Have e-books turned a page?

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Agreed, but some funny thoughts

arise, such as, "MOM! Megan marked in her book and now it's in my book!"

or traditional dog-earing...

I look at these as problems that could well be solved in ways that still take some adjusting but to which people will happily adapt.

After the snuggle-up and readability issues are solved, there are individualized (per-user) bookmarks and actual page markups that require no special devices or clunky interfaces.

The major advantage to the user is the ability to carry a whole library in your pocket. The advantage to the publisher is that production costs go to practically zero.

I have increasing hope that the disadvantages are being eliminated or at least strongly mitigated.

All questions of rights aside, the cost of creating an instance of a book has evaporated, so there's a lot more room for profit. Additionally, the costs of marketing and distribution have fallen through the floor. These activities, and their associated risks, are the value that publishers have added until now, so like it or not their existing business model has gone poof, especially if they continue to charge prices that reflect those costs that have now evaporated.

The potential for theft is the only moral issue involved, but is not the primary reason for the destruction of the business model. If there were no theft at all, the publishers' business model would still be completely demolished.

Most likely, paper books will no more be completely eliminated by e-books than hardbound books were by paperbacks, but attenuated in a similar way. These still retain their original advantages, and people will pay for them. They will probably pay more, since print runs will likely be smaller, offset somewhat by the decrease in startup costs and capital risks. The difference is that the new medium - IF its price reflects the difference in cost - will vastly outpace the old in sales, and will become the new primary distribution mechanism.

Posted by: bthomasmo@...   Posted on: 08/27/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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