The Ebook Scam

[Ulysses G.]

The Medium Matters

Nicholas Carr is the author of "The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google." His new book, "The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains," will be published in June.

The printed word long ago lost its position of eminence in the American library. If you go into any branch of a public or school library today, you'll almost certainly see more people staring into Internet terminals than flipping through the pages of books.

It's hardly a surprise, then, that some educators, librarians, and parents would begin to see books — expensive, cumbersome, distressingly low-tech — as dispensable. Once an oxymoron, the "bookless library" is becoming a reality.But if we care about the depth of our intellectual and cultural lives, we'll see that emptying our libraries of books is not an example of progress. It's an example of regress.

The pages of a book shield us from the distractions that bombard us during most of our waking hours. As an informational medium, the book focuses our attention, encouraging the kind of immersion in a story or an argument that promotes deep comprehension and deep learning.

When we read from the screen of a multifunctional computing device, whether it's a PC, a Smartphone, a Kindle, or an iPad, we sacrifice that singlemindedness. Our attention is scattered by all the distractions and interruptions that pour through our computers and digital networks. The result, a raft of psychological and neurological studies show, is cursory reading, weak comprehension and shallow learning.

We may not want to admit it, but the medium matters. When we tell ourselves that reading is the same whether done from a screen or a book, we're kidding ourselves — and cheating our kids.

http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/201...-need-books/?em

[villagefarang]

I stand corrected. The world is obviously out to get you. They want to take away your books and Big Macs and whatever else.

[Ulysses G.]

I stand corrected. The world is obviously out to get you. They want to take away your books and Big Macs and whatever else.

I see where you are coming from.

...

[ProfessorFart]

A lot of classics (Conan Doyle, Shakespeare, Dickens etc) are in the public domain and available as ebooks from Project Gutenburg or as Audiobooks from LibrVox (some good, some bad)

When I'm on the road I'll download a few on my phone and read them with Mobipocket.

The price - free.

[Phil Conners]

I don't see why this is a con. Reading books on an E-ink device is nothing like reading it on a laptop, a pocket pc or a mobile phone. Read up on e-ink to understand the difference.

I had to leave several m3 books in Europe when I moved out here, books I sorely miss. If I'd had them in an ebook format I could have taken them all with me on a piece of electronic the size of a postage stamp.

CRM will probably go the way it went with CD's. Shortly some brainiac will break the copy protection and we'll be back where we were with paper based books all the time, being able to pass them on, lend them out etc.

Edited February 12, 2010 by Phil Conners

[JonBreadMan]

CD's might have the same ""quality" as records and tapes, but never seen a record player in a car, or a tape setup that lets me pick the track I want to play with out having to wind all the way throw it.

[Ulysses G.]

That was another con. They said that you could play CDs in a car, but every time you went over a bump they would skip and the sound quality was the pits.

[Phil Conners]

^ My car came standard equipped with a CD/MP3 player, it practically reads the whole track into memory before playing it. No skips. Ever.

Edited February 13, 2010 by Phil Conners

[jazzbo]

i am quite familiar particularly with some of the Copyright aspects of this issue. For one thing, Publishers will tell you that it is a misconception that the physical book -- paper, cover, printing, artwork, distribution, etc. -- represents the significant portion of the actual book cost. They will say that the editing preparation of the book and the marketing represent the largest cost components and that is the reason why the eBook / Audio Book and the Tree-derived book prices are comparable.

[gmac]

When I can buy an eBook for 80 Baht and get back 50% once I have read it I will gladly switch over. Paying 300 baht a go has no appeal whatsoever.

[angiud]

Aaah, the gramophone good ol' times. The cracking of dust in a 78 rpm vinyl. The 3D impression of the lead characters in a folio book page. The smell of ink.

All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.

Time to die.

...

[Ulysses G.]

^ My car came standard equipped with a CD/MP3 player, it practically reads the whole track into memory before playing it. No skips. Ever.

If it has a MP3 player and reads the whole track into memory before playing it, it is fairly recent. However, CD players started being mass manufactured in 1980 and it was a very long time before this kind of technology was introduced.

Most likely the same thing will happen with e-readers. Despite the manufacturers claim's, The internet has plenty of griping about how e-books and e-ink have along way to go before they are as comfortable as a real book to read and these complaints will only increase as more people get a chance to try them. If they are anything like CDs or the M16 rifle they should be good to go in about 30 years.

