Gravitational Pull - Latest Comments

Re: http://gravitationalpull.net/wp/?p=817

jedii — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:50:27 -0000

Arrr, hello, I saw this final episode last night and I think you missed the point that this new earth was just that a new earth, a new Eden. There were no nasties evident, no problems, just a beautiful wonderful place like Eden is supposed to be, for mankind to thrive and grow once again in.

Re: As feared, Kindle prices appear to be rising

Tom Farrell — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:01:30 -0000

Actually, I sell my book on the Kindle store, and it's "discounted". The price it's discounted from is the price I specified (which includes a percentage to amazon). So, if somebody buys my book, I still get paid as if it was sold for the price I specified, and amazon eats any difference.

So I guess that's what "discount" means on Kindle.

Re: Amazon Kindle competitor EReader slashes ebook prices

Alessandro — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:45:31 -0000

Hi, just to say that appreciate very much your comment on Chris Andreson's blog
"The sad problem at the root of many journalists' confusion, including Gladwell's apparently, is that they thought all the revenue and profits rolling in to newspaper coffers in past decades reflected the value of their work when in fact much of it represented the value of the hard-to-match production and distribution chain that could pump out relatively cheap classified ads and Sunday supplements and blanket them all over town. The Internet, as it often does, disintermediated that distribution chain and much of the revenue and profits migrated elsewhere."

The main reason why journalist don't understand this, is that the large part of them is not so good that somebody would like to pay to read their article and | or there are others that are at the same level that are writing for free.

As I read somewhere, the problem could be a Superstar economy in journalism, as in Cinema. Just a few very well paid professionist.

Re: Amazon Kindle competitor EReader slashes ebook prices

ampressman — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:58:27 -0000

Interesting update - commenter HeavyG over at the Teleread blog has found at least one counter example. It's a case where a book came out for Kindle (and in hardcover) a year ago but it's just hitting the eReader store now and thus appears to fall under the promise that all "new titles" will be priced at $9.95 or less for the first week.

Executive Warfare: 10 Rules of Engagement for Winning Your War for Success by David D'Alessandro is $9.95 at eReader.com and $14.82 at the Kindle store. Amazon also offers the book in hardcover for $18.21 down from the cover list price of $24.95.

Re: Despite complaints and DRM, Kindle is a good value

ampressman — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:55:13 -0000

Hey Crotty, quick, how many iPods sold in the first 18 months it was for sale?

You do crack me up. I'm sorry. I don't know if you have the discipline of mind to step back from all this Kindle minutia and look at your comments here but it would be worth trying. When a guy posts the wikipedia definition of "straw man" and goes on about it for another three comments accuses you of nit picking, responds to the charge of constantly shifting his arguments by shifting his argument and wants to have all his paperbacks around in 2026, it's, well, never mind.

Re: Despite complaints and DRM, Kindle is a good value

David Crotty — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:58:48 -0000

Nit pick, nit pick, nit pick. I should have known better than to get involved here. You obviously enjoy your Kindle, and feel it's a good value. Good for you. I disagree. I've already spent more time than I can afford arguing with someone who would rather pick nits than talk about bigger issues. If you think half a million devices sold is a lot, then you know very little about the electronics market. If you don't understand the phrase "monopoly gatekeepers" and how it's pretty much everything I've been saying all along, and how it affects the value you receive, then just keep on giggling. At least it'll help prevent you from using more big words you don't understand.

Re: Despite complaints and DRM, Kindle is a good value

ampressman — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:28:29 -0000

I'm afraid I didn't realize when I started engaging in this debate
that you were one of those guys. The Enderle thing really should have
been a clue but I ignored it.

I didn't tell you what you're "allowed to say" on the Internet. I said
I hoped you would refrain from posting inaccurate generalizations in
the future. I can see now that my hopes were in vain. I will continue
to maintain that you have posted inaccurate generalizations. I didn't
"call someone a liar." I'm tempted to post the wikipedia definition of
a lie but I'll just remind you that a key element is intent to deceive
and I don't know anything about your intent. You may be posting
inaccurate generalizations due to ignorance, misinformation from
another source etc.

Regarding the revenue split, you brought this up to support your
argument that Apple could dethrone Amazon from the dominant position
in the ebook market, rather easily you seem to believe. Here's the
complete context, in case you've forgotten:

Me: Kindle is the dominant ebook format, Amazon is the leading
ebook seller and the DRM works not just on the Kindle hardware but
also on all iPhones and iPod Touches as well as more devices to come.

