You're right.. It was an interesting article. E-books is one of those ideas that I think will probably re-invent itself several times before it really starts making major money. Didn't Amazon just buy Mobipocket?
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Considering he writes for a website that considers PDFs to be the ultimate form of digital document, its no wonder he hates ebooks. Especially long ones. A PDF that's 1 page is already starting to get too long!
It wasn't very interesting...ebooks may not be threatenning paperback sales any time soon...but most of his 'points' made little to no sense (people don't want ebooks the size of a traditional novel? Wha?)
It really is a shame. Since purchasing my Axim I have spent much time reading some good fiction on it. I couldn't imagine sitting in front of my computer, but the PDA does make it enjoyable. My Axim is smaller than a book and easier to carry. I can read it in any or no lighting. I never lose my place. If I don't know a word I can look it up right there. I hope eBooks don't go away.
What I wish the publishers would do is combine the goods. THe writed is correct about displaying books; however, I would buy a combo pack so that I get a paper book along with the electronic version.
I don't agree with all of what he writes, nor most of it to be blunt but it is intersting.
I think you're right. He seems clueless at times, like when he states 'I don't know any young people who read'. Also, I don't think he has checked out the other formats (besides adobe) in depth.
He has a point about paper not going away though. There's something about reading a 'tree' book that I really like, although I still read a LOT of e-books. My opinion.
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I read it but i don`t agree with 95% of what he is writing. Maybe that`s because i love eBooks. Or id better say i love reading. Paper books and eBooks.
I thought about writing a statement to every part of what the other guy said on the website but cause nobody wants to hear that i just want to say that:
There is some good reading Software. For me, eReader Pro, Adobe Acrobat and the reader libri.de offers are real good software products. I like it to have the book i am reading at the moment with me all the time. I can read it anywhere and if i want to look something up i can do that in a dictionary i have in eBook form on my PDA too. I couldn`t do that with paper books. I would have to carry 30 lbs with me all the time.
And there are much more advantages.
Its easier for me to get a copy of an US eBook online then to get the paper version here in germany.
Yes, I'd read that earlier and it does seem slanted. Not surprising considering Adobe shut down their eContent store and that their DRM-protected ebooks are not usuable on a PDA.
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To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. - extreme hardware chick
"Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something,
wearing stripes with plaid comes easy." - Albert Einstein
1) Way too expensive to buy. It seems to me that production and distribution of ebooks would be significantly less expensive than hardbacks and even paperbacks. No printing costs, no transportation costs (most are just downloaded from the net), but they sell for more than most paperbacks.
2) DRM. DRM reduces the flexibility of using ebooks. If I buy a paperback or hardback, I am free to give it away or resell it when I have finished reading it. With DRM, it's possible to even lose the right to finish reading the book, if your device hard resets or you have a hard disk failure. Forget about passing it on or recovering any of your purchase price by reselling it when you're done. I currently have a small library of legal .lit books that I can't read on my PDA because I lost my activation files when I updated my ROM and Microsoft won't allow me to reactivate my PDA because I have exceeded my allowable activations for that Passport account. At least I can read them on my laptop, unless somehow I lose the activation on it.
3) Way too many incompatible formats, requiring multiple readers on your device taking up valuable storage space.
As much as I would like to like ebooks, all of these things will have to change before I will find them worthwhile and I don't see any of them changing ever because of the greed of the publishers and distributor. Ideally, there would be a single standard format that would allow authors to distribute their works with reasonable safety from rampant piracy and the publishers and distributors would be eliminated from the equation. Same with music and movies.
The INTERESTING part of the article to me was his negative slant and the fact that he had a very narrow focus. The scary part is that he got paid to write it. Seems that msot of you agree with my thoughts, that could be good or bad depending on how you look at it.
I love E-books, I do not find them to expensive but I do most of my purchases through www.Baen.com and since I am a SF fanatic it works out for me.( Average of $5 per book or the monthly download of 5 to 6 books for $15) As for DRM and the various formats time will tell on how all of that shakes out. As a comparison just look at the some of the other technolgies that are going through the same thing with standards and protocols.
