Apple's basically doing the exact same thing the HP/Compaq did with the COMPAQ TC1000 Tablet PC I bought back in 2003.
The same Windows-Based Tablet PC that came pre-loaded with ZINIO... The same ZINIO that has been providing me with all of my digital magazine subscriptions since 2003 -
Apple's basically doing the exact same thing the HP/Compaq did with the COMPAQ TC1000 Tablet PC I bought back in 2003.
The same Windows-Based Tablet PC that came pre-loaded with ZINIO... The same ZINIO that has been providing me with all of my digital magazine subscriptions since 2003 -
How Innovative
I think it's more how it's going to be done, how easy it will be, how everything will be to read and sheer content selection on iTunes. No matter what you are into, it will be on iTunes. I happen to equate this move more to podcasts than anything else. iTunes made podcasts a contender, iTunes could make digital mags and papers a contender too. On the surface it looks to easy, and looks like it's be done before, but I don't think it's ever really being done right. And all the content that was needed wasn't there. What they need is a great system, simple and pretty and great software, a decent API to make a standard, and great hardware to read it on. Apple knows more than anything else here that a hardware standard will be just as important a software one, and a single store for everyone.
That said, personally I don't think this will be the most appealing aspect of the device for the vast majority of users. I think what will appeal to people is a cool piece of hardware with a decent sized screen, that is very versatile (meaning a lot of potential uses, a.k.a. board games etc.) and for the first time in history gives you a full touch interface on a personal computer that's enjoyable to use.
When will they learn? First movie companies, then the music industry, now publishers try the same fools errand. Pay-per-use models don't work for things consumers are used to owning, even if they will only use them once.
DRM is bad in all forms, but time-sensitive restrictions make the jump to useless.
...as if it isn't bad enough locking it to a single device.
(Ironically, I won't buy my mom a kindle because she loves the library. She needs one, but it destroys a critical element of literature for her when you have to buy everything...)
I Totally agree! Many people like to keep their magazines for future reference. I imagine one of The nice things of having a newspaper in digital format would be to keep an archive for future reference too. What purpose would a time limit have? Why does a medium with continually changing content need to be a "rental"? I think they will treat books as they do with audio books and not put a time-sensitive restriction on them.
Im no fan of DRM, because the content crimes by it is never priced fairly. I won't pay the same full retail price I would in a store for something hobbled by it just because I chose to purchase it digitally. Further I don. Like seeing DRM versions being the only version available for sale. Finally I think all DRM'd content SHOULD have a time limit to avoid the enevitable shutting down of DRM autherozarion servers.
Sure I would rent an eBook, IF it was lessthan half the cost of buying it. The same is true of music, magazines, movies, whatever... Just don't try to charge me full price for something I'm not going to actually own. Oh, And give me the option to own it if I want to fork out full price for it.
i used to work at Pearson Education publishing. The "editing" of history to appease our customers, especially our biggest one, the state of Texas was appalling! And our director just used to shrug and say, we have to SELL books!
nice to see our kids growing up with a distorted sense of history - if they're paying attention at all! LOL
I have worked on K-12 textbooks for all of the major publishers. The publishers write to the market with particular attention to the "political correctness" of the time. They rigidly keep gender and ethnic counts on photos and illustrations, and try to keep the text so that it does not offend the people making the decisions on purchasing the textbooks. There is also a lot of attention to the "fashion" and "branding" in the books. Jewelry and nail polish are removed in Photoshop, as are product labels to eliminate any controversy. If they didn't do these things or special interests groups and parents would complain louder than they already do.
Of course Google loves the iPhone: Google is the default search and map source. Google is pretty much the gateway through which iPhone users access the Internet, all without Google having to lift a finger on their end. Apple does the work for them.
That sounds more like Google does the work for Apple's apps.
It does sound like there going ahead with it. The only thing that might make it work is if the books are really cheap (compared to a book purchased and resold). It's still kind of a bad deal though especially for someone who specifically wanted to own a digital copy, because it makes for an easy reference without the bulk. I thought text books specifically were meant for reference.
Would this model also imply that you can't own a digital copy in any way? I'd rather rent a crappy novel for my vacation at the beach than a text book.
