Upside of e-books–as conceded by an unlikely source
Oh, wow. Someone working for KCL, a research outfit owned by Finnish paper companies, has found that “Reading books in the electronic media proved to be more pleasant than was expected. Users valued the small size of the devices and considered the quality of displays good.” That’s a paraphrase from Telecom & Mobility News. According to the News, Anu Seisto also found that:
Reading a printed book was… considered more pleasant than looking at a display. According to the participants of the study, a smartphone was well suited to reading as it was easy to take along. There was no need for separate reading devices. The users expect the prices of electronic books to be much lower than those of printed books.
How true that last line is. Draconian DRM is a real subtracter of value.
October 15th, 2005 at 2:57 am
DRM is at most 10% of the ebook public price.
The main problem comes from the publishers…
October 15th, 2005 at 6:21 am
Hi, Laura. Whether the max figure is 10% or higher, that’s still far too much, especially when you consider the royalty rates for authors — the main creator of the products on sale. – David