Milwaukee radio station 620am WTMJ broadcast a segment regarding ebooks last week. I finally got around to blogging about it today. The segment was titled: Will printed books remain relevant in the future? Book/library aficionado/blogger Paul Everett Nelson joins WAN at 4:34pm.
While the discussion was simple and well targeted to their audience there is certainly more to this story. I understand the limited time allocated to radio segments — its Milwaukee’s WTMJ – not NPR.
My own experience and love of reading drew me to think deeper about the discussion of the publishing industry and their new demand to charge libraries unbeliveable fees.Some believe the publishing industry has been decimated in the internet age like the music industry. Not sure that I completely agree with this statement. A well run publishing business should be able to make significantly more profit from selling ebooks. But in order to be successful the publishing industry must cannibalize itself.
One of the points of discussion is a rather draconian sales policy ebook publishers have demanded. They are changing their Terms by actually charging libraries to repurchase (at full price no less) any ebook checked out more than 25 times. Yes you read that correctly – publishers plan to force every library that checks out an ebook 25 times to re-purchase the ebook at full price.
When exactly did those same publishers force those same libraries to purchase additional hardback copies of their books at full price after they were checked out 25 times? Never, since the idea is just asinine.
Imaging a cable company requiring you to purchase a new cable package after watching 25 TV shows. Yep – now you know how stupid — or simply greed — is driving this decision.
Ever see a stack of 500 books on a shipping pallet? Consider all the costs for print, assembly and shipping. Add costs to distribute those books to bookstores and big box resellers….that is an expensive and time consuming process. Oh yea…want it fast? — then pay extra for overnight shipping. Remember those books are only available during business hours.
Many publishers today print, assemble and ship their products from China to cut costs. Take a look at some of your favorite hardcover books. Look closer at the publisher’s credits. I was surprised to see so many children’s books we have that were manufactured in China.
However on-line ebook shopping is a radically different business model. When a consumer purchases an ebook from Amazon or even iTunes they download the exact digital product repeatedly. There is no added cost for the publisher! The moment an ebook is exported from a publisher’s computer and uploaded to Amazon or iTunes server the profit begins….and never stops. Sell 100 copies or 1 million — there is no added cost to download. And eCommerce is 24/7 with immediately downloading….especially with Amazon’s One Click policy.
So on the surface the book publishers demand to libraries (for now) must re-purchase any ebook. Yet since the cost of producing and distributing ebooks is so profitable it just corporate greed to simply dictate new terms for the same content. Consider how the personal printer industry has driven inkjet printers to that magical price point of $50 ….while selling a gallon of ink for $8,000. Think gasoline prices are outrageous by comparison?
I do agree that trying to actually read an ebook on a little smartphone was a joke. It was more of a technical achievement. The iPad and the Kindle, Nook and others change this paradigm. Actually reading of the Pentagon Papers (7,000+ pages in 47 volumes) on my iPad clearly proves to even me that the future is ebooks. And the ebook vendors are not stupid. You can download apps for the iPad that support purchasing ebboks from Amazon, Barnes and Noble for example. It like getting a Kindle or Nook built into each iPad.
Although I love my physical book collection how many trees have been killed for this? For this reason alone I will greatly reduce my dependance on paper. I also enjoy carrying an iPad with a lot of books in such a small, light form factor.
So in the end, change happens at a glacial pace for most people. We have come to develop (much to the relief of book publishers) an emotional “love” of physical books. Just google bookcase and look at the hundreds of pages dedicated to the physical designs of bookshelves filled with hundreds of books. While I also subscribed to this emotion and have enjoyed arraigning my favorite books at home — in all honesty I was raised and educated with the notion that printed books are the single source of knowledge and ultimate success. Remember for me there was no other way. This will be forever changed for my children. Today I not only read to them but watch how interact with “ebooks” in a way never available to me in my childhood. While human change is glacial, today’s tablet business models are not.
The publishing industry must adapt or die. Their choice.