An interesting discussion started today on the LinkedIn Digital Publishing Network. From New Delhi, feelancer Devaki Khanna pings a Reuters article that digs into the slow market penetration of the e-book. Commenting from Ireland, Karl Capp, Managing Director at Rolonews Limited, attributes the slow sales to uncoolness and ungainliness, arguing, "As soon as Apple properly address e-readers there will be no hesitation."Here's what I had to add:
Seems to me that the main delta to overcome here isn't technology, content, cost, sticky branding, or even interface. It's perceived value.
Today you have to pay upwards of a couple hundred bucks to get a basic e-book reader. The price tag by itself is a factor, but the main barrier occurs because people compare this to the cost of a printed book, or even a notebook computer.
Cognitive dissonance: A reader is not a book. Functionally it's so much more. But still. A tablet reader is not a notebook computer. Functionally it's a different animal (it's about display rather than activity). But still.
I think a fitting product analogy to e-readers is the cable modem, the little box needed to get Internet via cable. Initially, when marketed as a purchase extra in a subscription service model, the value was hard to grasp and it was a barrier to entry. But when it was absorbed by the Internet company (subscription provider) as a loss leader, the value delta closed. Today, Internet aficionados can still buy premium cable boxes. But most people get theirs on lease from the cable company and pay a little bit a month for the privilege and don't even notice. The cable companies reap multiples of the purchase price of the modem over time.
My guess is that e-book providers will adopt this model.
I like your guess but I do not see this occuring. Simply giving Kindles to students and having them purchase content with a stipend to support the hardware and ecosystem seems logical. College texbooks is a hot bed of controversary and ripe for innovation. Once your user graduates the publishers would then continue to generate revenue through popular titles, magazines, news papers, etc. It would have been a natural model, built a base, with a clear model for the ecovery of the hardware costs. But, we didn't see this. Now, at the schools where kindle pilots have been implemented we see outright failure.
ReplyDeletePrinted books are a centuries old technology they are used in definitive ways. The eBook readers break these practices. Without these familiar tools the eBook readers fail to offer existing functionality, new functionality, and value that students and other readers value. It will be interesting to see what the Apple Slate and the MS Courier offer and the opportunity to adapt behaviors and add value. What remains to be seen is the price of those who innovate and the appetite of consumers.
While it is overused the iPhone changed a category. The data use of iPhone users over other smart phone users is staggering. (Despite AT&T's failure to make bandwidth available) In its intial introduction cost was outrageous, andI paid laong with millions of others. The eBook reader will continue to fail if the value to price disparity gulf is not bridged. I have a 3dr generation iPod and it is now a protable hard drive. My phone is rich media experience with the ability to expand with a developer base to make wy digital life better. eBook readers fail to transform. Maybe that is what my scree has led me too, Guttenberg and Jobs transform, Jeff Bezos not so much. But, please keep trying.