E-Publishing and "Picard's Syndrome"
madelf
First Post
I'm not so sure of that (though I could be mistaken)Cergorach said:
From what I understand, alternate webpages are being designed by some people for PPC use as standard webpage formats don't work well either. It does seem that with tables, frames, etc that are often used to set up the look of a standard webpage, it could cause difficulties in viewing it with a very small screen.
An RTF file (which can be read by any of the default word processing programs that come pre-loaded with any computer, to the best of my knowledge) would have a much more adaptable format than a webpage, allowing the document to reflow literally as neccessary to fit the screen of either the PPC or the desktop PC without any need for alternate formats. Screen, Print, PPC...it's all the same file.
Bloodstone Press
Explorer
That was an interesting article. I agree with most of what he says. However, I disagree with his "censors" ideas and I dislike seeing people say things like
"THE FAILURE OF E-BOOKS"
E-books have only been around for a few years. We need to give it time. Some people are far too impatient about this. This article says sales of e-books were up 163.5% in 2003. And if I remember right, a similar article last year said sales were up 140% in 2002. I can't see anything that is growing at an average of 150% per year as a failure.
Yes, its still a small industry. Yes, it hasn't exploded over night. But neither did print publishing. Do you think Gutenbuerg was making as much money as Random House is today?
There are many factors involved, not just the Picard's syndrome. But those barriers are slowly being removed, one at a time. The migration to e-book will eventually eclipse the print industry. I think Barnes and Nobel has made a mistake and will regret their move in the future.
Otherwise, I like what he says.
"THE FAILURE OF E-BOOKS"
E-books have only been around for a few years. We need to give it time. Some people are far too impatient about this. This article says sales of e-books were up 163.5% in 2003. And if I remember right, a similar article last year said sales were up 140% in 2002. I can't see anything that is growing at an average of 150% per year as a failure.
Yes, its still a small industry. Yes, it hasn't exploded over night. But neither did print publishing. Do you think Gutenbuerg was making as much money as Random House is today?
There are many factors involved, not just the Picard's syndrome. But those barriers are slowly being removed, one at a time. The migration to e-book will eventually eclipse the print industry. I think Barnes and Nobel has made a mistake and will regret their move in the future.
Otherwise, I like what he says.
Kesh
First Post
Personally, I love eBooks. They're slowly gaining ground, as the price barrier breaks.
The biggest problems have been: 1) expensive hardware, and 2) proprietary formats.
#1 is almost broken now. A Palm Zire 21 (8MB B&W) is $99 brand new. You can find older, used PDAs on eBay for as little as $20, the same you'd pay for a hardback book. With an 8 MB device, you can store any where from 4 books to two-dozen books, depending on their contents. If the unit features an expansion slot, the only limit is your budget.
In the case of #2, that's also opening up. I personally prefer the Palm Digital Media Palm Reader format for my ebooks, and other vendors like Fictionwise support it as well. It's a format made for PDAs, but still has viewer software for Mac/Windows. Also, the "serial number" for purchased ebooks is your credit card number, so people aren't likely to just toss these ebooks out on the 'net for everyone else. Plus, you can download their software to turn your own text files into Palm Reader documents.
Plus, there are plenty of places to pick up free ebooks, such as Memoware. I've got about 23 MB of ebooks, just in Palm Reader format, about half of which were free downloads. That's over 60 books I can put in my jeans pocket!
Admittedly, PDFs still suck on PDAs. (Oooh, acronyms...) They either have to be stripped bare, or you'll do a lot of scrolling.
HTML is great on PDAs, though. Products like iSilo can take an entire downloaded website or folder of files and tie them into a readable file, complete with clickable hyperlinks. Someone did this for the SRD a while back, which was extremely useful.
In short, ebooks are just starting to hit their stride. The Dot-Com bust weeded out a lot of the weaker formats and companies, and the ones that are left have survived to the point where ebook hardware and software have become practical.
