Should public libraries charge for ebooks?

After a thread appeared on one of the mailing lists about ebooks in public libraries, I thought I’d see what people’s view are regarding whether libraries should charge library users for borrowing them.  Here is the result:

Should public libraries charge for ebooks?

Ok, the result is probably unsurprising for many (and of course this was hardly scientific) but was surprising was that 7 people felt that libraries should charge for ebooks.  No reasons were provided in the comments, which is a shame as it would have been interesting to learn why those who voted in favour of charging took that view.

Me?  I think libraries should offer ebooks free of charge as they would do with print books, for a number of reasons:

• Has the potential to attract those who do not use the library service.
• When those people start borrowing ebooks from the library, there is the potential to introduce them to other services that the library may offer.
• Libraries should, as many critics have noted, take the lead on the provision of information, no matter what form it comes in.
• If libraries do not offer free ebooks, users will just obtain them from elsewhere for free – meaning the service is unlikely to generate much in the way of added income.
• Ebooks are books and, as such, should be subject to the same rules as for print books.

I’ll be interested to hear what your thoughts are.  Particularly if you are of the belief that public libraries should charge for ebooks.  There must be some good reasons that I am overlooking.

A tiny contribution to the debate…

Will ereaders ever be as cheap as disposable razors?

I can barely believe it myself.  A debate has been raging over the past couple of days over that blog post (come on, you know the one) and I have barely murmured.  I must finally be at peace with the world (er, yeah right).  Be assured I am not now about to ‘launch into one’ over this, others have written far more eloquent responses to that piece.  Nope, not me.  That said, however, there is one part of that post that I think does need picking up on as it seems to be a growing belief.

In that post, Godin states:

Five years from now, readers will be as expensive as Gillette razors, and ebooks will cost less than the blades.

Now, I’m going to stick my neck out here and say that they won’t.  Yep, this is going to be one of those posts where I look back and exclaim expletives whilst banging my head repeatedly on my desk.  But hey, what the hell, you only live once right?

When reading around before writing this post, I was relieved to come across another blogger saying much the same thing.  Relieved I wasn’t being totally way out, I decided to blog away.  So, why do I think that ereaders will never be as cheap as razors?  Well, it’s a mixture of thinking it won’t happen and hoping it won’t happen.  I think it won’t happen because, essentially, it only really makes sense as a business model if you lock people into a format (a la Kindle).  By locking people into a format you can make your money.  By producing a cheap ereader and allowing people to shop around you will, in my personal opinion, go bust very quickly.  Ultimately, the producer will need to find ways to make money to make up for selling an ereader at below cost price.  I may be wrong, I’ve never been involved in business on that level, but that’s the way I think it would have to pan out for ereaders to be sold so cheaply.

So why do I hope it won’t happen?  Well, it sounds like a nice idea and certainly the egalitarian in me would love everyone to be able to access the technology.  My problem?  If they are sold cheaply they are more likely than not to be produced cheaply.  From an environmental perspective that would be a disaster.  Dropped your ereader? Stopped working?  Never mind, just chuck that one away and buy a new one.  What’s the betting that people will take less care of their ereader if they know they can replace it cheaply without losing any of the books that are on it?  And all those debates about which is greener? Well, they go out the window if you keep buying a new ereader every twelve months.

So my view?  Ereaders as cheap as razors is neither likely or desirable.  Ok, you may shoot me now.

The Danger of the Kindle Lending Library

Will Kindle lending create a monopoly?

A few days back, Amazon announced that it would allow its ebooks to be available for lending via Overdrive and, consequently, Kindle owners would be able to borrow ebooks from their local library’s ebook service.  Of course, for those of us that have been keen to support ebook availability in public libraries, this was good news.  Kindles are the most popular ereader on the market, mainly because they are cheap and have an appealing user-friendly purchasing system.  Much as I like my Sony Reader, it is not the easiest for purchasing books (although it sure looks a damn sight more attractive than the Kindle).  However, it is not all good news, and some aspects of the announcement should cause alarm amongst information professionals.