I kept all of my books from school, but is that just me? Because I think the popular assumption is "everyone" resells their books. We are talking about mass market after-all and most importantly capitalism and corporate America. Too bad it would really be an impaired use of the technology.
Okay... after reading the comments from other readers I'm (for the moment) leaning in another direction now... What if things went something more like this.
First people who like to read buy books, hardcover if its a 'favorite author' or paperback for 'trash novels' and when money is tight. They love their collections and tend to go back and reread favorites over and over again.
There's one more thing they do with their books...
Q: What is done with books more than any other form of entertainment?
A: Lent to family, friends and co-workers.
DVD's might be a close 2nd place but people have been doing this with books since they were first made available to the great unwashed masses.
There are many negatives associated with ebooks... one of them is you can't loan them out like you would normal books sure it's you're and you can read it any time you like but you certainly aren't going LOAN your reader just so a coworker can borrow a book. Now that I think about it this is GENIUS! What *if* you had a ebook reader that could 'load' an 'ecopy' of any book you have in you're collection to anyone else who has... wait for it... THE SAME READER that you have... Things starting to click yet?
Now what are the benefits...
1 - To the publisher... A person can LOAN a time-restricted copy to a friend (using the same device) and unlike PRINTED books the borrower would be able to purchase the book right from their own reader (once it syncs with iBooks - Apples book service - lol).
2 - The the 'book lover' ebooks become *social* again they can be passed around just like the real thing.
3 - The hardware maker... everyone is going to want to use the same reader so they can participate in the ebook loaning feature.
What must be done to ensure the publisher doesn't get screwed by people sharing books back and forth forever.
1 - Time limit the loan to .. totally guessing .. 2 weeks after which time the person must purchase it from iBooks.
2 - Limit the number of times a single ebook is loaned to another specific hardware reader (3-5 times?)
What can be provided to the user as additional benefits of using ebooks?
1 - Loaning books (already stated) but perhaps the ability to loan the SAME single book to multiple people (5 or 6?) AT THE SAME TIME... After all they are time limited and in the end the more people the buyer loans ebooks to the more potential NEW buyers will turn up and now instead of people in the office having to pass the book from person to person to person before they all get a chance to enjoy it one person who owns the ebook could share it will all 5 people at the same time. Once the loan period you will re-obtain the ability to loan the book out again.
2 - The best part... if you loan out an ebook you are still entitled to enjoy the copy you purchased and don't ever have to bug people to return your damn book!
FINALLY... and I'm actually thinking of ton of other ways this could be of benefit... but the last one is this...
For every book that gets 'loaned' 'borrowed' between 2 or more people that translates to even LESS downloads FROM the iBooks service. People are using local bandwidth instead.
Yea... now this would be a really smart way to implement ebooks done 'the right way'.
Publisher: Free advertising from each and every books loaned.
Apple: People all driven to ONE device for their reading otherwise the loan feature isn't available.
I'll stick to buying hardbound Textbooks. I know I own it and won't be dealing with a rental.
For those who want permanence, I would imagine there surely will be a print feature associated with such an e-textbook? Alternatively the price will be much lower?
Books and Magazines ... I agree it has massive potential. I would be tempted to rekindle my interest in DC comics if they were available on thre MacTablet. It's only been 40 year since I bought one
For those who want permanence, I would imagine there surely will be a print feature associated with such an e-textbook? Alternatively the price will be much lower?
Are you serious? The point of hardbound printing is self-evident.
You expect me to lease a $150 Engineering Book and then pay to print it out without that quality binding?
That's probably just so the biased history found in some McGraw Hill books and obscene poetry disguised as art in some Oberlin Press works can't be changed by outraged parents...
Are you serious? The point of hardbound printing is self-evident.
You expect me to lease a $150 Engineering Book and then pay to print it out without that quality binding?
Get real.
You should learn to read the whole post before commenting. I also said, "....the price will be much lower."
It is unreal of you to assume that the textbook will continue to be sold for $150 in this medium. Apple's pricing model here may well parallel that in their music sales - e.g., some smaller price on a per chapter basis (a la ¢99 per tune for $14.99 CD), and some compromise on binding, lack of color if you use a b/w printer (a la the lossy nature of the AACs or the MP3s).