You: I’m merely pointing out that there was a device that was the
market leader for mp3 players before the iPod entered the fray, that
Apple, given their current business practices, could easily pull all e-
book reading apps from their store (their policy is not to allow any
apps that duplicate the software Apple supplies themselves, so no
alternative web browsers), and that Apple’s terms under the iTunes
store (Apple keeps 30% of revenue) are a lot more favorable for
authors and publishers than those being offered by Amazon in some
areas (Amazon keeps 70% of blog or newspaper revenues). The risk may
be greater than you think, and given the relatively low sales numbers
of the Kindle, it’s not like a competitor would have much inertia to
overcome.

Amazon loses its dominant position in the ebook market if Apple sells
more ebooks. This doesn't have to do with blogs or newspapers. This is
a great example of not knowing your intent. Maybe you have not seen
any of the many articles explaining Amazon's ebook revenue splits with
major publishers or the terms and conditions for self-published ebooks
so you're trying cite what is known. Maybe you don't know much about
publishing and you don't understand how the split works. I have no
idea. Nonetheless, if you're going to argue that Apple could beat
Amazon in the ebook market because Amazon keeps too much of sales
revenues, it is inaccurate and misleading then to cite the revenue
split for "some areas" (a few other minor products) when the revenue
split for ebooks that's directly relevant is known and could be cited
(but that would weaken your argument).

One of the most informative bits of your last response was when you
responded to my charge that I've answered the substantive part of your
argument over and over but you keep moving on to new arguments. You
answer was:

"Can you show me where you showed that DRM is good for consumers or
that having a monopoly gatekeeper is good for artists or for audiences?"

Perfect-o. I have agreed over and over that DRM is bad for consumers
(I posted on my blog about the secret Amazon DRM limits three or four
days before you did). And then you bring up yet another brand new
strand about a "monopoly gatekeeper." I'd agree that monopoly
gatekeepers are generally bad for artists and audiences (though I
don't consider Amazon/Kindle fits the term). BUT THE ACTUAL ARGUMENT
is about whether all things considered the Kindle represents a good
value, whether it's worth taking a flyer on this sort-of-new (20-month-
old) format for people who buy and read a lot of books.

You can offer all the speculative, unquantifiable subsets of people
who won't want a Kindle. What can I say? There is a large and growing
group of people buying a lot of Kindles and Kindle ebooks (Amazon says
ebook sales make up 35% of sales for books available in both print and
Kindle editions, the Kindle iPhone app is the #1 download in the books
category, analyst estimates of total Kindle device sales are around
half a million). The Kindle is a good deal for many people (never said
"most" but not sure what that has to do with THE ACTUAL ARGUMENT).

I'd like to descend into an argument about whether you used a straw
man argument or not but I can't stop giggling.

Re: Despite complaints and DRM, Kindle is a good value

David Crotty — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:47:42 -0000

I'll suggest that telling people what they are and are not allowed to say on the internet is not going to be met with much goodwill, at least until you are elected internet sheriff. I'd also suggest that if you're going to call someone a liar, you'd be well advised to doublecheck and make sure they actually said what you think they said. I challenge you to find any instance where I claimed anything about the profit split for book publishers. I was very careful in the language I used. The comment in question specifically says:

Apple’s terms under the iTunes store (Apple keeps 30% of revenue) are a lot more favorable for authors and publishers than those being offered by Amazon in some areas (Amazon keeps 70% of blog or newspaper revenues)

I'll expect your apology in your reply.

You'll also note that twice you accused me of presenting a straw man argument while having no apparent understanding of what that term means. I did not call you a liar, and instead pointed you to more accurate information. You've done the same for me regarding Fictionwise and I appreciate it. I will in the future be careful to say that you are limited to one store for the vast majority of books, barring public domain works and a small number that are unlikely to be of interest to most readers.

A thousand pardons if I misunderstood your Google reference.

At least you didn't call me a liar.

I've answered the substantive part of your argument over and over

Really? Can you show me where you showed that DRM is good for consumers or that having a monopoly gatekeeper is good for artists or for audiences?

I wonder if more people are like me and Kent ("you each buy a lot of books, read them once and then never go back") or like you

Most people are not like either of us. Most people don't read books. Of those that do, only a tiny minority are interested in purchasing e-books, let alone expensive e-book readers.

