Kindle (question for Mason)

[Doc T River]

I just finished reading about the Kindle, the e-book brought to market by Amazon, and I was wondering if any 2plus2 books will be available on that device.

[utility]

[ QUOTE ]
I just finished reading about the Kindle, the e-book brought to market by Amazon, and I was wondering if any 2plus2 books will be available on that device.

[/ QUOTE ]

even though im also looking forward to 2+2 titles being available in some kind of e-book format i am strongly opposed to supporting the amazon/kindle.

why? simply because amazon is trying to set up a monopoly here. you can't use any non kindle format DRM e-book on the kindle device and you won't be able to use kindle formatted e-books on any other device than the kindle itself.

and i think it would be bad for everyone (readers and publishers) to let amazon take them as hostages!

i am also curious if amazon will even try to bring the kindle to europe, because the EU would definitely stick the kindle back into bezo's arse [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

anyway i'd also like to here 2+2's stance on this topic.

[mshalen]

A long time ago Mason responded to a similar post about 2+2 and ebooks. If I remember correctly, he said that 2+2 had no intention to publish any books in an ebook format.

[ohio]

[ QUOTE ]
A long time ago Mason responded to a similar post about 2+2 and ebooks. If I remember correctly, he said that 2+2 had no intention to publish any books in an ebook format.

[/ QUOTE ]

why not?

[*TT*]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
A long time ago Mason responded to a similar post about 2+2 and ebooks. If I remember correctly, he said that 2+2 had no intention to publish any books in an ebook format.

[/ QUOTE ]

why not?

[/ QUOTE ]

A better question is why? I can think of 10 why nots and only one why.

[daveT]

TT, I agree with not wanting e-books. Can you list the 10 why nots and 1 why. I would guess why not would be because it is easy to file-share.

About the DRMs. It like what is happening to Apple. They had the monopoly at first, but they are losing it.

Personally, I think that e-book format sucks. Something about holding a book in your hand....

[ohio]

reduced production costs

more profit for the publisher

greater market share

easier to update and correct

quicker to market

reach younger audience

interactive features (quizes, etc.)

can display larger characters for visually disabled

multimedia features (video clips, etc.)

easy to store (for those of us with overflowing bookshelves)

[RobertC]

According to Amazon's website they already have several poker books available in Kindle editions. This includes:

1) The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide

2) Phil Hellmuth Presents Read 'Em and Reap

3) The Poker Face of Wall Street

4) Positively Fifth Street

5) One of a Kind

6) Bigger Deal

[daveT]

Call me old-fashioned. I still want to own a library (a few thousand books) with an actual book-shelf. The books sitting there have a physical presence, and a reminder to re-read and share. That will not be possible with an e-book. Yes, you may have 100 "books" but you and only you can read it, and no one else will be able to borrow it or look through it at their own leisure.

[ QUOTE ]
reduced production costs

[/ QUOTE ]

This is not true. Although reduced as in less paper and not having to pay free-lance artists, there will be an increase in marketing, research, and reformatting old books to fit this new device. It will be way more expensive than you foresee. It is not the physical as much as the mental work that will show an increase. You also cannot hire an illiterate monkey to retype and reformat all the books out there for minimum wages either.

[ QUOTE ]
more profit for the publisher

[/ QUOTE ]

This is not true. People are not going to pay $30 for a book after they pay for these machines. People will pay $19 for a CD but pay $10 for an MP3 album. Why would the average consumer be willing to pay full price for a file?

[ QUOTE ]
greater market share

[/ QUOTE ]

Probably not. People are going to buy books weather it is book or file format. Books aren't going to one day become uber-popular because they are more convenient to obtain. The files work for music because people did not want to pay full price for a CD containing 8 songs they didn't want to hear. It was buying the single that became popular. You can't buy chapter 10 and enjoy a book.

[ QUOTE ]
easier to update and correct

[/ QUOTE ]

As in rewriting the story? Many authors are fine to write the next book and let the past be the past if it already published.

[ QUOTE ]
quicker to market

[/ QUOTE ]

This would destroy the book business. A best seller only sells about 100k copies over it's lifetime. With all the noise even now, it is hard to garner any attention to the marketed books. An author still has to go to book signings and talk to promote a book. Unless the author is popular, the first few books of any author takes months, if not years to promote a book profitably.

[ QUOTE ]
reach younger audience

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think it matters here. The audience is there and not expandable. Certain people like to read, and certain others don't. How would you change that?

[ QUOTE ]
interactive features (quizes, etc.)

[/ QUOTE ]

I would die if I couldn't play video slots on my cell phone.

[ QUOTE ]
can display larger characters for visually disabled

[/ QUOTE ]

This is interesting. It is probably the best benefit to these books.

[ QUOTE ]
multimedia features (video clips, etc.)

[/ QUOTE ]

We see how well the iPhone is doing. This is an interesting assertion, though, and I wonder what our world will be up to in a decade. I hope to have a piece of whatever it is.

[ QUOTE ]
easy to store (for those of us with overflowing bookshelves)

[/ QUOTE ]

I stated above why I would like a library.

[ohio]

[ QUOTE ]
I still want to own a library (a few thousand books) with an actual book-shelf.

[/ QUOTE ]

i dont think anyone is suggesting that 2+2 stop publishing paper versions.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
reduced production costs

[/ QUOTE ]

This is not true. Although reduced as in less paper and not having to pay free-lance artists, there will be an increase in marketing, research, and reformatting old books to fit this new device.

[/ QUOTE ]

less production cost per ebook versus the production cost per paper book. of course total production costs will go up if you publish both varieties, but the average cost will go down.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
more profit for the publisher

[/ QUOTE ]

This is not true. People are not going to pay $30 for a book after they pay for these machines.

[/ QUOTE ]

of course they won't pay $30 for ebooks. but because it costs less to produce the average ebook, 2+2 can lower the price considerably. the end result is a lower price for ebook customers and greater profits for 2+2. win-win.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
greater market share

[/ QUOTE ]

Probably not. People are going to buy books weather it is book or file format.

[/ QUOTE ]

fewer and fewer young people are buying printed books. more and more young people are into electronic everything. if you don't put out ebooks, you'll reach a smaller share of the poker playing public.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
easier to update and correct

[/ QUOTE ]

As in rewriting the story?

[/ QUOTE ]

As in correcting errors and updating the material.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
quicker to market

[/ QUOTE ]

This would destroy the book business.

[/ QUOTE ]

ebooks are coming whether or not 2+2 gets involved. if their popularity destroys the printed book business, then that is a good reason to get involved in the ebook business.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
reach younger audience

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think it matters here. The audience is there and not expandable. Certain people like to read, and certain others don't.

[/ QUOTE ]

certain people like to read printed books and certain people prefer ebooks. most younger people prefer ebooks.