As with all such media recently, it will be a tussle between convenience and quality. And, just as CDs and DVDs continue to be produced, so will your 'quality-bound' books.
... It is unreal of you to assume that the textbook will continue to be sold for $150 in this medium...
I have worked in textbook publishing for over a decade. Recently I was on a forum on Linkedin where someone stated that the cost of printing (which is increasingly being done in China and Mexico) textbooks today accounts for about 33% of the price of the book, the rest of the cost is in the development. That brings your $150 price down to about $99. Now, as you move it into an electronic media you have additional government regulations which add cost to the development to comply with section 508 accessibility rules. Computer technology has improved since I last was involved with research on this but it will add at least 10% to the cost of the development. Add in to that hyperlinking within the document and other interactive features that will be expected and you probably have an additional 10% (conservatively) to the cost of production. Now you are back up to about $120 or more for the book. If you have a more interactive book with video and "flash" put in then you could easily be back up to the original $150 price tag for the textbook.
Edit: Just an observation from the last decade, a lot of the printing expense has been eliminated already through technological developments like computer to plate and sending printing to other countries. One book that I worked on around 2000 the publisher spent about $60,000 on film, and close to an additional $20,000 on proofs. Most of that has been removed from the production costs already. This particular book sold for about $75 then and sells for the same now even given close to 10 years of inflation.
"The publishers are intent on remaining masters of their own destiny"
Since they got NOTHIN', what they really want is to remain master-baters. All Apple needs to do is cut deals on their terms with whatever publishers are willing to do so - including online publishers (of which there are zillions). Once they, with the boost they get from Apple, start eating Time, Inc's lunch - BIG TIME - watch these asswipes come crawling to Apple, begging to be let into the game.
Chances of these Ballmeresque clowns actually making Apple bend to their "might" - ZERO. Pathetic.
Comments
Apple's basically doing the exact same thing the HP/Compaq did with the COMPAQ TC1000 Tablet PC I bought back in 2003.
The same Windows-Based Tablet PC that came pre-loaded with ZINIO... The same ZINIO that has been providing me with all of my digital magazine subscriptions since 2003 -
How Innovative
So...
Apple's basically doing the exact same thing the HP/Compaq did with the COMPAQ TC1000 Tablet PC I bought back in 2003.
The same Windows-Based Tablet PC that came pre-loaded with ZINIO... The same ZINIO that has been providing me with all of my digital magazine subscriptions since 2003 -
How Innovative
I think it's more how it's going to be done, how easy it will be, how everything will be to read and sheer content selection on iTunes. No matter what you are into, it will be on iTunes. I happen to equate this move more to podcasts than anything else. iTunes made podcasts a contender, iTunes could make digital mags and papers a contender too. On the surface it looks to easy, and looks like it's be done before, but I don't think it's ever really being done right. And all the content that was needed wasn't there. What they need is a great system, simple and pretty and great software, a decent API to make a standard, and great hardware to read it on. Apple knows more than anything else here that a hardware standard will be just as important a software one, and a single store for everyone.
That said, personally I don't think this will be the most appealing aspect of the device for the vast majority of users. I think what will appeal to people is a cool piece of hardware with a decent sized screen, that is very versatile (meaning a lot of potential uses, a.k.a. board games etc.) and for the first time in history gives you a full touch interface on a personal computer that's enjoyable to use.
Apple will never make a phone.
nano phone
w/ fm radio
When will they learn? First movie companies, then the music industry, now publishers try the same fools errand. Pay-per-use models don't work for things consumers are used to owning, even if they will only use them once.
DRM is bad in all forms, but time-sensitive restrictions make the jump to useless.
...as if it isn't bad enough locking it to a single device.
(Ironically, I won't buy my mom a kindle because she loves the library. She needs one, but it destroys a critical element of literature for her when you have to buy everything...)
I Totally agree! Many people like to keep their magazines for future reference. I imagine one of The nice things of having a newspaper in digital format would be to keep an archive for future reference too. What purpose would a time limit have? Why does a medium with continually changing content need to be a "rental"? I think they will treat books as they do with audio books and not put a time-sensitive restriction on them.
