More readers picking up electronic books

This year, thanks in part to the popularity of Amazon.com's wireless Kindle device, the e-book has started to take hold.
(From The New York Times)

The story "More readers picking up electronic books" published December 23, 2008 at 4:12 PM is no longer available on CNET News.

Content from The New York Times expires after 7 days.

[billchappell]

Maybe someday the ebooks will not keep the hardcover price for about a year after the paperback has come out.

Very cool invention, but the pricing for books is still messed up.

[Zoobie]

I love my Sony Reader, but I agree with the previous comment. I can't understand why they still charge hardcover pricing on e-books when mass market paperbacks are available for $4.99.

[-fjtorres-]

Pricing depends on your interest and the publisher.
Baen, for example, charges sub-paperback prices for their DRM-less ebooks and seem quite happy with the results theyre getting.

One thing the article glosses over completely is the attempt by both Amazon and Sony to lock-in customers using proprietary formats. This is particularly disappointing behavior in Amazon's case as they already have the best online ebook stoore and don't really need to resort to these underhanded tactics. Sony, of course, is Sony so anti-consumer behavior is merrly business as usual there, but Amazon should've known better...

Also worth pointing out: there are several purchase-worthy second-tier ereaders from the likes of Iliad, Cybook, and BeBook that do not try to tie their hardware to any specific ebook retailer and try their best to support as many ebook formats as possible; a round-up comparo might make a good follow-up article, in case anybody at CNET or NYT is listening..

[Penguinisto]

Me, I'll happily stick to good old fashioned dead tree, because:

1) I can trade my dead-tree books all day long without worrying if some copyright-happy jackass corporation is going to want to sue me for doing so. Heck, I can even sell the ones I don't want anymore.

2) my dead-tree book collection only requires one thing for me to use them: ambient light.

3) No need to worry over what file format is required or what DRM is involved just to read the book. I have a couple of books in my collection that are literally well over 150-200 years old. The authors, publishers, and printers of these books are all dead (in both the corporate and corporeal sense), and have been for more than a century. I sincerely doubt that today's eBooks will be able to have anyone decipher them, 100+ years' hence.


Now, I do realize that hey - eBooks do have some incredible uses, and that there are advantages. But... there are still too many obstacles that will keep me way the hell away from them for the foreseeable future. Locked file formats that no one is going to care about decades from now, DRM, a complete lack of any standardization between products...

Sorry, but I'll stick with dead-tree books, at least until corporations learn to stop trying to use ebooks as a vehicle to monetize every stinkin' aspect of information transfer from one human being to another.

/P

[pghcraig1]

The pricing of digital books is actually insulting to the consumer, more so than being locked into proprietary formats.

The publisher is no freed of printings costs (paper, binding, labor, shipping, ink, etc.). And I cannot see online e-book sellers getting a higher cut of the publishers margins. Heck, brick and mortal bookstores have HUGE HUGE mark ups on paper books. In the range of 60-70%. Even with a 40% off coupon at Borders, they still make money on my purchase.

I will not ever switch to e-readers until publishers stop smoking the corporate wacky tobaccy pipe. I really think e-books should cost significantly less.

And what technology is in these devices that warrants such a high price tag? Based on what I've seen other devices manufactuaring costs to be (ipods, iphones, digital camera, portable dvd players, etc) I an unmoved in my belief that these devices could go to market for the sub $100 range and drive a large profit per device for Sony or Amazon. (Though sony probably has less R&D costs than Amazon.) Apoditon would surge and recoup R&D expenses much faster than it will at a non consumer friendly price.

Tangent over.

Sony... $80 reader, $5 book... me buy.

[skycorgan]

The eBook may or may not be everyone's cup of tea. It has some flaws, there is no doubt about it. Hold a paper book in your hand, then an eBook, and you begin to feel the differences.

That being said, the eBook is an absolute wonder for those who travel extensively for work. There are times when I am travelling for 2 to 3 weeks at a time through multiple airports. With additional baggage charges, the scutiy of TSA, and the headaches, I am certainly not prepared to haul around 3 weeks worth of reading material for when I am trapped in a hotel room in some suburban nightmare of a place with nothing around me.

In the end, this is exactly where Amazon got the formula right. If I am sitting in an airport, and want to pick up a book, I don't have to go to Borders Express and pay full list price for a book I'll read once and toss in a box when I get home, and have to haul it around. Instead, I simply open up my Kindle, search for the book right from the device, and then within 1 minute, I have the book in my hands, ready to board.

One conversation that often comes up is DRM for books. Sony uses it, Amazon uses it. I don't think manufacturers of devices would really care to use DRM, but the publishers insist on it, and for good reason. Thinking about how easy it is for music to be transferred over the Internet. Think about the file sizes of those MP3s, and compare that to the file sizes for a normal NYT Best Selling Novel; the novel is a tiny file, because it is just text. This is also why Amazon can deliver the books over a cell network in less than 60 seconds.

Sony complains that Amazon's attention is unwarranted, because they have a better product (more shades of gray, better feeling hardware). Sony also forgets that Amazon out-innovated them with the introduction of the wireless eBook. No bluetooth, no data fees, just simple ease of use. If you want to buy an eBook from Amazon, just click buy even from their web site, and it will beam directly to your Kindle, no connections to the computer to deal with.

Could they make it better? Absolutely. For the time being, however, I am content to use my Kindle, and take advantage of great reading material available.

[MTGrizzly]

The readers are completely overpriced. What makes a Kindle more expensive than an iPhone? I can't believe it is anything other than hubris. Both iPhone and Kindle tie you to a particular vendor, so the reader vendors are guaranteed to make money after the sale, so why should they gouge us on the reader?

The other thing that puts me off these readers is ELECTRICITY. My iPod Touch is a wonderful device, but it goes dead in a surprisingly short time. It doesn't last anywhere near the time necessary to make it from SFO to MSP, while I play Tetris. And there is no easy way to plug it in, in flight. Not even my MacBook Pro with three extra batteries with make from LAX to SYD, unless there is some way to plug it in.

For the time being, as much of a gadget head as I am, I will stick with paper books. Particularly the more esoteric titles - such as "Prophets Daugher." Besides, every paper book I buy, goes on my shelf in my library, which I think looks cool...

[Ruddddy]

With Sony you get double battery life and ability to transfer files onto the device for free (vs. paying with Kindle). Also you can convert many formats to .lrf (at http://www.lib2go.com for example) which means more reading and less expenses.