4 ms·
My theory on this: the e-book industry shot itself in the foot with DRM. Lots of people pointed to the way the world's music buying habits shifted from buying
by smacktoward 7y ago
My theory on this: the e-book industry shot itself in the foot with DRM.
Lots of people pointed to the way the world's music buying habits shifted from buying CDs to buying MP3s (before it shifted again, to streaming) as an argument for why e-books would inevitably displace printed ones. But there was a fundamental difference between those two examples, namely that the music industry abandoned tying digital purchases to a single device via DRM relatively quickly, while the e-book industry held doggedly to the idea that e-books bought from Amazon should only work on Kindles, e-books from B&N should only work on Nooks, etc. Which made e-books notably less appealing from the buyer's standpoint; with digital music you could have a reasonable assurance that your purchase today would play on the device you own tomorrow. With e-books, you could not, and you still can't.
(Yes yes, I know about Calibre and so forth. I'm talking here about how these things looked from the perspective of the average person.)
It's a great example of how all the players in a competitive market can hurt their long-term interests by relentlessly pursuing their short-term ones. It was in everyone's short-term interest to try and grab more market share at the expense of their competitors by locking customers into a closed ecosystem. But by doing so they passed up the opportunity to grow the entire market. And a small slice of a huge pie beats a big slice of a small one any day.
- stmfreak 7y agoPlus they priced them the same despite the extreme limits on portability, lending, resale, etc. I love ebooks, but I don’t buy ebooks with DRM.
- chrismcb 7y agoI don't think many people care about DRM. Most people have only one reader, so the fact their kindle book doesn't work on a nook didn't bother them. What hurt the industry was the book publishers getting upset at Amazon and choosing the agency route. With most ebooks more expensive than their mass market counterpart. And the lack of sales, as you could never sale the ebook for less than agency price.
- nine_k 7y agoTry thinking about a device breaking, so you lose access to all your e-books until you buy a new one. Then imagine the line of devices being discontinued, or no more available in your country, etc. Apps sort of solve it, as long as they are maintained, and you can get hold of a compatible device. Or maybe your book will be withdrawn because it stopped being available, due to copyrights or other legal reasons. In short, once you buy a music track, you own it, for personal purposes. Once you pay for an Amazon e-book, you keep renting it.
- chrismcb 7y agoYes, this is an issue, but one most people don't consider. Personally in on my fourth kindle, either because I lost it or broke it. Your analogy is of course broken, especially consider most music is purchaeed through iTunes of similar. Of course I'm not renting my book, I bought it and own. And the issue hasn't been decided in the court of law. I understand what you are saying, but the most people don't know not care.
- skookumchuck 7y agoI don't buy DRM-encumbered ebooks. Sorry, Amazon. I buy the hardcopy if there are no DRM-free ebooks.