Sure I would rent an eBook, IF it was lessthan half the cost of buying it. The same is true of music, magazines, movies, whatever... Just don't try to charge me full price for something I'm not going to actually own. Oh, And give me the option to own it if I want to fork out full price for it.
i used to work at Pearson Education publishing. The "editing" of history to appease our customers, especially our biggest one, the state of Texas was appalling! And our director just used to shrug and say, we have to SELL books!
nice to see our kids growing up with a distorted sense of history - if they're paying attention at all! LOL
I have worked on K-12 textbooks for all of the major publishers. The publishers write to the market with particular attention to the "political correctness" of the time. They rigidly keep gender and ethnic counts on photos and illustrations, and try to keep the text so that it does not offend the people making the decisions on purchasing the textbooks. There is also a lot of attention to the "fashion" and "branding" in the books. Jewelry and nail polish are removed in Photoshop, as are product labels to eliminate any controversy. If they didn't do these things or special interests groups and parents would complain louder than they already do.
http://www.kingjim.co.jp/pomera/
Let me introduce you to King Jim.
http://www.kingjim.co.jp/pomera/
Awful.
Of course Google loves the iPhone: Google is the default search and map source. Google is pretty much the gateway through which iPhone users access the Internet, all without Google having to lift a finger on their end. Apple does the work for them.
That sounds more like Google does the work for Apple's apps.
Let me introduce you to King Jim.
http://www.kingjim.co.jp/pomera/
Kewel- is it matte and have firewire?
It does sound like there going ahead with it. The only thing that might make it work is if the books are really cheap (compared to a book purchased and resold). It's still kind of a bad deal though especially for someone who specifically wanted to own a digital copy, because it makes for an easy reference without the bulk. I thought text books specifically were meant for reference.
Would this model also imply that you can't own a digital copy in any way? I'd rather rent a crappy novel for my vacation at the beach than a text book.
I kept all of my books from school, but is that just me? Because I think the popular assumption is "everyone" resells their books. We are talking about mass market after-all and most importantly capitalism and corporate America. Too bad it would really be an impaired use of the technology.
Okay... after reading the comments from other readers I'm (for the moment) leaning in another direction now... What if things went something more like this.
First people who like to read buy books, hardcover if its a 'favorite author' or paperback for 'trash novels' and when money is tight. They love their collections and tend to go back and reread favorites over and over again.
There's one more thing they do with their books...
Q: What is done with books more than any other form of entertainment?
A: Lent to family, friends and co-workers.
DVD's might be a close 2nd place but people have been doing this with books since they were first made available to the great unwashed masses.
There are many negatives associated with ebooks... one of them is you can't loan them out like you would normal books sure it's you're and you can read it any time you like but you certainly aren't going LOAN your reader just so a coworker can borrow a book. Now that I think about it this is GENIUS! What *if* you had a ebook reader that could 'load' an 'ecopy' of any book you have in you're collection to anyone else who has... wait for it... THE SAME READER that you have... Things starting to click yet?
Now what are the benefits...
1 - To the publisher... A person can LOAN a time-restricted copy to a friend (using the same device) and unlike PRINTED books the borrower would be able to purchase the book right from their own reader (once it syncs with iBooks - Apples book service - lol).
2 - The the 'book lover' ebooks become *social* again they can be passed around just like the real thing.
3 - The hardware maker... everyone is going to want to use the same reader so they can participate in the ebook loaning feature.
What must be done to ensure the publisher doesn't get screwed by people sharing books back and forth forever.
1 - Time limit the loan to .. totally guessing .. 2 weeks after which time the person must purchase it from iBooks.
2 - Limit the number of times a single ebook is loaned to another specific hardware reader (3-5 times?)
What can be provided to the user as additional benefits of using ebooks?
1 - Loaning books (already stated) but perhaps the ability to loan the SAME single book to multiple people (5 or 6?) AT THE SAME TIME... After all they are time limited and in the end the more people the buyer loans ebooks to the more potential NEW buyers will turn up and now instead of people in the office having to pass the book from person to person to person before they all get a chance to enjoy it one person who owns the ebook could share it will all 5 people at the same time. Once the loan period you will re-obtain the ability to loan the book out again.
