Comments on: eBooks: The False Dilemma

By: Interview: Tor.com’s Pablo Defendini | TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:59:00 +0000

[...] We listened, and we learned, but the one thing that did strike a lot of us was the sense of entitlement out there among ebook aficionados. While on the one hand, as an ebook fan myself, I understand (and more often than not, sympathize with) the gripes being aired, I was really put off by how some people’s concerns were being expressed: there’s a lack of understanding of how the publishing industry works (or doesn’t work, but that’s another conversation), and an unwillingness to take anything that the big six publishers say at face-value. I suppose that it’s understandable, given previous experiences with the music industry, but it really led to a toxic atmosphere, in which we felt put on the defensive very quickly. This was actually my first exposure to this kind of entitled, evangelical, all-or-nothing thinking with regards to ebooks, and it’s something which I, along with others, have addressed elsewhere. [...]

By: K8

K8 — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:22:52 +0000

yeah, the whole “certain books fit an eBook audience, while others are meant for print” thing just sounds like my old Enlightenment to Revolution lit prof who has a weird obsession with old school title pages of 18th century lit and a huge collection of prints of Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience. In my opinion the only people allowed to be against digitalization of literature are phD's…but even they need to embrace it to a degree…its what's next.

By: Sheherazade

Sheherazade — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:58:35 +0000

I agree. It just seemed like you were talking about money when you said the value of individual stories is dropping. What did you mean by that?

By: Will Hindmarch

Will Hindmarch — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:43:26 +0000

“Value” can mean a lot of things.

By: Sherry

Sherry — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:39:10 +0000

Good post, Guy. I especially liked this point:

…its own unique format, there’s huge potential for digital books and mobile apps that incorporate audio, video, kinetic typography, geolocation, databases, etc. — formats that can no longer appropriately be referred to as “books”…

You see a lot of cool ways of sharing information on youtube. They're not quite films, they're not quite written stories, they're something new, something in between.

By: Sheherazade

Sheherazade — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:34:01 +0000

If it's money you're interested in, professional storytelling was a silly career choice.

By: Links: Last Month of 2009 Edition | Meryl.net

Links: Last Month of 2009 Edition | Meryl.net — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:01:44 +0000

[...] eBooks: The False Dilemma: “After the digital transition, we’ll find that certain books fit an eBook audience, while others are meant for print.” Ryan Chapman. [...]

By: Dan Holloway

Dan Holloway — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:40:50 +0000

not a lot to add to this for once Guy, other than I'm sorry I was so busy with Free-e-day it took a while to get here. Yeah, Chapman's right. And Mike, whilst it IS true that I think there'll be a surge in special edition and “souvenir” books – I see that as a very cool add-on to ebooks that aren't out on regular print – basically, there are genres that suit print and those that suit digital and although we can speculate from demographics of readership the answer is we don't really know yet (after all, five years ago I'd have put romance in the print market, but it flourishes electronically, largely because romance readers are SO voracious). All we can do, as I keep trying to get across, is stop being set in our ways and keep trying things and see what works.

By: Guy LeCharles Gonzalez

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:11:45 +0000

Yes, at O'Reilly you definitely have your fingers on the mobile pulse; I've always referred to you as the canaries in the coal mine because you have the hardcore early adopters and see the trends before most others do.

Sometimes a bit too early, it could be argued.

I think it's telling that gaming is the common denominator in that hardware user growth chart. Reading a print book competes with many other activities, but it does so on its own terms, as an individual experience. eBooks, OTOH, will have to compete for both time and mindshare as small fish in the huge digital pond, and how long before expectations change and replicating the print experience isn't enough?

By: Adam Witwer

Adam Witwer — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:40:39 +0000

We (at O'Reilly) talk quite a bit about the importance of mobile. It played a major role in the keynotes at the TOC conference in Frankfurt. Also:

http://toc.oreilly.com/2009/10/hard-numbers-beh...