Earlier quoted context omitted.
As I said, subscriptions, not buying
What is the Spotify of books?
Amazon/Adobe DRM? They can stop working at any time.
No one buys books
41–50 of 752 posts
Re: No one buys books
#42I'm currently writing a book about independent thinking and I have zero expectations that it will sell even a single copy. However, the net gain I will get from having completed the goal of writing the book is invaluable to me personally.
I have read a couple of books on that subject and they all disappointed. I will gladly buy your book if it's original work.
Re: No one buys books
#43So, I usually think in terms of longevity. I do own some books, because in case computers don’t work anymore, well I can still read good stuff. I have plenty of PDFs/epubs in my laptop because the internet may not work anymore anytime. I do have some stuff in the cloud, but just for convenience (I don’t care if those files disappear). Same with music, movies and video games. I want to be able to “run” stuff offline.…
I'm the same way, and also: I want to not have to pay a subscription fee forever. Once I have what I want, then that's it! I'm don't need to spend another dime. But if I use Spotify or whatever, I have to keep paying forever. It is a much worse deal.
Re: No one buys books
#44Does this include technical books? O'Reilly and Manning seem to have substantial customers. Or is the licensing of PDFs excluded from such figures?
Re: No one buys books
#45Re: No one buys books
#46Haven't libraries already been a "Netflix of books" for millenia now?
Mine doesn't have this book, anyway.
$94 for a used copy /s
Re: No one buys books
#47Re: No one buys books
#48Turn it around:
How much new information is there published in book form each year which the average person needs to (or wants to) read?
How much leisure time does the average person choose to dedicate each year to reading? How do they decide which book(s) will be selected for this?
Arguably the problem is that much of the purpose which books traditionally take up has been replaced by:
- encyclopedias --- Wikipedia
- magazines/newspapers --- Facebook and social media
- dime store novels --- fan fiction and webcomics
Time was that the way to be successful w/ a self-published book was to manage to get it bought by the ~9,000 library systems in the U.S. --- how many of these books are being purchased by libraries?
Re: No one buys books
#49So, I usually think in terms of longevity. I do own some books, because in case computers don’t work anymore, well I can still read good stuff. I have plenty of PDFs/epubs in my laptop because the internet may not work anymore anytime. I do have some stuff in the cloud, but just for convenience (I don’t care if those files disappear). Same with music, movies and video games. I want to be able to “run” stuff offline.…
I'm the same way, and also: I want to not have to pay a subscription fee forever. Once I have what I want, then that's it! I'm don't need to spend another dime. But if I use Spotify or whatever, I have to keep paying forever. It is a much worse deal.
The difference between music and books is time investment. New music comes out all the time, and I'm always discovering old music. A subscription works great for music because I can listen to so many songs. Books not so much, and I consider myself a reader.
Re: No one buys books
#50The same could be said about the game industry and the music industry. 1% of the industry thrives while the rest is a sinking stone.
That said I bought three books this week, but it's a rare occurrence... and I'm pretty sure they're re-printed by Amazon.