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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 1386 Views
Excellent news! Tigr - 20/04/2011 06:58:09 PM 751 Views
Paper books will not die for quite some time I'm sure. j-whitt987 - 20/04/2011 07:44:39 PM 846 Views
I guess it depends on what you mean by "death." Aemon - 21/04/2011 05:04:40 PM 1081 Views
Re: I guess it depends on what you mean by "death." j-whitt987 - 21/04/2011 05:40:28 PM 907 Views
Re: I guess it depends on what you mean by "death." Aemon - 21/04/2011 06:04:16 PM 1211 Views
Of course an online bookshop is going to sell more e-books than physical books. Rebekah - 21/04/2011 06:14:51 PM 767 Views
That's exactly right. Aemon - 21/04/2011 06:34:28 PM 1052 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 892 Views
I understand. Aemon - 21/04/2011 07:26:28 PM 995 Views
Amazon being so successful at controlling the ebook medium makes me uneasy. lord-of-shadow - 20/04/2011 07:13:02 PM 847 Views
Also: Terrible news. Another nail in the coffin of physical books. *NM* lord-of-shadow - 20/04/2011 07:13:32 PM 474 Views
Not so much. *NM* Rebekah - 20/04/2011 07:39:17 PM 365 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 377 Views
No. I just don't think this spells the end of physical books at all. Rebekah - 21/04/2011 06:11:53 PM 759 Views
Assuming you're right, that will still wreck the business of physical books. Aemon - 21/04/2011 06:47:45 PM 1040 Views
I take perverse pleasure in watching the decline of physical books. Aemon - 21/04/2011 05:45:59 PM 1077 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 813 Views
Yeah, I hear you. Aemon - 21/04/2011 06:16:24 PM 1035 Views
Re: Amazon being so successful at controlling the ebook medium makes me uneasy. j-whitt987 - 20/04/2011 07:41:00 PM 843 Views
Considering you can print out an ebook, your argument is silly. Ghavrel - 21/04/2011 01:09:18 AM 772 Views
I'm not sure I understand how this works... A Deathwatch Guard - 20/04/2011 07:30:51 PM 933 Views
Re: I'm not sure I understand how this works... j-whitt987 - 20/04/2011 07:43:19 PM 839 Views
You download them from the Internet using your library card as an ID. *NM* Ghavrel - 21/04/2011 01:07:54 AM 504 Views
What Ghavrel said, but... Cockatiel of Doom - 21/04/2011 03:14:07 AM 972 Views
That's pretty cool then A Deathwatch Guard - 21/04/2011 06:25:03 AM 777 Views
Yes and no. Aemon - 21/04/2011 05:10:24 PM 1072 Views
Obviously none of you have used Overdrive. It's horrifically bad. Ghavrel - 21/04/2011 01:07:14 AM 774 Views
Never heard of it. *NM* j-whitt987 - 21/04/2011 01:08:00 AM 380 Views
It's an already existing library ebook service, and it's terrible. *NM* Ghavrel - 21/04/2011 02:19:25 AM 365 Views
What makes it terrible? *NM* j-whitt987 - 21/04/2011 02:20:12 AM 346 Views
The selection is awful, the interface is awkward, and it requires bizarre DRM installations. Ghavrel - 21/04/2011 02:40:55 AM 838 Views
I'm not a fan of the interface, either. Cockatiel of Doom - 21/04/2011 03:08:53 AM 906 Views
I agree. *NM* everynametaken - 21/04/2011 01:35:12 AM 348 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 941 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 391 Views
Yeah. Aemon - 21/04/2011 07:31:24 PM 1020 Views
Will a borrowed Kindle book have "fuck" underlined when it appears? Tom - 22/04/2011 01:59:39 AM 833 Views
Better than it being written on the margins A Deathwatch Guard - 22/04/2011 05:27:12 AM 769 Views
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