E-Books will be here as long as we have digital technology in one format or another....at least I think so.
I'm with you wmrawls. I buy from bean and fictionwise. I have not read a paper book in at least a year. I always have my X5 and the next 10 ebooks to read with me. I do not pay more than $5 for an ebook. I watch for sales and free ebooks. I'm reading mostly fiction (SF, Thrillers). I'm starting to read some of the 1950's SF author's and before. I confess, I'm an ebook junkie. I don't think I could go back to paper. Oh, yes I have tried magazines also. Works for me. I had paperback books all over my house, no longer. I have my whole ebook collection (100's) on a backup cd and an sd card for my X5.
Prices should get lower as the martket for ebooks expands, like it did with legal music downloads now costing less than buying CDs.
Publishers are still exploring the market and are probably more confused by DRM than endusers are, but I read that report, together with the news Adobe closed their eContent store, as perhaps a signal they are pulling out of the battle.
I've downloaded hundreds of free ebooks, and have paid for 15 over the past several months, so cost per book plus convenience ..... priceless!
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So many programs, not enough ROM To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. - extreme hardware chick
"Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something,
wearing stripes with plaid comes easy." - Albert Einstein
How could anyone so involved with the industry be so out of touch with what is going on?
"PDAs ought to provide a decent reading experience, but as yet don't."
I don't have any trouble reading on my X5. Is anyone else having problems?
"E-books are not for recreational reading."???
Then why is Fictionwise adding over 100 "recreational reading" ebooks a week to their site?
"Publishers don't seem to understand that electronic books need to be short."
Why? I have ebook formats of technical manuals that are over 500 pages and novels that are over 200 pages (in print format) and they are just as readable as novellas that are only a few pages in length. (They just take longer to read)
"Most people want nothing to do with e-books, which seem to offer disadvantages over paper-based titles."
The only disadvantage I have seen or heard of is that sometimes the ebook costs as much or more than the paper version. This would seem to be a problem with the greed and ignorance of the particular publisher or vendor, not the ebook format. There are many sites with free ebooks, sales of ebooks, and decent prices on many (not all) ebooks.
The different formats for ebooks will work out in time just as different formats for film, radio, TV, VCRs, and video recorders (camcorders) has worked out in the past.
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System i ... for when you can't afford to be out of business
Just finished reading the article and disagree with the majority of what was written. I can't even begin to understand what he means by "ebooks need to be short". Why do they need to be short? I have about 16 ebooks on my PDA right now and I don't care if each one is 10,0000 pages long.
Also, I have absolutely no problems with my pda "providing a decent reading experience". Another point that needs to be elaborated.
As far as the price, I rarely ever pay over $5.00 for my ebooks at Fictionwise. Since I read a whole lot more now that I've started purchasing ebooks, I just signed up for their yearly discount plan.
And what happened to the number one reason why ebooks are great...The physcial aspect....the fact that a person can carry around many different titles.
Sounds like this was written by someone who hasn't fully researched all aspects of ebooks. Personally, I can't wait until we have the option of everything being electronic.
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I use eReader Pro. I had just purchased about $70 of MSReader books (on sale) & my HP3600 PPC had to be exchanged & it was about a week before I could read any of them. I purchased eReader Pro just until I got MSReader going & haven't activated MSReader since I finally finished all those books.
Ebooks don't keep my husband awake @ night, 10+ loaded @ all times, & no extra weight!
I don't mind paying paperback prices, but I don't pay hardback $$.
Less $ would be nice, but not at the cost of less books available in eReader format.
At last count I had over 100 E-books on one SD card. Hard to carry around that many hard copy books. There are so many free e-books in the public domain that I could read for years without paying for the privlidge. E-books are here to stay, writers, like the author of the article, may not be around much longer if they don't stay in touch with the users of the technolgy they write about. Personal opions are fine but when someone takes such a negative stand they should have better facts to back up those opion's. I am going to keep my eye on the writer to see what else he pontificates about.
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