A number of concerns have been raised by librarians, particularly in terms of the addition of an extra format to the Overdrive catalogue set against a backdrop of budget cuts.  Would libraries have to purchase another file format?  Apparently not.  A whole host of other questions have been raised too:

• Will this represent a change in pricing and licensing models for titles?
• Will self-published authors on Amazon’s platform have a chance of being on library “shelves” now?
• Can library patrons opt out of linking their Amazon accounts to their library account?
• How much check out information will Amazon have access to? How will that change if someone purchases a title they’ve borrowed?

But a far more important question is raised as Kindle becomes ever more dominant.  As Mike Cane (a fellow Kindle hater) put it last year:

How many Kindles are now out there vs ePub devices? If there are MORE K, then isn’t *K* the goddammed “standard” for eBooks now!?

He went on to add in the comments:

How long will it be until Amazon wakes up to public libraries offering Kindle eBooks — as they have with Adobe DRMed ePub? Will we soon see an agreement between Amazon and OverDrive? Or will Amazon snub OverDrive and directly woo public libraries?

The iPad cannot borrow eBooks from public libraries. They use Adobe DRM.

If Amazon gets public libraries on board, it would be the death of ePub. [my emphasis]

This is the really big question behind Amazon’s announcement.  The fact that Amazon does not support the open standard has always been a fundamental objection of mine.  The fact that this deal could effectively end the attempts to establish an accepted open standard is a very worrying development indeed.  Amazon already have close to a monopoly of the ebook market.  The death of ePub would effectively rubber stamp Amazon’s monopoly.

It goes without saying that a monopoly is a very bad thing for consumers in any market.  A monopoly in the provision of information could be a very dangerous thing indeed.  We have already seen Amazon remove books and journals from people’s devices without warning, can they really be trusted to act responsibly with such a monopoly?  I’m not sure we can.  A monopoly in the provision of access to information is a very dangerous thing.  Unless Amazon decide that the Kindle should support ePub, I see no reason to end my personal boycott of the device.  In fact, as futile as I know this is, I would encourage others to do the same until such time that Amazon supports ePub and encourages an ebook market that truly benefits the consumer.  As Mike Cane writes on his blog:

Amazon now has more power than any other book company on earth. And yes, you damn well better be afraid of this.

I am. Are you?

The future of eBooks….

 

eBooks set to co-exist with print?

There was an interesting publication released today by PricewaterhouseCoopers about the future for eBooks.  The report examined ebook trends across the US, UK, the Netherlands and Germany.  As well as identifying ‘market opportunities’ it also makes recommendations for publishers, traditional retailers and online retailers.  Predominantly the report is concerned with the question of the much predicted ebook breakthrough.

 

One section of the report stuck out for me more than any other (for personal reasons).  But before I share that, let me remind you of what little known radio bloke wrote at the end of last year:

Much as it pains many people to admit, there won’t be books in 50 years time unless they are novelty items in museums, or like a vinyl single.

Now I’ve got that little nugget of goodness out of the way, the report states:

1.6 Looking to the Future

All experts agree: eBooks and printed books will co-exist. In certain cases, printed editions will be replaced by digital editions, but in other cases both media will complement each other. In the long term, only one representative of the industry expects that demand will dry up for printed books. Most experts believe eBooks will partially replace the paperback. This is probable particularly in the case of special interest and travel books and in areas in which only sections of books are read.

So, the experts say that the print and electronic will co-exist.  Little known radio bloke says they will be gone in 50 years.  Who do we think is going to be right? I know where my money is heading.

The ‘Thoughts…’ Annual 2010 – Part II

July

July was a pretty cool month for me personally.  As you know from June’s summary, I was pretty hacked off about the coverage on Newsnight about public libraries.  What infuriated me further was that there was no authoritative voice putting a strong case for the defence.  I truly came away from the experience convinced I could have put a stronger case forward for libraries in the digital age.  So, I decided to put my money where my mouth is and have a crack.  I was mindful that I was about to put myself out there to be shot down, but I couldn’t just keep quiet and tweet the odd grumble on Twitter.  Quite frankly, that is just not my way.

