The Death of OneManga
I'm disappointed to see it go. Currently I'm making my way through 'One Piece' (again) and the only reason I started reading it again was because of OneManga's handy auto-save function that marks the last chapter you read. This way instead of rushing through the series so that I won't have to remember what chapter I'm on, I can go through it at a much slower pace and thus enjoy it a lot more.
Once OneManga closes next week, I'm probably going to stop reading 'One Piece' again and other series that I can't be bothered to keep up with without minimal effort. I know that there are other sites out there but it's the auto-save on the My Manga Reading List that made OneManga so good and other sites I've found don't have that function.
There are different series that I wouldn't even own if it wasn't for the fact that I was able to read them online (either on a site like OneManga or downloaded) first. CLAMP's stuff is differently a good example. I looked at their stuff before in the bookstore but passed since I was unsure if I'd like it or not. Turns out, I love CLAMP and now own different series that they've done.
Actually if I look at the manga I do own, all but 'Yu-Gi-Oh' is stuff I read for free before buying. And in the case with YGO it wasn't like I randomly bought it after browsing the manga section at the bookstore, hoping that I would like it. I already had been a fan of the anime and had several issues of the English version of Shounen Jump which YGO appeared in.
Back when I started reading manga, I always felt that publishers should ban together and create their own manga website site. Online readers were pretty shitty back since they were so slow to load each page, so my idea was that (for a price) they could offer downloads for the latest chapters as they were released in Japan, since one of the biggest issues fans have with publishers is that they're so far behind.
That was almost ten years ago and still feel the same way. These publishers should create their own read online site with both pay and free options. If you pay, you get the scanlations the day they're released in Japan and have it be high quality. With free (with ads to cover the costs) you get the scans 3-5 days later and the quality is medium.
They wouldn't even have to put the entire series up on the website. Just the first volume (so fans can try the series) and the most recent chapters. They then could put up links to where the other volumes can be bought online so that readers would buy them on impulse instead of giving the person the time to go "hmm... do I really want to buy this?" like they would at a bookstore.
A lot of money could be made, but publishers are determined to cling to the ways of old.
This entry was originally posted at http://rekall.dreamwidth.org/2734.html.
Once OneManga closes next week, I'm probably going to stop reading 'One Piece' again and other series that I can't be bothered to keep up with without minimal effort. I know that there are other sites out there but it's the auto-save on the My Manga Reading List that made OneManga so good and other sites I've found don't have that function.
There are different series that I wouldn't even own if it wasn't for the fact that I was able to read them online (either on a site like OneManga or downloaded) first. CLAMP's stuff is differently a good example. I looked at their stuff before in the bookstore but passed since I was unsure if I'd like it or not. Turns out, I love CLAMP and now own different series that they've done.
Actually if I look at the manga I do own, all but 'Yu-Gi-Oh' is stuff I read for free before buying. And in the case with YGO it wasn't like I randomly bought it after browsing the manga section at the bookstore, hoping that I would like it. I already had been a fan of the anime and had several issues of the English version of Shounen Jump which YGO appeared in.
Back when I started reading manga, I always felt that publishers should ban together and create their own manga website site. Online readers were pretty shitty back since they were so slow to load each page, so my idea was that (for a price) they could offer downloads for the latest chapters as they were released in Japan, since one of the biggest issues fans have with publishers is that they're so far behind.
That was almost ten years ago and still feel the same way. These publishers should create their own read online site with both pay and free options. If you pay, you get the scanlations the day they're released in Japan and have it be high quality. With free (with ads to cover the costs) you get the scans 3-5 days later and the quality is medium.
They wouldn't even have to put the entire series up on the website. Just the first volume (so fans can try the series) and the most recent chapters. They then could put up links to where the other volumes can be bought online so that readers would buy them on impulse instead of giving the person the time to go "hmm... do I really want to buy this?" like they would at a bookstore.
A lot of money could be made, but publishers are determined to cling to the ways of old.
This entry was originally posted at http://rekall.dreamwidth.org/2734.html.