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Re: I guess it depends on what you mean by "death." j-whitt987 Send a noteboard - 21/04/2011 05:40:28 PM
Don't be too sure. Amazon and Barnes & Noble are the two largest (as far as I know) online booksellers, and, for both websites, their respective ebook readers are their best selling products ever. Furthermore, they both sell more ebooks than they do physical books. I'm sure it'll be a while before physical books are genuinely hard to come by (that would be my definition of "death" ), but it won't be long before ebooks are the dominant medium. Brick and mortar bookstores have been steadily declining for a while now (Borders has already gone under) and, once those go, physical books will be done.


The way I understand it is that Borders shut down about 30% of their stores. That still leaves about 70% of their stores.

If I had to make a guess, I'd bet that retailers will eventually stop stocking physical books and move to a drop-ship print-on-demand model. Physical books will still be available to those who want them, but at a higher cost. Ebooks will be the mainstream product, and physical books will be the niche market. Or so I predict. :|


Sure physical books will be more expensive as e-books take over the market. It's common sense that it takes more money to tear down trees to make paper, ship the paper to when the books are printed, by the ink to print, bind the paper, and ship the book. Whereas the production of an e-book just involves typing it up on a computer and converting the file to the proper format. Honestly, I'm surprised that paper and ink books are as cheap as they are now.
Kirk: Spock, you want to know something? Everybody’s human.
Spock: I find that remark…insulting.
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Amazon to Launch Library Lending for Kindle Books j-whitt987 - 20/04/2011 03:18:34 PM 1746 Views
Excellent news! Tigr - 20/04/2011 06:58:09 PM 1067 Views
Paper books will not die for quite some time I'm sure. j-whitt987 - 20/04/2011 07:44:39 PM 1148 Views
I guess it depends on what you mean by "death." Aemon - 21/04/2011 05:04:40 PM 1513 Views
Re: I guess it depends on what you mean by "death." j-whitt987 - 21/04/2011 05:40:28 PM 1217 Views
Re: I guess it depends on what you mean by "death." Aemon - 21/04/2011 06:04:16 PM 1674 Views
Of course an online bookshop is going to sell more e-books than physical books. Rebekah - 21/04/2011 06:14:51 PM 1081 Views
That's exactly right. Aemon - 21/04/2011 06:34:28 PM 1509 Views
I'm talking about the "Amazon sold more e-books than physical books in 2010" argument. Rebekah - 21/04/2011 06:39:45 PM 1199 Views
I understand. Aemon - 21/04/2011 07:26:28 PM 1445 Views
Amazon being so successful at controlling the ebook medium makes me uneasy. lord-of-shadow - 20/04/2011 07:13:02 PM 1134 Views
Also: Terrible news. Another nail in the coffin of physical books. *NM* lord-of-shadow - 20/04/2011 07:13:32 PM 645 Views
Not so much. *NM* Rebekah - 20/04/2011 07:39:17 PM 523 Views
A bit too melodramatic? Another blow to the desirable dominance of physical books, then. *NM* lord-of-shadow - 20/04/2011 10:24:20 PM 538 Views
No. I just don't think this spells the end of physical books at all. Rebekah - 21/04/2011 06:11:53 PM 1046 Views
Assuming you're right, that will still wreck the business of physical books. Aemon - 21/04/2011 06:47:45 PM 1489 Views
I take perverse pleasure in watching the decline of physical books. Aemon - 21/04/2011 05:45:59 PM 1543 Views
You are right, of course. But all the rationalizing in the world doesn't make me happy about it. lord-of-shadow - 21/04/2011 05:57:12 PM 1123 Views
Yeah, I hear you. Aemon - 21/04/2011 06:16:24 PM 1481 Views
Re: Amazon being so successful at controlling the ebook medium makes me uneasy. j-whitt987 - 20/04/2011 07:41:00 PM 1180 Views
Considering you can print out an ebook, your argument is silly. Ghavrel - 21/04/2011 01:09:18 AM 1062 Views
I'm not sure I understand how this works... A Deathwatch Guard - 20/04/2011 07:30:51 PM 1248 Views
Re: I'm not sure I understand how this works... j-whitt987 - 20/04/2011 07:43:19 PM 1132 Views
You download them from the Internet using your library card as an ID. *NM* Ghavrel - 21/04/2011 01:07:54 AM 668 Views
What Ghavrel said, but... Cockatiel of Doom - 21/04/2011 03:14:07 AM 1309 Views
That's pretty cool then A Deathwatch Guard - 21/04/2011 06:25:03 AM 1081 Views
Yes and no. Aemon - 21/04/2011 05:10:24 PM 1525 Views
Obviously none of you have used Overdrive. It's horrifically bad. Ghavrel - 21/04/2011 01:07:14 AM 1105 Views
Never heard of it. *NM* j-whitt987 - 21/04/2011 01:08:00 AM 556 Views
It's an already existing library ebook service, and it's terrible. *NM* Ghavrel - 21/04/2011 02:19:25 AM 536 Views
What makes it terrible? *NM* j-whitt987 - 21/04/2011 02:20:12 AM 518 Views
The selection is awful, the interface is awkward, and it requires bizarre DRM installations. Ghavrel - 21/04/2011 02:40:55 AM 1154 Views
I'm not a fan of the interface, either. Cockatiel of Doom - 21/04/2011 03:08:53 AM 1245 Views
I agree. *NM* everynametaken - 21/04/2011 01:35:12 AM 509 Views
To be fair, Overdrive's problems are software issues, and not inherent to the business model. Aemon - 21/04/2011 05:23:54 PM 1395 Views
I definitely agree; I'm just irritated they're sticking with Overdrive. Ebook libraries make sense. *NM* Ghavrel - 21/04/2011 07:14:38 PM 556 Views
Yeah. Aemon - 21/04/2011 07:31:24 PM 1487 Views
Will a borrowed Kindle book have "fuck" underlined when it appears? Tom - 22/04/2011 01:59:39 AM 1128 Views
Better than it being written on the margins A Deathwatch Guard - 22/04/2011 05:27:12 AM 1056 Views
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