Turmoil in the e-reader markeplace?
January 6, 2012
This article, from the LA Times makes me sigh. I have a Nook. I like it a lot. I read 400 pages of a book on it last night (it's a good book!) Now this!
I do realize that, with any new type of product, that there is a shake-out period - just think Betamax and VHS, after all. However, e-readers and e-books are a bit different, really, than what librarians are used to dealing with. We're used to books, physical books. Physical books have a physical reality. You can sell books, store them on a bookshelf, drop them in the mud, bend down the corners of the pages, all sorts of things. As a librarian, I would very much prefer that you didn't drop them in the mud or bend the corners down, but hey, those things can happen.
What can happen with e-readers, that we're just not used to as a profession, is that the books can disappear. You don't own an e-book, really you don't. You own the license to read it, but that license can be taken away. My husband pointed me to this article last night. My first question was, if the Nook is spun off, will my books still remain on my Nook? He shrugged.
Now, of course, his best guess and my best guess is that the books will be there on the Nook. It'd create too much ill-will if they weren't, but that isn't a guarantee. If publishers decide they don't like the new business model of the new Nook company (if it ever comes to pass), publishers can pull the rights to read the books on your Nook.
Libraries are seeing this with depressing regularity. The staff and I occasionally get complaints that we don't have enough e-books. Our answer is usually 1) our OverDrive service is only a year old. It takes libraries years and years and years to build up a full collection. It'll take time. This is the easy answer. Number 2) is the hard answer: publishers don't always see the positives of selling to libraries. So with this, e-books, they don't always sell to us. Macmillan won't play nice with OverDrive. Neither does Simon & Schuster. Penguin got in a tiff about how the Kindle works, and wanted to pull their content from OverDrive. Brilliance Audio just notified libraries that they aren't going to be moving forward with OverDrive.
This is silly. I know it's silly (Library Journal just did a study showing that there is a high conversion factor of readers, basically saying that library users, if they pick up a book at the library and like it, they are then more likely to buy future books by that author on or on that subject). You probably realize it's silly too. Libraries are pushing hard for equal access to purchase materials that are electronic, but I think it would probably also be a good idea if our patrons got involved. If you want a book available electronically, and we can't buy it due to restrictions, it would be awesome if our patrons would email those companies and let the companies know how their decisions impacted readers.
Anyway, I think the e-reader and e-book marketplace is going to be bumpy and unstable for awhile. As much as I love my Nook, I'm buckling my seat-belt and preparing for the ride.
I do realize that, with any new type of product, that there is a shake-out period - just think Betamax and VHS, after all. However, e-readers and e-books are a bit different, really, than what librarians are used to dealing with. We're used to books, physical books. Physical books have a physical reality. You can sell books, store them on a bookshelf, drop them in the mud, bend down the corners of the pages, all sorts of things. As a librarian, I would very much prefer that you didn't drop them in the mud or bend the corners down, but hey, those things can happen.
What can happen with e-readers, that we're just not used to as a profession, is that the books can disappear. You don't own an e-book, really you don't. You own the license to read it, but that license can be taken away. My husband pointed me to this article last night. My first question was, if the Nook is spun off, will my books still remain on my Nook? He shrugged.
Now, of course, his best guess and my best guess is that the books will be there on the Nook. It'd create too much ill-will if they weren't, but that isn't a guarantee. If publishers decide they don't like the new business model of the new Nook company (if it ever comes to pass), publishers can pull the rights to read the books on your Nook.
Libraries are seeing this with depressing regularity. The staff and I occasionally get complaints that we don't have enough e-books. Our answer is usually 1) our OverDrive service is only a year old. It takes libraries years and years and years to build up a full collection. It'll take time. This is the easy answer. Number 2) is the hard answer: publishers don't always see the positives of selling to libraries. So with this, e-books, they don't always sell to us. Macmillan won't play nice with OverDrive. Neither does Simon & Schuster. Penguin got in a tiff about how the Kindle works, and wanted to pull their content from OverDrive. Brilliance Audio just notified libraries that they aren't going to be moving forward with OverDrive.
This is silly. I know it's silly (Library Journal just did a study showing that there is a high conversion factor of readers, basically saying that library users, if they pick up a book at the library and like it, they are then more likely to buy future books by that author on or on that subject). You probably realize it's silly too. Libraries are pushing hard for equal access to purchase materials that are electronic, but I think it would probably also be a good idea if our patrons got involved. If you want a book available electronically, and we can't buy it due to restrictions, it would be awesome if our patrons would email those companies and let the companies know how their decisions impacted readers.
Anyway, I think the e-reader and e-book marketplace is going to be bumpy and unstable for awhile. As much as I love my Nook, I'm buckling my seat-belt and preparing for the ride.
Posted by Jennie.
I'm the library director of the Shorewood-Troy Public Library District. I love coffee, music, books, and my husband, Paul (not in that order). Come to the library to talk books and music with me!