[jazzbo]

I read -- I believe in The New York Times -- an author saying that it is not true that young persons, meaning young girls, do not read actual books. This writer said however, based upon her own 16 year-old daughter, that virtually ALL of that reading is done in the bath tub and that, if Kindle et al want to successful with the 16 year old female demographic, they better make those digital readers waterproof.

[YanTree]

The movie people have been trying to make 3D movies popular for something like 50 years and they still have not caught on in a big way.

Stopped reading right here. Have you seen Avatar? Have you been reading about all of the 3D movies and TV now in production because of it?

eBook's just need an Avatar moment.

After watching Steve Jobs use the iPad in a chair I can't think of anything else every time I am fumbling with my laptop laying on the couch. That thing is going to make using a computer a leisure activity that you can do anywhere in any position, comfortably. That is how people read books. They don't want to read books at their desk or hunched over a laptop or an a small screen like an iPhone. They want to lay down and curl up with them. That is exactly what the iPad was designed for.

I don't know if this will be the Avatar moment for the eBook - but that moment will come some day. And I, personally, cannot wait.

Edited February 14, 2010 by YanTree

[Ulysses G.]

Yes, Avatar is succesful, but it still took 50 years for it to come out and as far as anything else that is 3D being so popular, that vey much remains to be seen.

3D and e-books have a lot in common, so don't count your chickens before they hatch.

Edited February 14, 2010 by Ulysses G.

[xerostar]

Most posted replies so far have only looked at ebooks from a consumer point of view.

I've had experience in publishing both real books and ebooks, so I know the problems.

If you have a manuscript, then you need to find a person to typeset the whole book

into a format that can be used by the printing company.

Typesetters don't come cheap.

I did my own typesetting and cover design so I saved money.

The cost of printing a real book is high, especially if the quantity is small.

e.g. for only 1000 copies I paid AU$8,500.00 (B/W paperback published in 2002)

Books containing glossy pages and colour illustrations can increase printing costs by

5 times or more.

The more copies you print of course the cost per book is less.

But how many books do you print?

How do you know if you can sell the books that you print?

If you print a small run, you need to charge more per book to get a profit.

If you print a large run, you risk printing far more than you can ever sell and waste a lot of money.

The printing company I used said they have storehouses full of many different books that were printed and paid for

by hopeful authors, who after many years, have sold only a handful of their works!

If you write a book and approach a printing/publishing/distribution house that markets to the world:

a) The editors are very fussy about what books they accept. Some subjects are taboo and will be rejected.

Whom and why they accept a book for publication is up to a lot of speculation ..

They receive thousands of manuscripts from hopeful authors every year.

c) Only a few are accepted, most authors are stonewalled. (rejected without comment or reason)

d) Their fees are high so that the author receives only a small percentage of the profits.

e) The cost of transport to the market place takes a hefty chunk of the profits (and keeps the price high)

f) Trees are used to make the paper for books which is not an evironmentally friendly process.

g) The cost of real books is prohibitive for poorer nations/schools.

h) On the other hand, of those books accepted, successful advertising is generally assured by the publishing house.

If you write an ebook:

a) You don't need a typesetter, you can DIY.

Creating an ebook is not difficult, needing only a few affordable software programs.

c) There are no taboo subjects or any restraints on size or weight or quantity.

d) Anyone can publish an ebook.

e) An ebook can be produced in full colour with audio, video, animations and links to the internet.

f) An ebook can be be interpreted by your computer for audio "reading".

e) You're ebook is not scrutinised by an editor.

Feedback can be used to make corrections or improve content without having to start from scratch.

f) The costs are small.

g) Distribution to every corner of the globe is achievable in seconds and costs very little.

h) The author receives the rewards, not the middlemen.

i) Ebooks are weightless and large volumes can be transported in a pocket flash drive.

j) Successful advertising is difficult but achievable, on the internet, for modest outlay.

Downsides to ebooks:

a) many poor quality ebooks are created by amateur authors so it's "buyer beware".

Copyright protection is mandatory if one expects to make a profit from an ebook.

c) Most formats are machine specific. i.e. can be read only a PC or a Mac etc etc. thus limiting choice.

I think ebooks will continue to grow in popularity with younger readers who have grown up reading

mainly from computer or TV screens.

Anybody wishing to publish an ebook and who requires some help can PM me.

