5 ms·

Big screen Kindle: Textbook margins are the real aim, not saving newspapers

19 points by robg 18y ago

elai 18y ago
Phft. Other ebook experiences show that publishers will just insist that ebook prices would be around (or probably more) than the same price as the paper textbooks. Publishers know they have a captured market, so to avoid cannibalization (and fears of loosing the grip on their market) they're not going allow those prices to go down. Even a big retailer like amazon isn't going to make much of a difference, since a larger majority of textbook sales are not from amazon. It's going to be a slow road.
- foulmouthboy 18y ago
  I'm imagining it will be quicker than that. There are a lot of schools that use licensed, photocopied "readers" along with or even instead of the actual textbooks. Universities could do much better margins by making these types of texts digital and authors/professors would be able to publish and update at much greater frequency. Publishers would be much better off building a business model now rather than repeating the RIAA's mistakes.
  - randallsquared 18y ago
    Publishers would be much better off building a business model now rather than repeating the RIAA's mistakes. But as always, existing players mostly seek to preserve income streams, rather than create new ones, even when an unbiased look will show that the existing ones are doomed. The only publisher I know, offhand, which isn't falling into this trap is Baen Books, and they don't do textbooks. Yet. :)
- daniel-cussen 18y ago
  Not in this economy. Seriously, Universities looking to cut corners everywhere are going to look at this. Plus, it's not like there's a good case for having a dozen different textbooks for teaching linear algebra. Also, if they're digitized, the changes a teacher wants can be made on a course-by-course basis.
- Radix 18y ago
  Maybe, but if Amazon can help them kill used textbooks then it might become profitable enough to drop the price. I imagine there is a lot of money lost on students turning over their books each semester.
ironkeith 18y ago
When I was in university I would have loved to have all my textbook in one (really small and really light) Kindle as opposed to hauling around 3 or 4 textbooks every day. Even if the margin is only the 30% printing costs it would pay for itself a couple of times over for a four year degree.
mustpax 18y ago
Reasonable hypothesis. If you reduce distribution costs for academic materials the price should follow. There's even a diagram in there that shows 32.2% of textbooks prices come from printing costs. But here's the thing: the full "printing cost" category includes "paper, printing, editorial costs." I'd wager, like most physical media of our day, the manufacturing costs are just a sliver of the actual margin. The value does not come from the grade of plastic on your DVD, it's the content, obviously. In other words, "editorial costs." These include things like office rent in Manhattan, employee salaries and stuff that's not going to be affected a single bit by the distribution channel. So I wouldn't hold my breath for price wars spurred by the Kindle revolution. Now, used textbook sales on the other hand, that's a true margin killer.
rbanffy 18y ago
What I want is an e-book reader that, when connected to the computer presents itself as both a printer and a disk drive. If I copy a .txt or PDF file over to the disk, it will be available when I unplug the device. By unplugging, it will automatically start indexing whatever changed. When printing, the disk drive will be automatically unmounted and, when done, there will be a PDF file with whatever I printed already indexed. It should make for a good reading experience without reformatting anything. I have a ton of stuff to read, but I generate a whole lot more every day. Diagrams, spreadsheets, documentation in every conceivable format... BTW, if the thing has 3G and wi-fi built-in and makes for a passable browsing experience, it would be great. I would love if it presented itself as a Samba server and a LPR PostScript color printer. It's sure not that much to ask. Is it?
- devicenull 18y ago
  You could probably pull that off with existing software.. There are programs that let you "Print" to a PDF file (Such as CutePDF for windows).. combine that with some shell/bash scripts, and you could set it up to automatically email they to the kindle when they are printed. Bonus to emailing them would be you don't need to be tethered.
  - rbanffy 18y ago
    Of course I could, but I don't have the time to put into this. And that would still do nothing to the fact that reading PDF files not formatted to the Kindle (such as magazines) is painful. A 12" 4xXGA (2048x1536) screen would be my guess as what's needed for this to work. 800x600 just doesn't do it. There _must_ be someone willing to explore this niche. Where's the TechCrunch tablet?
anigbrowl 18y ago
That could be hard without color. I'm not sure I buy this, since the pdf ability (finally, duh Amazon) will compete with many of the textbooks. I still fail to see why the thing has a keyboard. Just give me a USB port and let me plug one in, or something similar. 40+ buttons means 40+ things to go wrong. Waste of space, components, and maintenance overhead for a search function that could be implemented many other ways. I'm afraid the thing reminds me unpleasantly of the IBM PCjr.
zaidf 18y ago
A few of my textbooks are available as ebooks yet the price difference between physical and ebook is minimal. The textbook business is a well-orchestrated sham that will need gov't intervention if it keeps going this way.