I'll go back to the main point: for many, many people the Kindle is a good value right now. And it's a good value for many, many people even if Amazon decides to close it down in a few years, an event I consider extremely unlikely. That group does not apparently include the editors of scientific monographs.

Or anyone interested in keeping a book for the long term. Or anyone interested in color figures. Or anyone who plans to regularly upgrade their hardware. Or anyone suspicious of DRM crippled files, etc., etc. If you're happy as a risk-taking early adopter, good for you.

Re: Despite complaints and DRM, Kindle is a good value

ampressman — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:17:19 -0000

Funny, I'm not at all offended. I'm just not a fan of posting misleading stuff all over the web about Kindle. Is it accurate to cite the 70/30 blogger split when you're making an argument about major book publishers and it's already out on the record over and over that the split for them is different? Is it it accurate to say Kindle users can "only buy books from Amazon"? Or "only buy e-book readers from Amazon"? No, it's just false.

A thousand pardons if I misunderstood your Google reference.

It's funny that you're worried about my picking nits. I've answered the substantive part of your argument over and over only to have you write another 500 words making a whole set of different arguments. That's fine, that's your right and it's the Internet so space for comments is endless.

I wonder if more people are like me and Kent ("you each buy a lot of books, read them once and then never go back") or like you ("I edit and publish scientific manuals, monographs and journals for a living. These are books one is going to keep for decades and refer back to constantly.") Based on book sales, I think the answer is obvious. People who love opera had many legitimate complaints about the iTunes store for years. But they're just a small minority and the store has been a roaring success despite being unfriendly to the needs of opera lovers and almost entirely encumbered with by DRM until a few months ago.

I'll go back to the main point: for many, many people the Kindle is a good value right now. And it's a good value for many, many people even if Amazon decides to close it down in a few years, an event I consider extremely unlikely. That group does not apparently include the editors of scientific monographs.

Re: Despite complaints and DRM, Kindle is a good value

David Crotty — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:49:29 -0000

Wow, sorry for getting your knickers in a twist. If you're going to be offended by open debate, and a willingness to learn new things, I'll leave you alone. My statement on revenue was 100% accurate, and I'll stand by it. You read something into it that wasn't there. My statement on Amazon being the only source for books is accurate for the vast majority of books on the market. If you'd rather pick nits than answer the substantive parts of my argument, I'll leave you to it.

Go re-read what I said. Google is going to make the Kindle vastly better. Competition is good for markets. Competition is good for consumers. If you want a better Kindle, you should welcome as many new companies as possible into the market. They'll push Amazon to be better.

Enjoy your Kindle.

Re: Despite complaints and DRM, Kindle is a good value

ampressman — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:41:39 -0000

I hope in the future you'll refrain from posting inaccurate
generalizations about matters such as the Kindle publishing split,
availability of non-Amazon ebooks sold for the Kindle and ability to
read Kindle books on other platforms.

You far-ranging speculations about what might happen continue to
ramble on and on. Now it's Google that going to make Kindle worse?

Re: Despite complaints and DRM, Kindle is a good value

David Crotty — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:30:29 -0000

Great news on Fictionwise, thanks for letting me know. I was hoping to see that Amazon was licensing their file format and DRM to others, which would go a long way toward making their technology more acceptable, but this is not the case. Basically, Fictionwise seems to be offering only Kindle-compatible books where the publishers does not require DRM, which cuts out the vast majority of books. One could say the same about all the public domain books out there. Amazon is still using DRM for a lock-out for most books though, which is bad news for consumers.

And yes, you could still read your Kindle books on your phone, assuming Amazon continues to make phone-compatible versions of their reading software. But that argues against buying a locked-down single-company device like the Kindle. Why not instead buy an iPhone or a Blackberry and not be tied to one store (and save $350 in the process)? The point stands though, if you buy a Kindle, then a Sony Reader, don't expect your Amazon purchases to transfer between them. If you want the quality reading experience that a dedicated reader offers over a tiny phone screen, right now you have to choose one company and commit for life.

Oh, and the one thing I forgot to mention is the elephant in the room. Google Books may make all of this moot once they enter the e-book business. Which is a good thing as it will mean some serious competition for everyone in the market, and that's good for consumers. With more options, companies will have to make their products better and more user-friendly if they want us to choose their devices.

Re: Despite complaints and DRM, Kindle is a good value

ampressman — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:05:23 -0000

On and on. Right now, I just have time to highlight another important
mistake in your facts about the Kindle. You said: If your library is
on a Kindle, you can only buy books from Amazon, you can only buy e-
book readers from Amazon.

