MP3 players vs. eBook devices

Aaron's comparison has come up before and I think it deserves careful 
consideration. Here's my take: for most people the cost of owning and 
using MP3 devices is much less than the cost of the alternative ways of 
obtaining and listening to music. But for most people the cost of owning 
and using an eBook reader is still as much as or more than the cost of 
alternative ways of obtaining reading matter.

Why this discrepancy? In general (and I know there are lots of exceptions):

* reading requires one's visual attention: listening to music does not. 
But most other activities also demand visual attention. The time 
available for reading in one's life will always be less than the time 
available for listening to music. An MP3 device can 'pay for itself' in 
entertainment value over a couple of weeks; an eReader is going to take 
much longer.

* music devices only have to be big enough to fit an earphone jack; 
reading devices have to be big enough to include a screen display.

* music is bought for listening to several times over, whereas most 
books are bought for reading only once. Music media are also easier and 
cheaper to store. Thus old music media are generally kept; old books are 
disposed of at low or zero prices.

* any specific music track is generally much easier to obtain than some 
specific reading matter. Most music is created and distributed by a 
large and efficient global industry with long-term players; most books 
are created and distributed by small short-lived independent operations 
with poor record-keeping facilities. Music media are also easier and 
cheaper to archive and reproduce than printed media. As a result more 
music from the past is available than literature from the past, by 
several orders of magnitude.

Obviously some of this will change or is already changing. But given 
these points of difference I simply don't know if one economic model can 
be applied to both media. On the other hand, it's clear that people will 
pay premium prices for an experience provided it's exactly what they 
want. The challenge for the eBook industry is to come up with a 
universal eBook retrieval and distribution system as effective as, say, 
iTunes; to try and provide 'taster' or 'sample' experiences that will 
help people decide what they want to read; and to expand its supply to 
include all the good writing of the past as well as the present.

As I have said before, it always astounds me that I can walk into a 
small local CD shop (or fire up eBay) and buy an album that was recorded 
in 1970, but I can't walk into any big city bookstore and buy a book 
that was a bestseller in 2005.

Jon.

Aaron Walker wrote:
> Yes, Kent, this is a constant refrain. 
>  
> No one ever points to specifics besides saying the current (or past) generation of e-book readers are too expensive.
>  
> The iPod Touch sits comfortably at $299.99. The original iPod was $399.99
>  
> I don't hear anyone saying MP3's haven't taken off because MP3 players are too expensive.
> Aaron J. Walker

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