The Future of eBooks
By Stephen Cole, eBooks.com CEO
February 28, 2002
The key issues for industry development are range and functionality.
The available range is limited by two things, security and commercial imperatives.
With the advent of digital distribution, book publishers looked on with horror at what happened to music and software. Unlike music and software however, books are not already out there in digital form. It takes an act of will on the part of a book publisher to enter this realm. Obviously, caution is appropriate.
Adobe and Microsoft have worked tirelessly to develop and sustain the integrity of their digital rights management platforms, and this has given comfort and confidence to our publisher partners. Nevertheless, they are cautious. Who can blame them?
Furthermore, publishers have operated a very successful and orderly economic model for about 500 years now. You need a compelling commercial story to woo them into a different model. The slower-than-expected adoption of ebooks hasn't helped this transition. Publishers are very busy managing the exigencies of their businesses, in a climate of shrinking margins and fierce competition. To ask them to divert scarce internal resources into an unproven business model -- a model that carries a heightened risk of piracy -- is not trivial.
But until publishers fully embrace the medium and commit all of their new books to digital editions, the value proposition for the digital shopper is diluted.
It is happening, though. From where we stand the future is great. New publishers are signing up every month, loading their titles onto our repository. Every month there are thousands of newcomers to www.ebooks.com, and the numbers just keep growing.
Functionality is the second key driver of ebook adoption. There are many benefits in using ebooks -- you can search 500 pages in a few seconds, you can carry a thousand books in a lightweight laptop; ebooks are typically cheaper than printed books, you can buy an ebook any time of the night or day and have it almost immediately, and so on.
But the functionality of the reading platform is another matter. There is a convoluted chain of interdependencies that falls between the time when the consumer forms the desire to buy an ebook and their finally being able to settle down and read their ebook. Support issues can arise at almost every link in this chain. And they do. Each technical hoop that a consumer has to jump through represents a disincentive to their coming back again.
The process of acquiring a book (and getting the thing to work once you've downloaded it) can be daunting. The Microsoft solution does not currently handle images and tables well. These rudimentary design elements are critical in publishing professional and educational books.
It's early days, quite clearly. The downloading process needs to be simplified. The reading platforms have to be stable. Oddly, consumers don't voluntarily repeat disappointing shopping experiences. And it's repeat customers that the industry needs, in order to grow and be real.
I have been involved in the ebook space for 5 years and have seen a great deal of courage, brilliance, hubris and chaos. Out of all of this, the simple fact remains that ebooks are, and will continue to be, cheaper and more useful for specific applications. They will not replace paper books. Nobody claimed they would. The cell phone didn't replace the home phone. People have car radios and Walkmans (Walkmen?), but they still have a radio on the bedside table or the kitchen bench. So it is with ebooks.
As the range grows and the buying and reading experiences improve, the low-cost channel will come into its own.
February 28, 2002
The key issues for industry development are range and functionality.
The available range is limited by two things, security and commercial imperatives.
With the advent of digital distribution, book publishers looked on with horror at what happened to music and software. Unlike music and software however, books are not already out there in digital form. It takes an act of will on the part of a book publisher to enter this realm. Obviously, caution is appropriate.
Adobe and Microsoft have worked tirelessly to develop and sustain the integrity of their digital rights management platforms, and this has given comfort and confidence to our publisher partners. Nevertheless, they are cautious. Who can blame them?
Furthermore, publishers have operated a very successful and orderly economic model for about 500 years now. You need a compelling commercial story to woo them into a different model. The slower-than-expected adoption of ebooks hasn't helped this transition. Publishers are very busy managing the exigencies of their businesses, in a climate of shrinking margins and fierce competition. To ask them to divert scarce internal resources into an unproven business model -- a model that carries a heightened risk of piracy -- is not trivial.
But until publishers fully embrace the medium and commit all of their new books to digital editions, the value proposition for the digital shopper is diluted.
It is happening, though. From where we stand the future is great. New publishers are signing up every month, loading their titles onto our repository. Every month there are thousands of newcomers to www.ebooks.com, and the numbers just keep growing.
Functionality is the second key driver of ebook adoption. There are many benefits in using ebooks -- you can search 500 pages in a few seconds, you can carry a thousand books in a lightweight laptop; ebooks are typically cheaper than printed books, you can buy an ebook any time of the night or day and have it almost immediately, and so on.
But the functionality of the reading platform is another matter. There is a convoluted chain of interdependencies that falls between the time when the consumer forms the desire to buy an ebook and their finally being able to settle down and read their ebook. Support issues can arise at almost every link in this chain. And they do. Each technical hoop that a consumer has to jump through represents a disincentive to their coming back again.
The process of acquiring a book (and getting the thing to work once you've downloaded it) can be daunting. The Microsoft solution does not currently handle images and tables well. These rudimentary design elements are critical in publishing professional and educational books.
It's early days, quite clearly. The downloading process needs to be simplified. The reading platforms have to be stable. Oddly, consumers don't voluntarily repeat disappointing shopping experiences. And it's repeat customers that the industry needs, in order to grow and be real.
I have been involved in the ebook space for 5 years and have seen a great deal of courage, brilliance, hubris and chaos. Out of all of this, the simple fact remains that ebooks are, and will continue to be, cheaper and more useful for specific applications. They will not replace paper books. Nobody claimed they would. The cell phone didn't replace the home phone. People have car radios and Walkmans (Walkmen?), but they still have a radio on the bedside table or the kitchen bench. So it is with ebooks.
As the range grows and the buying and reading experiences improve, the low-cost channel will come into its own.
posted by Symphony of Love at 10:46 PM
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