Re: "The Elusive E-book"

From: "Aaron Walker"
> Chris;
>
> Why should we continue to want to be the driving force for 
> paper sales? Does a paper book make it inherently more valuable 
> than an e-book? I don't think so.
>
> And no paper publisher lets you return a book. Try returning a 
> book to your local Barnes&Noble after you've left the store. 
> It's almost impossible. They don't let you return software once 
> you've opened it.
>
> Why do you feel e-books should have less value than paper 
> books? The authors work just as hard writing them as paper 
> authors. E-publishers work just as hard getting people to buy 
> them as paper publishers.
>
> So, why should e-authors and e-publishers not have the same 
> expectations of financial compensation as paper authors and 
> publishers?
> Aaron J. WalkerPublisher
> http://www.walkbroadpublishing.com
>

Reading this reminded me of some more aspects of the pbook and 
the vast majority of people and the differences in the types of 
book.

Old curmudgeon I might be, but I will take a lot of convincing of 
the superiority of the ebook;  though that is not to say I do not 
appreciate, or enjoy, its values.

The ebook is generally convenient, specially in taking little 
space and being easy to carry about in the hundreds or thousands. 
The dedicated readers also can have the advantage of having their 
own light source and not being that much heavier than a book.

But I am strongly of the opinion that screen reading has 
considerably inferior 'stickability'.   I believe the move to 
digital systems in schools and universities is one of the biggest 
mistakes in education for that reason.   And all the digital 
search systems I have used have the further disadvantage that 
they do not open wider understanding of a subject, as do paper 
encyclopaedias and dictionaries and other paper references.

I have no reference, but I have come across research showing the 
digital screen more tiring than the printed page.   Now this 
remains an important area for many uses.

My point is not that one is better than the other, but that each 
has advantages, each disadvantages.   We should stop thinking 
this is a war in which one or other must or will win.

The argument about trees is largely destroyed by the advent of 
POD and the development of that print and distribution structure. 
Any argument of the ebook having a tiny market is denied by its 
rapidly growing sales.   And, since we still have no good 
definition of the ebook, the discussion can dodge around all over 
the place.

There are a lot of situations where the standalone ebook will be 
an answer, some where the pbook will not be formally digitalised; 
and many where the two forms will be used together to drive sales 
and/or accessibility.

I think that I do agree with the main thrust of Aaron's argument, 
that the ebook needs to be valued for itself, not as a poor 
cousin of the pbook.    And making that happen is going to be up 
to ebook publishers.

In the end the business model might not be so different from that 
familiar in pbook circles.

Joseph Harris 


------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Post a message:   ebook-community [[at]] *
Unsubscribe:      ebook-community-unsubscribe [[at]] *
Switch to digest: ebook-community-digest [[at]] *
Switch to normal: ebook-community-normal [[at]] *
Put mail on hold: ebook-community-nomail [[at]] *
Administrator:    ebook-community-owner [[at]] *

(* == yahoogroups.com)
-------------------------------------------------------Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebook-community/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebook-community/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    mailto:[email protected] 
    mailto:ebook-community-fullfeatured-hHKSG33TihhbjbujkaE4pw@public.gmane.org

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    ebook-community-unsubscribe-hHKSG33TihhbjbujkaE4pw@public.gmane.org

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/