2 - The best part... if you loan out an ebook you are still entitled to enjoy the copy you purchased and don't ever have to bug people to return your damn book!
FINALLY... and I'm actually thinking of ton of other ways this could be of benefit... but the last one is this...
For every book that gets 'loaned' 'borrowed' between 2 or more people that translates to even LESS downloads FROM the iBooks service. People are using local bandwidth instead.
Yea... now this would be a really smart way to implement ebooks done 'the right way'.
Publisher: Free advertising from each and every books loaned.
Apple: People all driven to ONE device for their reading otherwise the loan feature isn't available.
Potential brilliant...
Apple will never make a phone.
Maybe they meant full-fleged phone. But now since MMS arrived last Friday here in the US that's been proven false,
I'll stick to buying hardbound Textbooks. I know I own it and won't be dealing with a rental.
For those who want permanence, I would imagine there surely will be a print feature associated with such an e-textbook? Alternatively the price will be much lower?
Potential brilliant...
A very partial quote
Books and Magazines ... I agree it has massive potential. I would be tempted to rekindle my interest in DC comics if they were available on thre MacTablet. It's only been 40 year since I bought one
For those who want permanence, I would imagine there surely will be a print feature associated with such an e-textbook? Alternatively the price will be much lower?
Are you serious? The point of hardbound printing is self-evident.
You expect me to lease a $150 Engineering Book and then pay to print it out without that quality binding?
Get real.
That's probably just so the biased history found in some McGraw Hill books and obscene poetry disguised as art in some Oberlin Press works can't be changed by outraged parents...
http://www.foxnews.com/topics/us/textbook-bias.htm
Define Obscene Poetry.
More to the point, what the hell do I give a rat's behind what FOX has to say about Facts? Marriage like many man made institutions is mutable.
Are you serious? The point of hardbound printing is self-evident.
You expect me to lease a $150 Engineering Book and then pay to print it out without that quality binding?
Get real.
You should learn to read the whole post before commenting. I also said, "....the price will be much lower."
It is unreal of you to assume that the textbook will continue to be sold for $150 in this medium. Apple's pricing model here may well parallel that in their music sales - e.g., some smaller price on a per chapter basis (a la ¢99 per tune for $14.99 CD), and some compromise on binding, lack of color if you use a b/w printer (a la the lossy nature of the AACs or the MP3s).
As with all such media recently, it will be a tussle between convenience and quality. And, just as CDs and DVDs continue to be produced, so will your 'quality-bound' books.
... It is unreal of you to assume that the textbook will continue to be sold for $150 in this medium...
I have worked in textbook publishing for over a decade. Recently I was on a forum on Linkedin where someone stated that the cost of printing (which is increasingly being done in China and Mexico) textbooks today accounts for about 33% of the price of the book, the rest of the cost is in the development. That brings your $150 price down to about $99. Now, as you move it into an electronic media you have additional government regulations which add cost to the development to comply with section 508 accessibility rules. Computer technology has improved since I last was involved with research on this but it will add at least 10% to the cost of the development. Add in to that hyperlinking within the document and other interactive features that will be expected and you probably have an additional 10% (conservatively) to the cost of production. Now you are back up to about $120 or more for the book. If you have a more interactive book with video and "flash" put in then you could easily be back up to the original $150 price tag for the textbook.
Edit: Just an observation from the last decade, a lot of the printing expense has been eliminated already through technological developments like computer to plate and sending printing to other countries. One book that I worked on around 2000 the publisher spent about $60,000 on film, and close to an additional $20,000 on proofs. Most of that has been removed from the production costs already. This particular book sold for about $75 then and sells for the same now even given close to 10 years of inflation.
Since they got NOTHIN', what they really want is to remain master-baters. All Apple needs to do is cut deals on their terms with whatever publishers are willing to do so - including online publishers (of which there are zillions). Once they, with the boost they get from Apple, start eating Time, Inc's lunch - BIG TIME - watch these asswipes come crawling to Apple, begging to be let into the game.
Chances of these Ballmeresque clowns actually making Apple bend to their "might" - ZERO. Pathetic.
In their desperation... they turned to a company (Apple) and a business (iTunes) that they didn't fully understand
Good comments. So... The Dark Knight is your favorite movie?