I'm happy to give free advice or take on a e-publishing job for a modest fee.

[ironhut]

Why do any of you care if someone reads from an E-Reader or from a paper book?

I continue to be amazed at the passion given the smallest of issues.

[villagefarang]

Why do any of you care if someone reads from an E-Reader or from a paper book?

I continue to be amazed at the passion given the smallest of issues.

The OP is worried they might put him out of business, hence the rant.

[Ulysses G.]

I have not exactly hidden the fact that I sell books and as a reader I would be pissed off about the ebook scam even if I didn't - I've seen how the gullible public has been conned into buying things that they did not want or need too many times in my life. I just wouldn't bother posting about it as much.

Edited February 14, 2010 by Ulysses G.

[toptuan]

By economic necessity, I had to reduce a library of 2,000 volumes (mostly professional tools) to my choicest 200 books when I moved to Thailand. Yes, iPod books and e-books have taken up the slack since the "big cull." Great for mobile people.

[YanTree]

You sell books lol

You just lost all credibility dude.

It is not a 'scam'. If it were, there would not be a bunch of people running around with Kindle's filling them up with eBook's and recommending them to their friends and using them to read books. If it were a scam there would be a bunch of people with a Kindle they never use.

With the iPad, the eBook reader functionality (or iBook as they call it) is just one feature. Even if that bombs you can hardly call the iPad a scam - it does so many other things. I'd buy it without the iBook app - I'd buy it if all it did was connect to the internet..

You can relax though. Books are not going anywhere - neither is print media. If anything eBook's will be a good thing for regular books. It might get young people interested in reading books again. I've never seen any studies on it but I'd bet a lot of money the average 16-22 year old reads a lot less books per year than they did in 1995.

[DefaultName]

One thing I can't see is, when you get done reading a regular book, you can pass around amongst your friends. But from what I hear, the ebooks that you buy, they are DRMd so that you can only have them on your own personal ebook reader.

It's worse than that. You can only view them on the specific device you buy them for so, if you want to re-read them in a few years, you'd better have the same device handy. Think about it, how many of you are reading this on the same computer/laptop as you had even 5 years ago? Like all electronics, these things will break/go wrong/or you'll want the new "all singing, all dancing" version and that's that book (and the cost) gone. Buy 100 books, costing £1,000, change your £150 reader and the books are gone. That would suck big time.

Having said all that, there are a lot of "pirate" ebooks out there and, while I wouldn't of course advise anyone to break the law, they are even more available than pirate films on the net. I read SF & Fantasy books, most of which are written in series, you will NOT find a series in a second hand book shop so, to read all of a series it's new books or - in the UK - libraries and time. 6 months ago I bought a Sony PRS 505 reader and that night downloaded a torrent with 15,000 ebooks for free (not legal, but free). I haven't bought a book or visited a library since. I'm definitely an ebook convert.

[Ulysses G.]

It is not a 'scam'. If it were, there would not be a bunch of people running around with Kindle's filling them up with eBook's and recommending them to their friends and using them to read books. If it were a scam there would be a bunch of people with a Kindle they never use.

I find that interesting because I talk to tourists and expats all day, every day, and I have only met one or two who have ever even seen anyone reading one. A couple of close friends, who like to read a lot, live in big cities in the US and went home recently and told me the same thing.

As far as the few people who do have them. Don't forget that many people like to show off the "latest thing" and as soon as it gets old it gets abandoned. If I paid 300 dollars for one of the things, I would "like" it for a while, no matter what a piece of crap it really was.

The truth is that I don't care if they are around for the few specific uses that they are good for, I just don't want publishers to refuse to sell traditional books in order to force the public to switch because they think that their profit margins would go up by leaps and bounds. Believe me, that is exactly what they have in mind.

Edited February 14, 2010 by Ulysses G.

[YanTree]

It is not a 'scam'. If it were, there would not be a bunch of people running around with Kindle's filling them up with eBook's and recommending them to their friends and using them to read books. If it were a scam there would be a bunch of people with a Kindle they never use.

I find that interesting because I talk to tourists and expats all day, every day, and I have only met one or two who have ever even seen anyone reading one. A couple of close friends, who like to read a lot, live in big cities in the US and went home recently and told me the same thing.

As far as the few people who do have them. Don't forget that many people like to show off the "latest thing" and as soon as it gets old it gets abandoned. If I paid 300 dollars for one of the things, I would "like" it for a while, no matter what a piece of crap it really was.