Not true - not remotely true. Right now, I can buy books from Amazon
and read them on an iPhone or iPod Touch without buying any device
from Amazon. Soon Blackberry and other platforms will be added, too. I
can also buy ebooks from a variety of vendors like Fictionwise who
sell them in Kindle format and compete with Amazon and read them on my
Kindle.

Re: Despite complaints and DRM, Kindle is a good value

David Crotty — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:24:27 -0000

Hi Aaron,
Glad to have pushed some buttons and stimulated some thought on your end. I've answered most of your arguments over in the comments at the Scholarly Kitchen and can repost a bit here. It's interesting to see the responses to Kent's post. Some like you absolutely love it. Others have gone so far as to call his reasoning "Orwellian".

I'm not arguing that Apple will dominate this market. Just that it's a possibility. You may be right on Apple not entering the market. So far, they're playing it smart and instead asking for a piece of everyone else's business rather than creating their own. But you can substitute many other companies in for Apple. Sony or Plastic Logic as just two examples. If the Kindle fails, Amazon will become a reseller for ebooks for those platforms, but your Kindle purchases will not be transferable.

For the type of reading you and Kent do, perhaps the Kindle makes sense. I get the feeling that you each buy a lot of books, read them once and then never go back. I edit and publish scientific manuals, monographs and journals for a living. These are books one is going to keep for decades and refer back to constantly. The lack of color, the poor navigation and the unlikeliness of any Kindle file lasting ten years makes it a bad product for my needs and the needs of my customers. On a personal note, I just finished re-reading a paperback I had originally bought and read in 1992. I'm not sure that a Kindle book I buy today will be as readable in 2026. That paperback, however, will be.

As you note, getting DRM-free e-books is difficult (although there are some out there, and lots in the public domain) and the Kindle is the market leader. But who really needs electronic books that badly? Yes, the instant gratification of buying is nice on occasion. The portability could possibly be helpful in certain circumstances, but for most people that's not worth an additional $350-500. Paper and ink books are a perfectly good format for my reading needs. I continued buying CDs instead of iTunes downloads until they dropped the DRM, which worked out well for me (I got higher quality tracks as a bonus and a hard copy as backup). Yes, perhaps the cost was a little higher, but then again, in this case, I'm saving $350 which offsets any higher book prices (and as noted, getting a higher quality product for my money). Or I could just buy used books (as I regularly bought used CDs) and pay even less than you do for your Kindle books. I also became a customer with eMusic, who offered a DRM-free alternative at even better prices than iTunes. And no, I don't buy any video games, all the iPhone apps I have so far are free apps. I do have some software that is restricted but I don't pay for that, my company does, and I go for the unencumbered programs when an equivalent is available (just like I'm doing with e-books). So far, this has not had any detrimental "opportunity costs". Can you explain what you mean by this? What are the costs I'm incurring by not playing video games or buying paper books instead of e-books?

My point is that if I can avoid it, I won't spend my money on a product that is offered to me on poor terms. Even worse, I won't buy anything where the terms can be changed at any given moment with no recourse on my part. Amazon is already enforcing secret restrictions on your purchase, things you can't discover until you've already paid. That's a pretty serious rip-off as far as I'm concerned. Who's to say they wont start putting in more and more of these restrictions? It's allowed under the EULA you agreed to when you bought your Kindle books. Amazon can decide you're a bad customer and wipe out your account. I want to know exactly what I'm buying when I'm buying it. I don't want to buy something and then later learn that I paid for less than I thought. e-Book buyers have already had their purchases disappear. Think Amazon is too big a company to do the same thing? I would have said the same about Microsoft, who are even bigger than Amazon.

The other big issue is the vendor lock-in. If your library is on a Kindle, you can only buy books from Amazon, you can only buy e-book readers from Amazon. It doesn't matter if some other company comes out with a new technology that is 100X better than the Kindle. You're locked in. You will need to re-buy your entire library if you want to make the switch. And that's a bad deal for consumers.

I'm waiting for the market to settle down, and to come together on an openly licensed format, one that is available to all manufacturers. I want the e-book equivalent of mp3 or AAC. I want to buy an e-Book from Barnes & Noble and use it on my Kindle, then transfer it to the new Plastic Logic reader that replaces it, and the next device after that. That means I can't be in a hurry, but that's okay. I'd rather wait than be ripped off.