Admittedly, sometimes it's still a bit silly. For instance, new ebooks from popular authors (like Stephen King or Tom Clancey) often cost as much as the hardback when they first come out, and don't drop quickly. Other books, though, can be purchased for less than their paperback cost. And sometimes, you get some great sales, such as "buy this ebook, get this one free!" Palm Digital Media puts out an email newsletter with a weekly coupon code, giving you a good chunk of savings on many of their books.
So, yes, I love it. I'm actually replacing some of my paper books with ebook versions, because I'm tired of lugging them everywhere. The only drawback is that many of my favorites have yet to make the transition... older Stephen King novels, for instance, or more obscure authors. Still, it's only a matter of time.
The biggest problems have been: 1) expensive hardware, and 2) proprietary formats.
#1 is almost broken now. A Palm Zire 21 (8MB B&W) is $99 brand new. You can find older, used PDAs on eBay for as little as $20, the same you'd pay for a hardback book. With an 8 MB device, you can store any where from 4 books to two-dozen books, depending on their contents. If the unit features an expansion slot, the only limit is your budget.
In the case of #2, that's also opening up. I personally prefer the Palm Digital Media Palm Reader format for my ebooks, and other vendors like Fictionwise support it as well. It's a format made for PDAs, but still has viewer software for Mac/Windows. Also, the "serial number" for purchased ebooks is your credit card number, so people aren't likely to just toss these ebooks out on the 'net for everyone else. Plus, you can download their software to turn your own text files into Palm Reader documents.
Plus, there are plenty of places to pick up free ebooks, such as Memoware. I've got about 23 MB of ebooks, just in Palm Reader format, about half of which were free downloads. That's over 60 books I can put in my jeans pocket!
Admittedly, PDFs still suck on PDAs. (Oooh, acronyms...) They either have to be stripped bare, or you'll do a lot of scrolling.
HTML is great on PDAs, though. Products like iSilo can take an entire downloaded website or folder of files and tie them into a readable file, complete with clickable hyperlinks. Someone did this for the SRD a while back, which was extremely useful.
In short, ebooks are just starting to hit their stride. The Dot-Com bust weeded out a lot of the weaker formats and companies, and the ones that are left have survived to the point where ebook hardware and software have become practical.
Admittedly, sometimes it's still a bit silly. For instance, new ebooks from popular authors (like Stephen King or Tom Clancey) often cost as much as the hardback when they first come out, and don't drop quickly. Other books, though, can be purchased for less than their paperback cost. And sometimes, you get some great sales, such as "buy this ebook, get this one free!" Palm Digital Media puts out an email newsletter with a weekly coupon code, giving you a good chunk of savings on many of their books.
So, yes, I love it. I'm actually replacing some of my paper books with ebook versions, because I'm tired of lugging them everywhere. The only drawback is that many of my favorites have yet to make the transition... older Stephen King novels, for instance, or more obscure authors. Still, it's only a matter of time.
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MarauderX
Explorer
DackBlackhawk said:
This is probably the most accurate reason why e-books are not doing so well. Many market studies have shown this and MBA papers written on it, including when using a well-known writer such as Stephen King. The research conducted, though minimal, indicated repeatedly that the inconvience of reading from a computer screen (whether PDA, tablet or other laptop, or from a desktop) became too uncomfortable for most. The task of opening to the last page read was problem for some; for most it was just the fact that you couldn't easily manipulate the object you were reading it from. Should I find any of my classmates' papers on the subject, I will try to post them.... in PDF of course.
Fast Learner said:
Please note that the author of this article is Gary North.
Gary North made a handy fortune for himself convincing the gullible Y2K was going to ruin civilization. Please do a search on "Gary North" and "Y2K" for endless amusement.
He is a fundementalist 'reconstructionist' who believes the United States should be placed under a theological dictatorship.
He predicted, among other things, that AIDS would overwhelm all US hospitals by the mid-1990s and that the Soviet breakup was a fraud. Suffice it to say he has an astounding record of bad predictions and out-and-out lies, and trusting ANYTHING he says on ANY issue is likely to get you royally screwed. IOW, it is the safest bet to assume that all his numbers regarding sales, profits, etc, are 100% phony or wrong -- he has never been right in his life, and I see no reason to think he would be starting now.
Flyspeck23
First Post
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