Re: Re: "The Elusive E-book"

From: "Sensei J. Richard Kirkham B.Sc." >>
>> And why do we not 'have the same financial obligations' ? 
>> What
>> do you even mean by this?
>>
>> Sorry to seem so negative.
>>
>> Joseph Harris
>
> Doesn't seem negative to me. What I mean is regardless of the 
> forumat
> it's the information I'm selling. I determine the value along 
> with my
> readers
>
> Rick
> Kirkhams Central Site for Books Ebooks Videos and Software
> [email protected]
> http://kirkhamsebooks.com/index.htm
>

Rick,

Aaron has given you the 'consumer training' answer ;-).

The business answer can be seen in razors.    Some years ago 
Gillette [I think they started it] gave away razors free, and 
packeted the blades in nice 'added value' containers...   They 
realised that commercially the money is not in the device, but in 
the repeat sales.

I've been observing discussions about e-readers for some years 
now [I don't own - and probably never would own - a dedicated 
reader].   And they are currently in the toy class.   The prices 
are ridiculous, and reflect a poor business model for publishing 
because books and reader devices, never can be integrated like 
razors and blades.

While the spread of knowledge should never have high barriers, 
that spread needs to be in  forms that reward people for their 
efforts.    That means there has to be a commercial side.   Which 
is why, essentially, I think the ebook publisher will follow a 
model similar to the pbook publisher.

If you look at the disparate elements of books you realise just 
how many demands there are, including the multifarious ones of 
the reader ;-).    The pbook is sold in a giveaway device, but I 
doubt that will ever be feasible with the ebook, and would deny 
its greatest advantage - the portable library.

At the centre of the book business is the publisher, drawing the 
elements together.   The free ereader with paid for books would 
only come out of that stable;  but that is the model that will 
make an industry.   At the moment the sellers of reading devices 
are a separate business, and if they can rip off authors and 
publishers to make their devices look fairly priced they will. 
The effect of that is to discourage writers.

So is there any technical head reading here that can say if an 
ereader can be cobbled together for about £10 [$20] so it can be 
offered free with five ebooks for £100 [$200]?

C'mon, where's open source when you need it?

Joseph Harris 


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