Publishers split on divisive Amazon Kindle book reader?

by Stevie Smith - Jun 3 2008, 12:25

While there’s certainly no denying the technological appeal and customer convenience of Amazon’s wireless Kindle electronic reading device, it would appear that the very book-publishing industry it has been designed to serve is somewhat divided as to whether it is a blessing or a curse.

Despite growing support and sales, are leading publishers really behind electronic book readers? Image: Amazon.

Taking the stand at last week’s BookExpo Convention in Los Angeles, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sang the evolutionary praises of Kindle, enthusiastically lauding the slender and versatile reader, which is capable of holding around 200 non-illustrated books and presently contributes some 6 percent of Amazon’s total paper and electronic book sales.However, despite the fact that Amazon’s opening run of Kindle stock sold out in less than six hours when it launched in November of 2007, some publishing houses are not entirely sold on the format and the effect it is having on the book-selling industry.While prominent publisher Simon & Schuster has recently revealed it is to add a further 5,000 titles to its Kindle catalogue (taking the publisher’s total to 130,000 titles), there are gathering whispers from certain quarters that suggest Amazon’s emerging strength as a bookseller could result in it pushing publishers to reduce traditional paper prices in light of electronic versions selling for considerably less. Potential industry consequences associated with electronic publishing run beyond mere price reductions however, with surging digital book sales perhaps even posing a genuine threat to the traditional book publishing industry.According to a related New York Times article, Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn K. Reidy has said that her company expects digital book sales to more than double in 2008 when compared to 2007. She also noted that digital sales grew 40 percent in 2007 when measured against 2006.And Simon & Schuster is not alone in recording expansive growth, with Penguin Group USA’s CEO David Shanks similarly revealing that the company, second only to Random House in the publishing stakes, has sold more digital books in the first four months of 2008 than it did during the whole of 2007.While mass consumption is still someway off for digital readers such as Kindle -- not least due to its $359 USD price tag and current US localisation -- the fact that it offers free wireless network access (via Sprint), can carry an entire cabinet’s worth of content, is lightweight (a mere 10.2 ounces), boasts a QWERTY keyboard, and also offers an adjustable 4-level grayscale view screen (600x800), means that once the price drops sufficiently and the device spreads to other market regions, there’s every chance the traditional book format will be saddled with a true rival.That being said, it’s hard to see the majority of the book-buying public (including this writer) fully abandoning the sentimental value associated with traditionally published books. Compounding that notion, Amazon is keen to point out that Kindle users often purchase a digital and traditional version of their desired book, which goes against industry worries claiming customers are choosing a digital book instead of a traditional alternative.

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DominoJun 4th, 2008 - 10:09:00

Perhaps everyone should try not to panic so much about the immediate effects of readers like the Kindle (and there are other readers as well you know, Kindle isn't the only one).

Ebooks are not a replacement for real books, they are just another format to read books in, because some books are just for reading, not for having.

Not everyone will want one, it'll be people who read a lot and want to take 20 books on holiday and still fit some shoes in their case, or know they won't want to re-read a certain book, or teachers who need to carry several textbooks around and so on.

When the Reader takes off, it'll be because children are reading their textbooks on them, but that's a while away yet. What amazes me is the way some bloggers complain about the advent of the ebook as though it's some sort of threat to print books, when eventually it'll bring the book full circle - print books will become genuinely precious objects again because you really wanted to buy and have and keep that book.

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PeterJun 6th, 2008 - 10:05:36

The problem with Amazon's Kindle is that the ebooks are not readable on other devices. The format Kindle is using is based on Mobipocket (www.mobipocket.com) but changed in that way that it only can be used on the Kindle.
If a publishers chooses to publish their ebooks in Mobipocket-format it reaches a sales through hundreds of ebookretailers worldwide and the ebooks can be read on many devices (including Palm, Pocket PC, Blackberry, iLead, Cybook, Smartphones and several other electronic ink based readers then the Kindle. With Mobipocket the publisher can choose its retailers and within this list Amazon is included. If you switch on Amazon as your retailer you have to sign an extra agreement by which you give Amazon all kind of extra permission. Permissions many publishers not realizing it's consequences. One of the consequences is that Aamazon change the format so that it can be used on the Kindle alone.
In return if you arrange the ebook distribution directly through Amazon it will not appear in the Mobipocket store. By this the number of available titels at Aamazon is growing faster and Amazon is able to bind the use of ebooks to their own hardware. This is not in the benefit of the publisher and not in the benefit of the reader. Readers should be independent in the hardware they prefer to read ebooks. Nobody is accepting to watch TV on hardware supplied by the broadcastingcompany alone, being able to watch only the programs of the broadcasting company. Publishers want to have more retailchannels then Amazon.
Amazon owns the majority of the shares of Mobipocket.com. It seems to me they intend to control the ebook market and are building a dominant position towards both publishers as well as consumers.

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