19 points by robg 18y ago

elai 18y ago

Phft. Other ebook experiences show that publishers will just insist that ebook prices would be around (or probably more) than the same price as the paper textbooks. Publishers know they have a captured market, so to avoid cannibalization (and fears of loosing the grip on their market) they're not going allow those prices to go down. Even a big retailer like amazon isn't going to make much of a difference, since a larger majority of textbook sales are not from amazon. It's going to be a slow road.

foulmouthboy 18y ago
I'm imagining it will be quicker than that. There are a lot of schools that use licensed, photocopied "readers" along with or even instead of the actual textbooks. Universities could do much better margins by making these types of texts digital and authors/professors would be able to publish and update at much greater frequency. Publishers would be much better off building a business model now rather than repeating the RIAA's mistakes.
- randallsquared 18y ago
  Publishers would be much better off building a business model now rather than repeating the RIAA's mistakes. But as always, existing players mostly seek to preserve income streams, rather than create new ones, even when an unbiased look will show that the existing ones are doomed. The only publisher I know, offhand, which isn't falling into this trap is Baen Books, and they don't do textbooks. Yet. :)
daniel-cussen 18y ago
Not in this economy. Seriously, Universities looking to cut corners everywhere are going to look at this. Plus, it's not like there's a good case for having a dozen different textbooks for teaching linear algebra. Also, if they're digitized, the changes a teacher wants can be made on a course-by-course basis.
Radix 18y ago
Maybe, but if Amazon can help them kill used textbooks then it might become profitable enough to drop the price. I imagine there is a lot of money lost on students turning over their books each semester.

ironkeith 18y ago

When I was in university I would have loved to have all my textbook in one (really small and really light) Kindle as opposed to hauling around 3 or 4 textbooks every day. Even if the margin is only the 30% printing costs it would pay for itself a couple of times over for a four year degree.

mustpax 18y ago

Reasonable hypothesis. If you reduce distribution costs for academic materials the price should follow. There's even a diagram in there that shows 32.2% of textbooks prices come from printing costs. But here's the thing: the full "printing cost" category includes "paper, printing, editorial costs." I'd wager, like most physical media of our day, the manufacturing costs are just a sliver of the actual margin. The value does not come from the grade of plastic on your DVD, it's the content, obviously. In other words, "editorial costs." These include things like office rent in Manhattan, employee salaries and stuff that's not going to be affected a single bit by the distribution channel. So I wouldn't hold my breath for price wars spurred by the Kindle revolution. Now, used textbook sales on the other hand, that's a true margin killer.

rbanffy 18y ago

What I want is an e-book reader that, when connected to the computer presents itself as both a printer and a disk drive. If I copy a .txt or PDF file over to the disk, it will be available when I unplug the device. By unplugging, it will automatically start indexing whatever changed. When printing, the disk drive will be automatically unmounted and, when done, there will be a PDF file with whatever I printed already indexed. It should make for a good reading experience without reformatting anything. I have a ton of stuff to read, but I generate a whole lot more every day. Diagrams, spreadsheets, documentation in every conceivable format... BTW, if the thing has 3G and wi-fi built-in and makes for a passable browsing experience, it would be great. I would love if it presented itself as a Samba server and a LPR PostScript color printer. It's sure not that much to ask. Is it?

devicenull 18y ago
You could probably pull that off with existing software.. There are programs that let you "Print" to a PDF file (Such as CutePDF for windows).. combine that with some shell/bash scripts, and you could set it up to automatically email they to the kindle when they are printed. Bonus to emailing them would be you don't need to be tethered.
- rbanffy 18y ago
  Of course I could, but I don't have the time to put into this. And that would still do nothing to the fact that reading PDF files not formatted to the Kindle (such as magazines) is painful. A 12" 4xXGA (2048x1536) screen would be my guess as what's needed for this to work. 800x600 just doesn't do it. There _must_ be someone willing to explore this niche. Where's the TechCrunch tablet?

anigbrowl 18y ago

That could be hard without color. I'm not sure I buy this, since the pdf ability (finally, duh Amazon) will compete with many of the textbooks. I still fail to see why the thing has a keyboard. Just give me a USB port and let me plug one in, or something similar. 40+ buttons means 40+ things to go wrong. Waste of space, components, and maintenance overhead for a search function that could be implemented many other ways. I'm afraid the thing reminds me unpleasantly of the IBM PCjr.

zaidf 18y ago

A few of my textbooks are available as ebooks yet the price difference between physical and ebook is minimal. The textbook business is a well-orchestrated sham that will need gov't intervention if it keeps going this way.