The truth is that I don't care if they are around for the few specific uses that they are good for, I just don't want publishers to refuse to sell traditional books in order to force the public to switch because they think that their profit margins would go up by leaps and bounds. Believe me, that is exactly what they have in mind.

Well, truth be told, I have never seen anybody using one either, nor heard first hand from anybody who has owned one. I have read quite a lot about them on blogs though and have never heard anything about people not using them because of their lack of utility or because they were a 'scam'. I suspect they were designed largely as a conduit for Amazon to sell more eBook's, not for them to sell lot's of Kindle's - though I could be wrong because Apple's strategy with the iPod and iTunes has been to make cheap music a conduit for selling more iPods.

I also read one possibly damning review that adds a little weight to your claim, though scam is a bit much: something like 'I have met many people who like their Kindle - I have never met anybody who loves their Kindle' - this was I believe on TechCrunch and in hopes that people would love the iPad.

In any case, you have to see the irony, hilarity and lack of credibility inherent when a brick and mortar book seller starts calling eBook's a scam right after the iPad is announced

P.S. You should start a Thailand version of Amazon for Farang - I'd use it all the time. Might help you diversify into this new emerging underworld scam economy of eBooks too!

[YanTree]

The truth is that I don't care if they are around for the few specific uses that they are good for, I just don't want publishers to refuse to sell traditional books in order to force the public to switch because they think that their profit margins would go up by leaps and bounds. Believe me, that is exactly what they have in mind

This might be what they dream about at night but with the exception of college text books I doubt anybody is giving serious thought to to it - and even they have probably nixed the idea due to how rampant piracy is among college students. Overnight, there would be sites all over the web giving their books away for pennies or bit torrent sites devoted just to sharing books for free.

eBook's, no matter how popular they get, will remain a niche market for the affluent and tech-savvy for at minimum, a very long time. Normal and poor people just can't afford the readers or wont be willing to pay their prices. Many older people don't user computers much, if at all. And there is something about reading a physical book that can never be matched with an electronic device.

Methinks you are worrying too much and you should instead learn to embrace this new trend and try and figure out how to profit from it. Change or die, as they say.

[endure]

When we read from the screen of a multifunctional computing device, whether it's a PC, a Smartphone, a Kindle, or an iPad, we sacrifice that singlemindedness.

A Kindle isn't a 'multifunctional computing device'. It's an ebook reader. That's it. End of story. All it can do is present you with a facsimile of a page of a book. It is totally single function. It has no other purpose.

[endure]

i am quite familiar particularly with some of the Copyright aspects of this issue. For one thing, Publishers will tell you that it is a misconception that the physical book -- paper, cover, printing, artwork, distribution, etc. -- represents the significant portion of the actual book cost. They will say that the editing preparation of the book and the marketing represent the largest cost components and that is the reason why the eBook / Audio Book and the Tree-derived book prices are comparable.

There was a piece on UK radio where a publisher said that the cost of production of the physical book represented about 15% of the total cost.

[endure]

I read -- I believe in The New York Times -- an author saying that it is not true that young persons, meaning young girls, do not read actual books. This writer said however, based upon her own 16 year-old daughter, that virtually ALL of that reading is done in the bath tub and that, if Kindle et al want to successful with the 16 year old female demographic, they better make those digital readers waterproof.

Ziploc is your friend

[Ulysses G.]

In any case, you have to see the irony, hilarity and lack of credibility inherent when a brick and mortar book seller starts calling eBook's a scam right after the iPad is announced.

Actually, I have been railing against ebooks for a while and I have owned up to having a bookstore several times before without it being brought by anyone else (and it has nothing at all to do with the iPad). I just feel silly saying it over and over again in every post and it just so happens that you finally noticed.

Edited February 14, 2010 by Ulysses G.

[Ulysses G.]

When we read from the screen of a multifunctional computing device, whether it's a PC, a Smartphone, a Kindle, or an iPad, we sacrifice that singlemindedness.

A Kindle isn't a 'multifunctional computing device'. It's an ebook reader. That's it. End of story. All it can do is present you with a facsimile of a page of a book. It is totally single function. It has no other purpose.

I do not dispute this, but you should be directing your remarks to the gentleman who wrote the article. I just posted it.

The Medium Matters

Nicholas Carr is the author of "The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google." His new book, "The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains," will be published in June.