While I have finally given in to owning a tablet with ebooks on it, I still enjoy owning and reading real books
more than ebooks.
After all, I've had over 35 years of experience as a software engineer in arenas that were a whole lot more complex
than an eBook reader.
Also, growing significantly faster
than ebook sales, are the rentals of used textbooks which are hitting both rentals of new titles and new print sales.
The physical nature of print books means that they will always be priced
higher than ebooks.
It seems kind of obvious why audiobooks are more
expensive than ebooks, given the fact that audiobooks require studio time, editing, voice talent, etc..
In fact, more of my income came from audiobooks and print
than ebooks in the last quarter of 2016.
Print book covers are
different than ebook covers, so if you have an ebook cover, you're not done yet.
This only works in industries where there are significant barriers to entry, but its hard to imagine a market where the barriers to entry are
lower than ebooks.
But they're also designed to be a lot larger
than ebook covers ever appear on screen.
That also makes tablets a better
value than ebook readers, especially when you consider the fact tablets aren't very much more expensive than E Ink ebook readers.
Each one tends to cost substantially less
than ebooks released by major publishers, with titles ranging from $ 2 to $ 5.
The thing is: the amount of ebooks available with such audio feature is
smaller than ebooks offered.
Within the first few weeks, we have booksellers trying out better things
than ebook stores have tried in 3 years.
There's perhaps never in human history been a market more free and less in need of government intervention
than ebook publishing.
The limitations on where you can sell eBooks with embedded media, as well as the limitations on which devices support them, may mean fewer sales
than an eBook without embedded media.
Apps provide somewhat more
power than ebooks, but marketing them is an added challenge.
I think the web and apps are going to be more disruptive in the long
run than ebooks.
This allows people to carry around much more content, including audio books, that are obviously much larger in
size than ebooks.
To be sure, POD is still a much small income
stream than ebooks and audio, but every little bit helps and I believe this to be a VERY worthwhile investment.
To get more in royalties
than an ebook pays at $ 9.99, its price has to be raised to above $ 27.
Many have suggested that getting a tablet is a better
option than an ebook reader, because it does so much more.
As for referencing particular passages within a book, currently paper technology is just a little better
than ebooks if only because the standards are more widely understood and accepted.
All that said, I'm more sympathetic to the argument that you're better off buying a print book for your personal
collection than an ebook.
I believe that includes some items
other than ebooks, however I think it gives us a cap.
No, the average customer who wants certain books is buying them from the bookstore because the publisher makes the print books
cheaper than the ebooks (paperback market protection).