Active Users:381 Time:01/05/2025 06:56:12 AM
Assuming you're right, that will still wreck the business of physical books. Aemon Send a noteboard - 21/04/2011 06:47:45 PM
How many books do you buy for yourself each year? How many do you give away as gifts? What do you suppose the ratio of personal books purchased / books given as gifts is for the average person? I have no statistics to offer as proof, but I strongly suspect that the sales generated from the small percentage of books bought as gifts could not support physical bookstores. I'd be surprised if it could support the traditional publishing business at all, what with its mass printings and inventory distribution.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there will always be a way to get hold of physical books, but shadow's comments about "nail in the coffin" and "blow to the dominance of physical books" seem pretty accurate. Open to semantic interpretation, of course, but accurate overall.
Reply to message
Amazon to Launch Library Lending for Kindle Books - 20/04/2011 03:18:34 PM 1542 Views
Excellent news! - 20/04/2011 06:58:09 PM 894 Views
Paper books will not die for quite some time I'm sure. - 20/04/2011 07:44:39 PM 972 Views
I guess it depends on what you mean by "death." - 21/04/2011 05:04:40 PM 1187 Views
Re: I guess it depends on what you mean by "death." - 21/04/2011 05:40:28 PM 1044 Views
Re: I guess it depends on what you mean by "death." - 21/04/2011 06:04:16 PM 1359 Views
Of course an online bookshop is going to sell more e-books than physical books. - 21/04/2011 06:14:51 PM 907 Views
That's exactly right. - 21/04/2011 06:34:28 PM 1198 Views
I'm talking about the "Amazon sold more e-books than physical books in 2010" argument. - 21/04/2011 06:39:45 PM 1038 Views
I understand. - 21/04/2011 07:26:28 PM 1099 Views
Amazon being so successful at controlling the ebook medium makes me uneasy. - 20/04/2011 07:13:02 PM 967 Views
Also: Terrible news. Another nail in the coffin of physical books. *NM* - 20/04/2011 07:13:32 PM 533 Views
Not so much. *NM* - 20/04/2011 07:39:17 PM 416 Views
A bit too melodramatic? Another blow to the desirable dominance of physical books, then. *NM* - 20/04/2011 10:24:20 PM 429 Views
No. I just don't think this spells the end of physical books at all. - 21/04/2011 06:11:53 PM 883 Views
Assuming you're right, that will still wreck the business of physical books. - 21/04/2011 06:47:45 PM 1183 Views
I take perverse pleasure in watching the decline of physical books. - 21/04/2011 05:45:59 PM 1218 Views
You are right, of course. But all the rationalizing in the world doesn't make me happy about it. - 21/04/2011 05:57:12 PM 948 Views
Yeah, I hear you. - 21/04/2011 06:16:24 PM 1158 Views
Considering you can print out an ebook, your argument is silly. - 21/04/2011 01:09:18 AM 894 Views
I'm not sure I understand how this works... - 20/04/2011 07:30:51 PM 1059 Views
Re: I'm not sure I understand how this works... - 20/04/2011 07:43:19 PM 959 Views
What Ghavrel said, but... - 21/04/2011 03:14:07 AM 1112 Views
That's pretty cool then - 21/04/2011 06:25:03 AM 907 Views
Yes and no. - 21/04/2011 05:10:24 PM 1212 Views
Obviously none of you have used Overdrive. It's horrifically bad. - 21/04/2011 01:07:14 AM 932 Views
Never heard of it. *NM* - 21/04/2011 01:08:00 AM 440 Views
It's an already existing library ebook service, and it's terrible. *NM* - 21/04/2011 02:19:25 AM 425 Views
What makes it terrible? *NM* - 21/04/2011 02:20:12 AM 401 Views
The selection is awful, the interface is awkward, and it requires bizarre DRM installations. - 21/04/2011 02:40:55 AM 967 Views
I'm not a fan of the interface, either. - 21/04/2011 03:08:53 AM 1043 Views
I agree. *NM* - 21/04/2011 01:35:12 AM 395 Views
Will a borrowed Kindle book have "fuck" underlined when it appears? - 22/04/2011 01:59:39 AM 961 Views
Better than it being written on the margins - 22/04/2011 05:27:12 AM 891 Views

Reply to Message