Looking a gift ebook in the mouth?
I like ebooks. Yet I think they may be the downfall of the publishing industry. Why? Well consider the time of the year, we are entering the holiday season. A time when people selflessly spend money on others (at least that is the idea) and give gifts that bring all those smiles (or why they heck did they get me this thoughts) on that special day.
Now in the past, people could buy someone a book, wrap it and stick it under the sweet smelling fire hazard in the living room. But how do you wrap an ebook? It doesn't really exist, it is a virtual collection of data that we have agree means whatever the book claims to mean. So no joy of seeing your loved one pick up the beautifully wrapped box, opening it and the smile (or confused look) on their face. Sure you can probably give some sort of gift card but it doesn't have the same feel of thought and care (or lack of) in picking a gift and doesn't look as nice under your fire hazard. (Update: As I was writing this, news of Apple iBook gift cards showing up was reported. Of course iBooks is my preferred reader, it is the WORST ebook store so far. Limited selection and god awful interface.)
So what do you do for the ebook lover on your gift list? You can't just buy the books, as due to the DRM, you have to use their account and the moment you buy it they can download it right then. And that still doesn't give you something under the tree to open. You could wait and buy the ebooks that night after they go to sleep but again, their account and no present. This won't work for "friends" due to the account thing. It was suggested to me to buy the book, download it to a flash drive and wrap that but again, you have to use their account so they could get it right then and there and skip the flash drive. Most of these issues are only issues due to DRM locking up the files.
So I suspect that many people will skip the books and get something else, thus publishers will slowly lose holiday sales over time as ebooks replace physical books. Sure you may still get an ebook or maybe gift card but I would often get stacks of books, I suspect I won't get as many in a digital world.
A side issue that I thought of as I was writing this is how do you handle a company library in an ebook world? In the past you could buy a book you needed for work, the company would pay you back and anyone at work could read it. No more thanks to DRM. Publishers will miss out on another outlet, though some may argue that everyone will have to buy the ebook now so they would sell more but since the company won't own the book they won't pay you back and I suspect many people will just do without then instead.
Now I have a solution in my case (related to the flash drive bit) but that only works for me as I am a "computer user of some skill" and won't for for most. So, I am interested in what others think, any other ideas that work for the general public? Are we doomed to a life of just giving gift cards in the new digital world? Or will sales drop with a shift to other gifts instead?
Now in the past, people could buy someone a book, wrap it and stick it under the sweet smelling fire hazard in the living room. But how do you wrap an ebook? It doesn't really exist, it is a virtual collection of data that we have agree means whatever the book claims to mean. So no joy of seeing your loved one pick up the beautifully wrapped box, opening it and the smile (or confused look) on their face. Sure you can probably give some sort of gift card but it doesn't have the same feel of thought and care (or lack of) in picking a gift and doesn't look as nice under your fire hazard. (Update: As I was writing this, news of Apple iBook gift cards showing up was reported. Of course iBooks is my preferred reader, it is the WORST ebook store so far. Limited selection and god awful interface.)
So what do you do for the ebook lover on your gift list? You can't just buy the books, as due to the DRM, you have to use their account and the moment you buy it they can download it right then. And that still doesn't give you something under the tree to open. You could wait and buy the ebooks that night after they go to sleep but again, their account and no present. This won't work for "friends" due to the account thing. It was suggested to me to buy the book, download it to a flash drive and wrap that but again, you have to use their account so they could get it right then and there and skip the flash drive. Most of these issues are only issues due to DRM locking up the files.
So I suspect that many people will skip the books and get something else, thus publishers will slowly lose holiday sales over time as ebooks replace physical books. Sure you may still get an ebook or maybe gift card but I would often get stacks of books, I suspect I won't get as many in a digital world.
A side issue that I thought of as I was writing this is how do you handle a company library in an ebook world? In the past you could buy a book you needed for work, the company would pay you back and anyone at work could read it. No more thanks to DRM. Publishers will miss out on another outlet, though some may argue that everyone will have to buy the ebook now so they would sell more but since the company won't own the book they won't pay you back and I suspect many people will just do without then instead.
Now I have a solution in my case (related to the flash drive bit) but that only works for me as I am a "computer user of some skill" and won't for for most. So, I am interested in what others think, any other ideas that work for the general public? Are we doomed to a life of just giving gift cards in the new digital world? Or will sales drop with a shift to other gifts instead?