My students recently had an assignment to write about ereaders. They were supposed to discuss what effect Digital Rights Management has on ebooks and piracy and the ethics of tethering consumers to a particular ebook format based on their choice of ereader. While most of them did a pretty good job on it, quite a few seemed to come away from the assignment with the misconception that obe format had to be the "winner", that owning an ereader would mean that the consumer would somehow be restricted from ever reading a paper book again.
Does one format have to win?
In my opinion, the answer is no, not at all. This isn't a situation where a person has to swear off one format in favor of the other: the two formats can co-exist happily. According to the study referenced in the graphic linked above, eighty-five percent of ereader owners continue to purchase print books. The ebook readers I know personally have not decreased their usage of the local library systems, either. Quite a few of the librarians I know own ereaders.
What are some of the reasons why a person might own and ereader but also use the local library systems and/or purchase paper copies of books?
Ereaders are a great way to take your entire library on the go. You can vacation with dozens or hundreds of book options at your fingertips and the weight and displacement in your luggage is comparable to a single paperback.
While on that vacation, suppose you want to buy a new book? You can download sample chapters before plunking down the full purchase price. Suppose you really, really like that new book. Next, suppose that you have the opportunity to meet the author. Lots easier for that author to sign your hardcover or paperback copy.
Most places I find myself are very friendly to using an ereader: home, work, school, doctors' waiting rooms, checkout lines... Have you ever finished a book at the doctor's office? With my Kindle,
Sometimes, however, I like to read in places that might not be very friendly to high-tech electronics. How about reading while soaking in a hot bath. Accidentally dropping your favorite paperback into the soup runs you about ten bucks in replacement costs. I won't risk my $100+ ereader in the same environment. Long, hot baths might not be your thing but maybe you like to float on a raft in the pool or sit on the sand at the beach with a good book. Neither of those locales is very friendly to electronic readers either. Yes, I know I could buy one of these
Not all books in print are available in ebook format. How many times have you discovered a new author but that "new" author has already written a long list of books in a series. Ebook technology is new. Many authors' backlists have not yet been made available electronically. Every other week someone posts a question on Amazon's
I think mos people are like me in that they have read two kinds of books: those they fully intend to reread and those they do not. Have you ever read a book to gain some particular knowledge or because someone you know said "you really should read this"? If you are not sure that you are going to like a book enough to justify buying a copy, you can borrow one from the local library (or a friend) for free.
This is just a short list of some reasons why ereader owners continue to read and buy paper books. Ebooks need not spell doom for the print industry.
Think about this: when Gutenberg invented the printing press, books became much more freely and cheaply available. There were probably plenty of monks who were scandalized that a machine could print books faster and cheaper than they could transcribe them. I imagine that there were scriptoria all over Europe where the brothers wept and commiserated that mass-produced books were the first sign of a literary apocalypse, that books would become devalued once they were in the grubby hands of the common man.
For centuries, books were printed with hardcovers. Can't you just see the highly educated intelligensia of the 1930s howling that books were becoming devalued when paperbacks hit the shelves of the local five and dime stores?
Ereaders have entered the scene many years later but aren't they simply another evolution in the history of the written word?
Monday, March 21, 2011
On homework and formatting
Monday, March 14, 2011
In which trek is mathematical
Just a drive-by blogging to wish everyone a very happy π Day!
Why not celebrate at dinner tonight? Maybe order a pizza π or pop a chicken pot π into the oven. Then, for those who do not observe Lent, deep-dish apple π á la mode.
Saturday, March 05, 2011
Trapped!
I've been sticking to the workout routine faithfully these past weeks. A week or so ago, I started bumping up the intensity of my walking DVD workouts by adding neoprene hand weights.
While the walking workouts are good and can easily be boosted with the addition of the weights or the firm band,
One thing I noticed about my recent workouts, though, was my old athletic bras just weren't up to the challenge anymore: when one is jogging and jumping around, one really needs support.
I went shopping.
Turns out athletic bras sometimes come built into athletic tank tops. Who knew?
The other day, I was getting dressed so that I could tromp down to the basement for my daily workout and I got kind of stuck putting on my new top
He helped to get me sorted out, observing at the same time, "This thing is totally booby trapped."
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Price drop
Attention all Kindle fans of The Dresden Files: following yesterday's release of Changes
If you are interested in reading the first chapter of Ghost Story
Oh, my: two posts in one day. Can you stand it??
Open letter to HarperCollins
I read HarperCollins' open letter to librarians this morning. I was glad that I hadn't yet had my breakfast since the letter made me sick to my stomach. As if the Agency Price Model wasn't enough, now HarperCollins wants to RENT ebooks to libraries, not sell them. Here is the response I sent to HarperCollins this morning:
Mr Marwell:
I am vehemently opposed to your new ebook policy with respect to libraries. When a library purchases a book, they own it. You are proposing renting ebooks to libraries. Attempting to base this decision on the number of ereaders currently in use around the country and/or the world does not change the facts: you intend to RENT books to the libraries, not sell them.
Paper copies have a shelf-life much longer than one year. Libraries do not need to replace their paper books each and every year. Perhaps if you were to study the average number of years a physical book remains in the system, you might be able to correlate a better rental term, but your policy as stated reeks of greed, especially considering the costs involved in producing ebooks as compared to paper copies. I've seen the numbers. Publishers make a larger profit on ebooks than on paper books. There are no shipping fees, no paper costs, and no losses from shrink nor from "stripped" book returns.
Many people who cannot afford to purchase a lot of books outright use the library systems around the country. Those people can, at this time, check out ebooks and read them on the libraries’ public computers using freely available ebook PC clients – for free – because the libraries are supported by the taxes we pay. Limiting the libraries to a single year of an ebook RENTAL would significantly increase operating costs. With libraries already facing heavy budget slashes, do you really think this is a wise idea?
No, of course not. It is short-sighted, at best. Sure, you will reap some benefits in the short-term, perhaps even slightly longer in the more affluent areas of the country. Note, however, that in the long-term, libraries will be forced to stop hosting ebooks and rely solely on paper books. This does not seem to be the way to increase your overall profits nor to garner customer respect and allegiance.
Return to the established business model: SELL your titles to libraries outright; do not RENT them.
How do you feel about this issue?
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