Ordering an e-book instantly from Kindle may be fun,
But being able to re-read that e-book on any device is priceless.
Sony’s recent e-book and e-book Reader announcements are the single best news book publishing has had in years. As the NYT article reports below, more books in more formats from more sources is the key to making e-books a viable format in an industry that can still afford to pay writers for writing books:
New York Times 8-13-09
Sony Plans to Adopt Common Format for E-Books By BRAD STONE
To counter Amazon.com, Sony and other device makers as well as several publishers will use the same technology, called ePub, for digital book sales.
…..
“If the business terms and conditions end up being dictated to publishers by one bookseller who has a chokehold over the value chain, publishers are going to have a hard time staying profitable,” said Bill McCoy, general manager for Adobe’s digital publishing business.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
It occurred to me the other day that our vocabulary is all wrong in this debate over e-books – in the same way it’s misleading to talk as if America actually had “healthcare, when we really only have very expensive sickcare.
We don’t read e-books or hardcovers. We read what people write.
Books – whether print or digital, whether downloaded or mailed, whether new or old – are just one way that writing reaches the people who want to read it. Books are just one way that people get paid for their writing.
Books are not what I read; they are where I read things that interest me. I find writing in books interesting, because I like writing that reflect the author’s authentic research, originality, and talent. I like the sentences and paragraphs they choose to combine to make a book; I like the way their long story begins and ends.
I think if books are to survive we have to stop thinking about books as a “consumer product.” Format usually follow price, but the quality of what’s inside a book does not.
We need to start thinking about books as a place where writers write and readers find them. If printed books morph into e-books, that’s really not a lot of change.
If we don’t want to lose writing that’s long, and thoughtful, writing that requires time to create – if we want writing we such as we find in War and Peace, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Dreams From My Father, or A Room of One’s Own -- we have to find a way to subsidize the places readers can read what such writers write.
I submit that we could learn how to live without books. It’s reading and writing we can’t live without.
And the possibility of that impending loss is what we should talk about.
We don’t read e-books or hardcovers. We read what people write.
Books – whether print or digital, whether downloaded or mailed, whether new or old – are just one way that writing reaches the people who want to read it. Books are just one way that people get paid for their writing.
Books are not what I read; they are where I read things that interest me. I find writing in books interesting, because I like writing that reflect the author’s authentic research, originality, and talent. I like the sentences and paragraphs they choose to combine to make a book; I like the way their long story begins and ends.
I think if books are to survive we have to stop thinking about books as a “consumer product.” Format usually follow price, but the quality of what’s inside a book does not.
We need to start thinking about books as a place where writers write and readers find them. If printed books morph into e-books, that’s really not a lot of change.
If we don’t want to lose writing that’s long, and thoughtful, writing that requires time to create – if we want writing we such as we find in War and Peace, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Dreams From My Father, or A Room of One’s Own -- we have to find a way to subsidize the places readers can read what such writers write.
I submit that we could learn how to live without books. It’s reading and writing we can’t live without.
And the possibility of that impending loss is what we should talk about.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
For a very interesting essay about how a book differs from a Web search, see this article in Foreign Policy:
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Why We Don't Need To Reinvent The Book For The Web Age
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The book format may have already evolved (along with the web) far beyond what we would have ever expected
http://www.booktrade.info/i.php/21076
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Why We Don't Need To Reinvent The Book For The Web Age
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The book format may have already evolved (along with the web) far beyond what we would have ever expected
http://www.booktrade.info/i.php/21076
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