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Libraries struggle to afford e-books, seek new laws in fight with publishers

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Re: Libraries struggle to afford e-books, seek new laws in fight with publishers

#61

Post by toomuchtodo »

ghaff wrote: post #60
namekyd wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife and I are voracious readers, it would be a very expensive habit to have off we were buying everything for kindle. We are members of 2 local libraries with listings on overdrive/libby and rent the majority of our ebooks there. I suppose it depends on your library’s offering and how many books you go through

To be fair, I don't go through anything like the number of books I used to. I have a ton of unread stuff on my Kindle--some of which is admittedly large collections of classics which I got for $1 or $2 each.

What about people who cannot afford a Kindle, or cannot afford to buy e-books?

Re: Libraries struggle to afford e-books, seek new laws in fight with publishers

#62

Post by habosa »

This sucks but was inevitable. Libraries are such a weird and wonderful thing. Even though books are widely sold, there’s a place where you can go and read them for free instead. And it’s not some weird loophole, it’s a basic unit of our society and an assumed part of every community.

Unfortunately this is America. Nothing can beat out profit motives forever. The libraries really never stood a chance.

Re: Libraries struggle to afford e-books, seek new laws in fight with publishers

#63

Post by dragandj »

747-8F wrote: post #36

This isn't different from the media industry's overall evolution. Publishers aren't different from Audio media. Authors have mkt reach through digital channels, unlike constraints of bookshelf logistics. Why aren't they directly publishing their material? Margins are higher, without publisher fees.

Many authors do, but how likely it is that the potential reader finds their books among the millions of books pushed through channels saturated by well-oiled publisher-controlled marketing machine?

Re: Libraries struggle to afford e-books, seek new laws in fight with publishers

#64

Post by ghaff »

giraffe_lady wrote: post #50
Retric wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Airlines are often brought up as becoming cheaper with less regulations. While it was mostly manufacturers building more efficient aircraft, people are generally willing to trade leg room for a cheaper fair. That’s exactly the kind of thing regulators and the free market may come to a different compromise. Worse, but cheaper is often quite appealing.

Anything else you've noticed the free market compromising on re: air travel.

Quality generally with many manufactured goods. There are health and safety regulations but if there were a requirement for a 20-year warranty (which is about what my Aeron chair has) both quality and prices would probably increase significantly.

In the opposite direction, you're not actually allowed to generally buy a car without modern safety features. (Although automakers do make cars that are have higher or lower safety ratings within the regulatory framework.)

A common thread is that when push comes to shove, a lot of consumers will choose the lower price.

Re: Libraries struggle to afford e-books, seek new laws in fight with publishers

#65

Post by shiandow »

ses1984 wrote: post #28
snapplebobapple wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its actually an argument for less regulation. Its the regulation causing the market failure. Cut copyright to a less stupid number like what it was originally 14 years. Make maintaining a copyright for those years contingent on having X % of sales available for free in libraries. We are asking the fundamentally wrong question with copyright, we should not be maximizing monopoly for copyright owners, we should be mini…

>Cut copyright to a less stupid number like what it was originally 14 years. Make maintaining a copyright for those years contingent on having X % of sales available for free in libraries I’m nitpicking but this isn’t less regulation, it’s different regulation. Some would even say it’s more. You’re reducing a number but adding complexity with the percent sales requirement.

Fine, abolish copyright then, let's see what happens.

Re: Libraries struggle to afford e-books, seek new laws in fight with publishers

#66

Post by [deleted] »

Retric wrote: post #40
ryandrake wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plus, if you got rid of or reduced copyright, publishers would just find other ways to engage in cartel-like behavior and continue to screw everyone. I can’t think of any case where regulation/government was reduced and companies responded with something less profitable for the company.

Airlines are often brought up as becoming cheaper with less regulations. While it was mostly manufacturers building more efficient aircraft, people are generally willing to trade leg room for a cheaper fair. That’s exactly the kind of thing regulators and the free market may come to a different compromise. Worse, but cheaper is often quite appealing.

[deleted]

Re: Libraries struggle to afford e-books, seek new laws in fight with publishers

#67

Post by ghaff »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #61
ghaff wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, I don't go through anything like the number of books I used to. I have a ton of unread stuff on my Kindle--some of which is admittedly large collections of classics which I got for $1 or $2 each.

What about people who cannot afford a Kindle, or cannot afford to buy e-books?

There are a ton of free books, many even out of copyright, online. I also fully expect libraries will continue to have physical books including recent releases. I'm not advocating for libraries de-emphasizing this aspect of their mission. But I think it will probably naturally happen over time.

Re: Libraries struggle to afford e-books, seek new laws in fight with publishers

#68

Post by LegibleCrimson »

ghaff wrote: post #56
toomuchtodo wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Internet Archive is participating in the legal process to get to a conclusion that ebooks are the same as physical books, otherwise the concept of libraries is over (except for those who can pirate and the data stores that exist across the internet, Anna’s Archive, Zlib/libgen, etc).

The concept of libraries, especially those that aren't large research libraries, has already shifted quite a bit. I almost never go down to my small town library to take out a book or read a magazine. Maybe a DVD now and then that catches my eye. Sometimes I discount museum passes. I could go to talks. Their e-book service isn't that compelling. Other people probably have different behaviors. People I know with young…

I read books pretty sparingly, but my wife reads about 150 books a year. We heavily exercise our local library.

Re: Libraries struggle to afford e-books, seek new laws in fight with publishers

#69

Post by vzaliva »

What's worrying about the article is the fact that electronic editions of ebooks expire, meaning libraries can't keep them indefinitely. It's reminiscent of the Hollywood blockbuster model, where there's only a short window to watch a new movie in theaters. So, while libraries might stock new releases, what happens to the older ones? Could this trend be pushing readers towards newer publications?

Re: Libraries struggle to afford e-books, seek new laws in fight with publishers

#70

Post by ghaff »

LegibleCrimson wrote: post #68
ghaff wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The concept of libraries, especially those that aren't large research libraries, has already shifted quite a bit. I almost never go down to my small town library to take out a book or read a magazine. Maybe a DVD now and then that catches my eye. Sometimes I discount museum passes. I could go to talks. Their e-book service isn't that compelling. Other people probably have different behaviors. People I know with young…

I read books pretty sparingly, but my wife reads about 150 books a year. We heavily exercise our local library.

Yeah, there's definitely a subset of "super-readers" who really benefit from taking out library books. I used to be probably in the 50-75 range plus a ton of magazine subscriptions. I'm more like 10 or so now. I also bet there's a sizable percentage of the population who doesn't read one book a year.
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