How much for the book?

With the rise of the kindle and alleged decline of publishing, The Guardian has an interesting article entitled The true price of publishing.
This looks at the argument of why hardbacks are so expensive in comparison to e-books, pointing out:-

publishing is a business that incurs high fixed costs. And it's this, to return to my initial question, that accounts for the high price of (indeed the very existence of) hardbacks. The publisher needs to maximise revenues in order to defray its outlay. Some people are prepared to pay top dollar to have the premium product – a hardcover copy that comes out, crucially, months before other versions. So it makes sense for the publisher to offer it to them.

Anyhow, worth a look if you have time.

Kindle power

Having continually pointed out I have a Kindle, I thought I'd mention how its going using it. I now some articles have said :-

Books as I grew up with them — books with jackets and covers and paper and spines — have stories that reach beyond what's written inside, and those stories are mine. There's the paperback copy of "Fahrenheit 451," signed by Ray Bradbury when he came to my hometown bookstore (and which I consequently never returned to the library).

But I find the kindle more convenient etc. I don't want an autograph book (why would I want to bow before the alter of celebrity fandom?) I really don't have space in an expensive London flat. I can arange the books into my own categories. I can take 2000 books with me. I can start reading without fear of losing my book marker. I can sell my books to pay for my Kindle. I never thought I would say it, but I prefer my kindle.

The beginning of the end for books?

There's a good article In the Guardian entitled Want to know print's future? It will cost you… looking at the impact of Ebooks on paper books? Robert McGrum,the author of the article says:-

The history of technology teaches that the printing press did not make the manuscript redundant, nor did the typewriter eliminate the fountain pen. Despite dire predictions, television did not kill radio. Technological change is discontinuous.

Two articles dealing with the impact of UK library closures

The IWR has an article entitled Evolution Yes, Closures No. The article though is rather shallow when it says:-

Technology has enabled the whole search and acquisition process to become more hassle-free and less time-consuming for customers and what’s more, the migration of content to e-book format means that libraries can now produce substantial revenues without having to stock physical books.

I think the author would find libraries have e-content and have had e-content for quite a while.

The second article is from the False Economy blog entitled “Too precious to destroy” – Philip Pullman stands up for public libraries [found via Neil Ford on twitter]. In this more emotive. Pullman says in the article:-

Aside from denigrating the professionalism of librarians, Philip wonders where the volunteers will come from.

“The fact is that if there’s anyone who has the time and the energy to work for nothing in a good cause, they are already working for one....This is the Big Society, you see. It must be big, to contain so many volunteers.”

And will richer and poorer communities be equal in the race for funds? Of course not. The cuts to public libraries reflect the growing power of the “greedy ghost of market fundamentalism”:

“The greedy ghost understands profit all right. But that’s all he understands... He doesn’t understand libraries at all, for instance. That branch – how much money did it make last year? Why aren’t you charging higher fines? Why don’t you charge for library cards?”

Both worth a read if you have time.

First impression of the Amazon Kindle

I was recently around a friend who has a new Amazon Kindle. I know that much has been written on the Kindle, so I wanted to see what the fuss was about.
Firstly, it is very light and easy to put in a (large) pocket. Its easy to use and the look and feel is nice. The battery life is excellent. Its easy to buy new titles.
My problems with it. First off, when you turn the page, it has to reformat and flickers, which I think may cause eye strain (but I'm no expert). Also I prefer the paper format, and enjoy the look and feel of books.
Anyhow, short and sweet.

Kindle thriving

(Found via here). The Guardian today reports that the Amazon Kindle is outstripping hard back sale. Kindle it says is selling 143 ebooks to 100 hardbacks.

Scottish Libraries first to have ebook dowloads

South Ayrshire have become the first in the country to offer a free downloadable "ebooks" service. Link to the interview is here.

The social library.....

(Found via here. The Wall Street Journal has an article entitled Libraries Have a Novel Idea. It looks at how the Internet Archive is:-

Starting Tuesday, a group of libraries led by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit digital library, are joining forces to create a one-stop website for checking out e-books, including access to more than a million scanned public domain books and a catalog of thousands of contemporary e-book titles available at many public libraries.

and that:-

To read the books, borrowers around the world can download and read them for free on computers or e-reading gadgets. Software renders the books inaccessible once the loan period ends. Two-thirds of American libraries offered e-book loans in 2009, according to a survey by the American Library Association. But those were mostly contemporary imprints from the last couple of years—say, the latest Stephen King novel.

But the more interesting news is that the internet archive has set up Openlibrary.org

[which] goes a step further by opening up some access to the sorts of books that may have otherwise gathered dust on library shelves—mainly those published in the past 90 years, but of less popular interest.

If you take an item out, only one copy is available due to copy right restrictions. My main concern though (via a friend mentioning it). If you have a digital copy, could you not just make another another digital copy? Isn't it just trying to put an analogue answers to a digital world?

Definitely would check the two articles.

To quote a sex pistols song

Ever get the feeling you've been cheated? Good night. Well it does to me now Google to launch ebook store. And I thought Google books was just so they could organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful?

Librarything discussing ebooks

I expect this is too late, but Tim Spalding on his Librarything blog has an interesting article entitled Reading alone: How ebooks will kill the smallest libraries. An interesting argument which concludes with these lines:-

But if something is gained, something will definitely be lost. The list of ebook "externalities" is long: the death of physical bookstores, the wounding or death of traditional public libraries, the concentration of retail power in a few hands, surrendering your reading history to corporations, privacy and censorship issues in undemocratic states, leaving your books to your kids, lending books to friends, showing off, subway voyeurism, etc.

Depressing reading.

The changing face of public libraries

Seems there is a change a foot with public libraries in the uk (haven't we heard that before?) With Free internet access and e-books could help reverse a decline in the number of people using libraries in England or so Culture Minister Margaret Hodge says. But I thought we were already doing that? And E-books? Please, the price of entry is still prohibitive for many users (aka that thing called 'the working classes'?)
Department for Culture Media and Sport also released the report here on this idea.
Seems its been canned already to.

Apple Ipad to take on Kindle/Sony Reader

As mentioned previously, Steve Jobs has released the long awaited Apple tablet, the iPad. It looks like a large Iphone to be honest. But the big news for libraries and book fans is the ibook application. Some are saying its the future of publishing.
What I loved was Jobs saying the Amazon Kindle had done a good job, but Apple had Five of the largest publishers — Penguin, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan and Hachette. Oh, how like Steve Jobs to damn by faint praise.