The Future of the Book
The recording industry isn’t the only one failing to move with the times and adopt new business models. Arnaud Nourry, of French publishing group Hachette Livre said to the FT:
“On the one hand, you have millions of books for free where there is no longer an author to pay and, on the other hand, there are very recent books, bestsellers at $9.99, which means that all the rest will have to be sold at between zero and $9.99,”
According to the FT, he also complains that the trade in the hardback industry could be destroyed by e-book pricing.
Good.
I’m not sure why he complains about providing millions of books for free (presumably both where copyright has expired and so-called ‘orphan works’), but whining about how publishers won’t make money on books anymore really doesn’t cut it for me.
The digital book or e-book is really beginning to make headway. The Amazon Kindle is driving it in the right direction. No, it doesn’t have the tactile satisfaction of holding (or smelling the chemicals lacing the pages of) a real book. Conversely, it will work out cheaper. No more purchasing fiction for £19.99+ on release for a hardback. No more clutter. No more lost books. And it transcends books. I’m fed up of waiting for my subscriptions to arrive. When the Royal Mail does get my magazines and journals to the right address, they’re inevitably late and out-of-date. I’ve been waiting for an issue of Private Eye for a month now. As magazines and newspapers transition to an electronic format (no, not webpages) you can subscribe and receive the new editions first thing in the morning. I could even see stores like WHSmith and newsagents saving space and time – imagine a coin-operated machine: plug in Kindle Version x, pop in 20-50p, press a button for the relevant newspaper and you’re off with your digital read.
Yes, it will probably drive down prices for publishers. It will also drive down costs. It should also increase consumer demand.
So, weigh up the amount of recycling and rubbish we’ll avoid (we love you mother earth!), the amount we as consumers will save and the convenience and sustainability of the system against missing the look and feel of a book… I know which option I choose.