Re: As feared, Kindle prices appear to be rising

Angie — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:48:44 -0000

I've found a number of free or discounted books on the Kindle. A couple are Robin Hobb's Assassin's apprentice and Luthiel's Song by Robert Fanney.

Links: http://www.amazon.com/Luthiels-Song-Dreams-Ring...

http://www.amazon.com/Assassins-Apprentice-eboo...

Though what you say is disturbing, there does seem to still be a lot of great bargains.

Re: Scary complaints mounting about Amazon Kindle’s DRM

txa1265 — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:38:16 -0000

I think the word 'backtrack' is misleading and demonstrates some bias on your part. Had he gotten a clear answer from Amazon to begin with perhaps he would have been more clear and succinct in his wording, but he worked at clarifying as he learned more.

Because many gadget-heads grab whatever is new and hot and immediately put whatever apps / games / utilities they like on there, they represent a bit of a challenge case for these situations. What Dan saw was what looked like a potential download issue - and it makes sense, as he had put these same books on the same devices before ... and now with a new device he was unable to add only certain books.

The fact that different books / publishers / whatever impose different limits on consumers *WITHOUT CONSUMER'S KNOWLEDGE* is rather troubling.

The fact that you can add devices but not 'revoke', which is a fairly standard industry took, means that these situations will hapen more and more.

So I wouldn't use 'backtrack' but clarification, as that is what has really happened.

Re: As feared, Kindle prices appear to be rising

SteveWeber — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:59:43 -0000

Not sure. Someone (Amazon? The publisher?) is probably hoping that Kindle users will pay at least $9 or $10 for the convenience of getting certain content on their Kindle and won't quibble about the price of the pBook.

Super-cheap paper copies always surface when a bestseller has run its course. Or a textbook older than three or four semesters. Much less likely to happen with niche, specialized content.

Re: As feared, Kindle prices appear to be rising

ampressman — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:41:16 -0000

Steve - thanks for the comment and great point. Any sense of whether
most of the paperback/Kindle pricing anomalies are like that?

Re: As feared, Kindle prices appear to be rising

SteveWeber — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:29:57 -0000

Good post. "Big Russ" was a huge bestseller, so that's why used copies are selling for a penny. Also, the "Bargain Price" designation on Amazon means the book has been remaindered -- returned by bookstores for credit. So even "new" hard-copy books are being sold at a huge discount to the original retail price.

Re: Scary complaints mounting about Amazon Kindle’s DRM

ampressman — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:18:53 -0000

The again, here's Cohen back tracking. http://www.geardiary.com/2009/06/21/kindlegate-...

Re: Reading Infinite Jest on the Kindle versus dead tree pulp

Sess — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 06:09:10 -0000

Don't be so quick to blame the Kindle. It supports a lot of ways of handling this, but it comes down to whether the publisher has done the work to mark up the text properly.

You need to get a bunch of books under your belt, at various levels of markup and using AZW, Mobi, and Topaz formats, to get a good idea of what's possible, and which publishers are shirking their markup jobs.

Re: Scary complaints mounting about Amazon Kindle’s DRM

ampressman — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 21:33:10 -0000

Abhi,

Thanks for the quick comment back. As I said in my original post,
evidence for some of the DRM limits is anecdotal and somewhat
exaggerated. I'm concerned about the big picture. I use the phrase "no
real confirmation" to describe your post because Dan Cohen says
customer service reps at Amazon told him that this download limit
exists and no one from Amazon told you that it doesn't. You've
experimented, been unable to reproduce the problem in your experiments
and offered your own interpretation of the error message Cohen
received. That's not the same as Amazon confirming that the download
limit is phony, which hopefully they'll do soon.

-Aaron

Re: Scary complaints mounting about Amazon Kindle’s DRM

abhi — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:33:02 -0000

wow - i'm the one who has no real confirmation.

how about this - numerous kindle owners and me have downloaded our books more than 6 times, and confirmed that it works.

the gear diary article is based on what he heard from a customer service representative. even the screenshot he's using CLEARLY says 'book cannot be downloaded to this device'.

Re: Scary complaints mounting about Amazon Kindle’s DRM

Shelley Powers — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:17:34 -0000

Did not know about the download limits. That's not documented anywhere.

I recommend people file a complaint with the FCC about these "undocumented restrictions" based on Amazon's DRM support.

Re: Scary complaints mounting about Amazon Kindle’s DRM

geardiary — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 14:19:34 -0000

You're awesome! I just wanted to make sure that credit went where it was due. :-)