Re: Article: The e-book era is here (despite reports to the contrary) ?

[Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- jci -dot- com]

>So far, ebooks don't meet that criterion. Aside from larger reference
>works, they're not cheaper than traditional books.

This, so far, is something that has puzzled me no end. To manufacture and
sell a paperback one must:

1) Create a computer file
2) Expend energy to run a printing press
3) consume vast quantities of paper
4) Consume more time and energy boxing the output
5) Consume energy transporting the boxes
6) Consume space and energy storing the boxes, handling shipping orders,
etc.

To manufacture and sell an e-book, one must:

1) Create a computer file
2) Expend energy to translate computer file to ebook format
3) Expend energy running a download server and an e-commerce engine

It's really hard for me to see why steps 2-6 above equate to a similar cost
to steps 2-3 below. It would appear to me that given similar markets, the
cost for an e-book should be far below the cost of a paperback.

Perhaps one or more of the big publishers should take a page from
Gillette's marketing manual and give away the readers, counting on
continuing sales of the blades (the books themselves) to more than offset
the cost. The only reason this wouldn't work is if the e-book market really
*isn't* the book market.

And that could be the case. I, for one, have trouble with the idea that I
need to purchase batteries to read a book. It's a reason I dislike on-line
documentation as well; I have to turn on the computer to read it (yes, my
computer has an "off" switch and I use it regularly). It's not worth it
when I just want to check the feasibility of an idea that just came to me.
I'll wait until the next time I think of the idea while the machine is on.

Perhaps there will not be a robust market for either until the curmudgeons
like myself die off.

Have fun,
Arlen
Chief Managing Director In Charge, Department of Redundancy Department
DNRC 224

Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- JCI -dot- Com
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