the installer to your PDA, too! (just stand there for 90 seconds while it beams....)). Application: convention centers, museums, public office spaces, entertainment outlets (theatres, et al). My application: download a sample short story, with a URL to online purchase later of the paper copy or the eBook copy. Buy a book in hardcover/softcover, and if there's an eBook available, buy the eBook for $2 extra, and beam it to my PDA at the POS (point of sale) terminal, or near it.
Is this such a wacko, innovative idea that no retailer has considered it?? I really wonder. :?
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Current PDA: Casio E-125. Past: Casio CQ-1 c. 1977. Seiko UC-3000, c. 1986. Casio B.O.S.S c. 1991.
We all live in a Yellow Submarine.
A similar idea occurred to me, amidst all the DRM tussles recently.
What about a DRM-less "streaming" of a book via GPRS to your device, where you pay a small amount (less than the current price of ebook certainly) and receive the text in small chunks as you need it. Could be suitable for linear reading (i.e. novel), and at no time would you be in posession of the full book.
Reuters:"Bubble bursts for eBooks"
Linear Mode
