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Originally Posted by Teresa Edgerton  I don't think I like the idea that people could buy the book and eventually not be able to access it as their readers become obsolete. (This fear may be exacerbated by the fact that I can't read some of my own computer disks from a few years ago.) It certainly doesn't seem like readers will be able to hand ebooks on to their children and grandchildren, the way that you can with a printed book. Although I know that many people don't reread their books at all, and that a lot of them don't last to be handed on. Especially not mass market paperbacks, which can degrade very quickly. I was just going through a box of old paperbacks, and some from the 60's and early '70s are already falling apart because the binding is disintegrating. (Then again, I have some paperbacks that are much older that are in better shape.) |
There is a difference between DRM and non-DRM ebooks. DRM ebooks are tied to specific hardware, software and/or licensing servers of some sort. Most ebook DRM schemes have failed after a short time, leaving purchased ebooks orphaned and eventually unreadable. The longest lasting (and not coincidentally, the least restrictive) ebook DRM scheme that I am aware of is Palm Reader/Peanut Press/ereader. They have lasted about 10 years now, although the company has changed ownership several times. A person who buys a DRM ebook, such as yours would not reasonably expect to be able to read it 20 years from now.
ebooks without DRM , however, can be read on many kinds of hardware with many different kinds of software. When formats change they can be easily migrated. The marginal cost of keeping an ebook that is not plagued by DRM is much lower than the cost of storing paperbacks and ebooks don't degrade with time.
Hard drive prices are currently running at about $100 for 500GB. A hard drive usually lasts about 3 years. A typical ebook takes up about 1MB of memory. That means it costs about $0.00007/year to store. Double that, assuming a backup copy, and its around $0.0001/year, one one-hundredth of a penny. When I get a new computer or hard drive, it takes less than a second to transfer a 1MB file. Compare this to paperbacks. My paper books take up a significant fraction of my apartment, the cost of which is much more than $0.0001/year for the space a book takes up. When I move, boxing up my paper books takes considerable time and effort. Moving them generally involves alot of heavy lifting and carrying. Putting them back properly in order takes considerable time. In short, the cost in money, time and effort to keep ebooks over time is much lower and can reasonably be expected to continue getting even lower.
Mass market paperbacks tend to degrade over time. I have one paperback left that's over 50 years old. I store it in a bag. That's the only way to keep the yellow crumbling pages together, because the binding won't do it anymore. In recent years this problem only seems to have gotten worse. Of course, paperbacks that are read frequently tend to fall apart faster. Ebooks are digital and don't degrade over time.
Ebooks are subject to being lost through mishap, hard drive failure for example. DRM-free ebooks can be backed up with offsite backups making the probability of losing them essentially zero. Paper books can also be lost to mishaps such as fire or flooding. Paper books can't reasonably be backed up short of purchasing multiple copies.
I have around a thousand legally purchased or obtained ebooks with no DRM. I fully expect to be able to read any of them for the rest of my life and to pass them down to my children, my children's children and their children's children. DRM ebooks can be expected to last several years. Massmarket paperbacks can be expected to last several decades. DRM-free ebooks can be expected to last until the end of time, or at least until the end of our civilization.
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Originally Posted by Teresa Edgerton And they don't seem to be any cheaper than mass market paperbacks -- although, as I think I said someplace, I can see how it will be a lot cheaper for people ordering books from overseas. I buy books from amazon.co.uk sometimes, when I can't get them here, and the price of shipping keeps me from doing it more often. |
Price remains a problem, for both ebooks and paperbacks.
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Originally Posted by Teresa Edgerton Taking a more careful look at my last royalty statement for The Hidden Stars (when the statement first came, all I did was look at the line where it said that they owed me money, and that was good enough for me), I see that I get a much larger percentage on the ebooks than on the paper books. But so few have sold compared to the traditional format, that's a minor consideration. No signs of a Cory Doctorow type success as yet. |
Cory Doctorow sells his ebooks without DRM. Other DRM-free ebook sellers from publishers such as baen's webscripion.net at have reportedly done quite well according to Eric Flint.
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Originally Posted by Teresa Edgerton So while I am very glad that the books will be available to people who might not otherwise be able to buy them or read them, the idea that the book may disappear forever a lot more quickly still makes me sad. Even if I did end up making a lot more money if ebooks really caught on. If it was only about the money, I would have taken up a more lucrative profession long ago.
All in all, my reactions remain mixed. |
Books are not paper and ink or papyrus or vellum or parchment scrolls or any other format in my opinion. They are the words being communicated from the author to the readers. ebooks are still books.