Nody wrote: » The demand for Windows is at an all time high; the price don't decrease though. Demand does not decrease price as much as competition and with e-books there is (currently) a woefull lack of competition because there is no second hand market, limited interoperability and no noticable cost increase between selling 100 or 100.000 copies (with paper books if you print 100k copies and only sell 50k you need to dump the final 50k due to storage costs, printing costs etc. to recoup the investment).
Nody wrote: » In short, there is no reason for the publishers to reduce the cost of their e-book copies because the cost of keeping it at the current price has very limited downsides (higher profit margin, non existant cost of storage, bigger libery available etc.) and there is no competition to push it down (copyright ensures they have no incentives short of wanting to sell you the author's next copy). Why lower your own profit margins when you've got a format with no second hand market (game makers would wet their pants for that), no real cost to store it and no one that can undersell you any more?
Nody wrote: » Don't get me wrong here; I'd love to see a competive e-book market (would save me a lot of bookshelf space if nothing else) but I simply can't see how it will work in practice. I'd love the idea of a netflix for e-books, or subscription base but since what I'm reading is all over the place (fantasy to religion to history to old classics to Sci Fi) I simply don't see how it would work out
syklops wrote: » Thats hardly comparing like with like, is it? The reason the cost of Windows is so high, is because governments and corporations are locked in, with all their IT systems, and all their applications running on it. For many, the cost of changing to another platform, is greater than the saving they would make by changing to another supplier like RHEL.
You are forgetting that we are not just talking about publishers, there is also the suppliers to think about. Amazon has the kindle, Barnes and Noble has the Nook, Sony has the sony store, and there are others all competing for the eReader market. At the moment we are not seeing much competition, because they all have their own formats, but it wont be long before one format takes over, just like with MP3s, DVDs, Blu-Ray, etc. One format will take over, and when it does, they will all be competing against each other.
I think the reason you cant see how it would work, is because you are assuming that books need to be converted to an ebook format, and due to the eclectic nature of your reading habits, you doubt that what you like will be converted. However, what you are forgetting, is that nowadays, all books are converted to a digital format before they are even printed. It costs the publisher near nothing to convert the book to a well used format, and leave it for purchase on their website, where as it takes millions, to print and distribute books. Once ebook readers become mainstream, thats what will happen, and you will be able to get any book you want. We are only in the early days of eBooks and eReaders.
Nody wrote: » For those that don't though or read a lot it will be a much more expensive experience to read in the future as they can't borrow those books anymore; they will have to buy new copies of every single book they want to read.
Eoin wrote: » Only a matter of time. As an aside - I read recently that one of the possible future iPad features might be a transparent eInk screen that overlays the normal backlit colour one. So if you're reading an eBook, the main screen is turned off and you read your eBook on a proper eInk screen. If that works, that would be a fantastic device IMO.
mcgovern wrote: » Only 3 months ago I would have said I'd never change over to an e-reader. What would I put on my bookshelves then? Now reading almost exclusively on a Kindle and find I am reading much more than when I was reading paper backs. It might seem like a small thing, but not having to open the book onto the right page makes a huge difference imo, I can have the kindle on and read a page or two while making the dinner, another page during loading time playing games etc.
Kinski wrote: » You're right, it would be handy, but I think that having the Internet just a couple of clicks away on your main reading device would be an unwelcome distraction for most people; it's more likely to detract from than enhance their reading experience.
DjFlin wrote: » Kindles have web browsers on them, they don't detract.
Kinski wrote: » It has limited web-browsing capabilities. It's really not like having all the distracting bells and whistles that an iPad has.
Permabear wrote: » This post had been deleted.
Psychedelic wrote: » Is the typography and layout of text the same on e-readers as the physical book? Or are they all set in a default fault but with options to change the font and font size? I know this is an extreme example but an e-reader would be totally useless for something like House of Leaves. If this is the case then essentially all you are buying is text, for around the same price. That annoys me too, a digital file costing around the same as a physical book. I haven't seen one yet but looking at demos on YouTube they look fairly crappy to me, nothing like ink on paper, just looks like a computer screen. Kind of confused by this, a good few posters are talking about when e-readers eventually catch on, yet those stats would suggest they are already now mainstream. Can those features be turned off? That'd be a major annoyance for mKind of confused by this, a good few posters are talking about when e-readers eventually catch on, yet those stats would suggest they are already now mainstream. e, for the same reasons you have given.
DjFlin wrote: » Hi, I recently had a conversation with a friend who said they "never have never will" use an eReader of any type, and was wondering how others felt about them. Personally I think they're great. I dont have one, but I have used several (The Amazon Kindle mostly) and plan on getting one as soon as I can afford to. Whenever I go on Holiday, I'd usually take two books, and buy a third in the Airport. Unless one of the books turns out to be rubbish, they're all read by the end of the first week, after which they're just wasted suitcase space. I love the idea of having one small device for all my books. My friend paid €30 for A Dance With Dragons not too long ago. Its only €14 on Kindle. At that rate a Kindle would pay for itself pretty quickly. So what do you think of eReaders? Are you one of those people who just wont give up on physical books? Explain it to me.
Psychedelic wrote: » Kind of confused by this, a good few posters are talking about when e-readers eventually catch on, yet those stats would suggest they are already now mainstream.
KnifeWRENCH wrote: » I don't have an eReader and don't have any immediate plans to get one. I've no problem browsing through forums or articles online and reading short passages of text on a laptop screen but I can't imagine sitting down and actually staring at and absorbing an entire chapter of a book. I think it would make my eyes hurt.
Eoin wrote: » You just can't compare an eReader screen to a computer screen. They are completely different things.
[Publishers] act as the venture capitalists of the words business, advancing money to authors of worthwhile books that might not be written otherwise. And they are editors, picking good books and improving them. So it would be good, not just for their shareholders but also for intellectual life, if they survived. [...] f they are to distinguish their wares from self-published dross, they must get better at choosing books, honing ideas and polishing copy.
DuPLeX wrote: » I would never buy an i-reader or pringle or whatever :rolleyes: I've heard that amazon reached into peoples readers and deleted books by George Orwell (Ironically). so these "books" are not your property ? Kinda reminds me of the film Fahrenheit 451 .
