Why are ebooks double the price?

Nate--IRL-- · 11 Mar 2010 at 13:48

Interesting article on the cost associated with E-books.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/business/media/01ebooks.html

Nate

AFK_Matrix · 11 Mar 2010 at 13:53

Well I have a Sony read that i got in mint condition second hand for £140 and I would say if you don't read a huge amount it probably is a waste of money but if your like me who reads a ton of books its a great buy, it also saves a ton of space lol.

If you want more info on ebook prices, DRM, Geographic Restrictions (my biggest annoyance!!) then head on over to mobileread.com. Its an awesome website and gives you a ton of info and links to free ebooks etc. You also have a lot of authors on there so can actually give real feedback and ask them questions.

jas72 · 11 Mar 2010 at 14:12

Nate--IRL-- said:
Interesting article on the cost associated with E-books.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/business/media/01ebooks.html

Nate

Nice find there Nate but do we really need publishers at all? I think the future should be author's directly putting their books online via online bookstores.

Amp34 · 11 Mar 2010 at 14:21

Jonny69 said:
I can't think of anything worse to sit and stare at. Something about a book that makes it appealing. Smooth, white, involving. A computer screen doesn't do that for me and it burns my retinas.

However, I totally understand the environmental benefits of ebooks over a huge stack of paper books. I'm going to find it hard to change.

E-Ink books aren't like that, they are like looking at paper. The first time I saw one in LV I thought it was a dummy, then the screen moved. Unfortunately recently people seem to be getting way too embroiled in iPads that we appear to be going backwards (the iPad has a standard screen and poor battery life for an ebook reader), hopefully however the new colour screens coming out onto the market that work like e-ink screens will replace them.

In reality though proper e-ink readers will always have a place, for the same reason we have seperate electrical things now.

taliesyn · 11 Mar 2010 at 14:51

Well, I now have a Bebook Neo, and I'm pleased as punch with it. Nothing like reading off a reflective or backlit screen at all. Much easier on the eyes, and much easier than hauling a cartload of books everywhere

Pyroblaze · 11 Mar 2010 at 14:55

Nate--IRL-- said:
As ereaders become more commonplace publishers are going to find out what the Music and Film Industry did, very quickly. A friend of mine has an ereader, very nice bit of kit (still too expensive for me). He Downloaded 20,000 books off the net, fits on 1 DVD. He'll never have to buy a book again. Couple the ease of distribution of tiny files with stupid prices for legal downloads and you have a recipe for disaster.

The only thing that'll save book publishing is that people like me like the feel of books. Eink is good, but not good enough IMHO.

Nate

This has already been happening for a long time. I download ebooks from a pirate site all the time and i honestly don't feel guilty about it. I still buy the books i would have bought anyway ie new releases but just download all the ones i'd go to the library for.

No1newts · 11 Mar 2010 at 15:13

Jonny69 said:
I can't think of anything worse to sit and stare at. Something about a book that makes it appealing. Smooth, white, involving. A computer screen doesn't do that for me and it burns my retinas.

However, I totally understand the environmental benefits of ebooks over a huge stack of paper books. I'm going to find it hard to change.

This.

But I am going to refuse to change. I love my books, nothing better than buying a book and when you first open it, it seems to have a certain smell about it. Lobe reading a good book, good over two hundred sitting in the house and I intend to keep reading and not staring at a computer screen. This would ruin it for me.

bam0 · 11 Mar 2010 at 15:19

No1newts said:
This.

But I am going to refuse to change. I love my books, nothing better than buying a book and when you first open it, it seems to have a certain smell about it. Lobe reading a good book, good over two hundred sitting in the house and I intend to keep reading and not staring at a computer screen. This would ruin it for me.

Yawn, complaints about reading books on a computer screen are so old. E-ink screens simulate real paper quite sufficiently and the portability of lots of books in the space of a paperback is appreciated by many. And despite that I still buy first release hardbacks of all the books I want to own.

No1newts · 11 Mar 2010 at 15:22

bam0 said:
Yawn, complaints about reading books on a computer screen are so old. E-ink screens simulate real paper quite sufficiently and the portability of lots of books in the space of a paperback is appreciated by many. And despite that I still buy first release hardbacks of all the books I want to own.

Im sure they do simulate real paper very well, but I am not after a simulation of real paper, want a book in paper so I can read it, enjoy it and then keep it. If you prefer E-bboks that is your own preference, personally I will still to paperbacks and hardbacks.

platypus · 11 Mar 2010 at 15:23

Like others in this thread I will find it hard to let go of books.

The thought of libraries being a thing of the past, or an exclusive or rare thing in the future is sad. I love it when I go to other people's houses and I can leaf through their book collection.

Pyroblaze · 11 Mar 2010 at 15:26

No1newts said:
Im sure they do simulate real paper very well, but I am not after a simulation of real paper, want a book in paper so I can read it, enjoy it and then keep it. If you prefer E-bboks that is your own preference, personally I will still to paperbacks and hardbacks.

Have you sat down and tried to read an eBook before? I used to be of the same opinion as you but after i read one i found that it wasn't anywhere near as different as i had expected.

bam0 · 11 Mar 2010 at 15:26

No1newts said:
Im sure they do simulate real paper very well, but I am not after a simulation of real paper, want a book in paper so I can read it, enjoy it and then keep it. If you prefer E-bboks that is your own preference, personally I will still to paperbacks and hardbacks.

I don't prefer one over the other particularly, each has their place, to me they are complementary. The real point is that ebooks doesn't mean reading off a computer screen, if you haven't seen an Eink screen you'd probably be pleasantly surprised.

No1newts · 11 Mar 2010 at 15:30

Pyroblaze said:
Have you sat down and tried to read an eBook before? I used to be of the same opinion as you but after i read one i found that it wasn't anywhere near as different as i had expected.

bam0 said:
I don't prefer one over the other particularly, each has their place, to me they are complementary. The real point is that ebooks doesn't mean reading off a computer screen, if you haven't seen an Eink screen you'd probably be pleasantly surprised.

Im sure E-books are not as bad as people make out and perhaps I might even enjoy them but I have no intention to try. I know what people will say but I am happy in my ignorance and love my books, always loved the feel of libraries and bookshops (and my new study) where books are piled to the rafters. To me a computer screen or E-ink or whatever screen would not be able to match this.