I had noticed that The Guardian were always looking out for articles for their Comment is Free pages on their website, so decided I would have a crack at pitching an idea.  Thankfully, they liked my pitch and my subsequent 800 word article and decided to publish it on CiF – much to my shock and pleasure.

Well, the response was amazing.  If nothing else it certainly raised my profile amongst others in the library profession.  I had all manner of positive messages from people both on Twitter and even people passing on messages of support via my Twitter followers.  Amazingly, it was also picked up by a number of bloggers in the US and made it into the American Library Associations’ newsletter.  It has also made appearance in numerous presentations related to breaking out of the ‘echo chamber’.  I hope I managed to convince at least one person that libraries were vital but, if not, the peer recognition is something that I hold very dear and will do for some time to come.  Without doubt, it is probably one of the proudest moments of my life.  Although I hope my current activities will top that…..

 

Wordle created from a random selection of Library Day in the Life blog posts

July also saw a blog post about the hidden secret about libraries, one that even library campaigners ignore – libraries are used more now than ever before.  Not only are they being used more, they are increasingly being used in different ways.  For some bizarre reason, this little known fact is still overlooked by some campaigners….which makes me wonder why they are failing to talk up the library service and persist in talking it down.  In my experience, talking services down only leads to one of two things: closure or privatisation.  Unfortunately, it appears increasingly likely that privatisation is on the table for councils up and down the country.  Something that should concern library users and campaigners up and down the country.

 

A couple of quick blogs contributed to the ‘Library Day in a Life’ initiative were also written in July.  Hopefully this coming year I will be able to contribute something more substantial as they were rather quiet days this year.

July was also the month I discovered Dropbox for the first time and I can honestly say I have been using it all the time ever since.  If you haven’t signed up for it yet I strongly recommend that you give it a go….it’s a fantastic utility.

August

 

August also saw a trip to Hever Castle.

August saw a flurry of blog posts all around a similar theme: library cuts and the media narrative.  Finally at breaking point regarding media mis-representations of the library service (finally? Surely that point was reached months ago!?), I put a post out there suggesting that some form of alternative to the Good Library Blog be established.  I had become deeply disappointed that this was seen as the voice of libraries and wanted something to act as an alternative that is more in tune with users and library staff.  Lucky for me, some others felt the same……

 

In other developments, I discovered Flavors.me which I am still a fan of.  Flavors allows users to create simple, personalised spaces which aggregate feeds from all your social networks.  Of course, it’s not to everyone’s taste, but I rather like the stylish simplicity of it.

August also saw an attempt by Spanish Twitter folk to get libraries (‘biblioteca’ in this case) trending on Twitter.  It was a really positive campaign to tweet positive things about libraries to raise awareness of the good things they do.  I’m quite keen on the idea of agreeing a date and a time and doing a similar thing myself…with the added advantage of getting US tweeps onboard too!

September

 

Highlight of September - a trip to Galicia in the north west of Spain.

Well, September may have been a quiet month in terms of my blog, but it was far from quiet in other respects.  September saw the establishment of Voices for the Library – a campaign group designed to offer a strong, positive library voice in the face of national library cuts.  I have been immensely proud of the campaign and all of those that have stuck with it or joined in.  It’s amazing to think how far it has come in such a short space of time.  There’s still lots to do, however, and there is a lot of work that needs to be done to raise the profile of the group, the campaign and libraries in general.  It has been tough and there have been ups and downs, but nothing too difficult to overcome.  There will be many more challenges ahead, but whatever fate throws at us, I remain immensely proud to be involved in the fight.

 

October

October was a time of great relief…..finally I had completed my two option modules and was on my way to working on my dissertation.  It seemed like the time would never come but here I am, on the final straight.  Such an utter relief…but, again, there is still much to do.  The coming year is going to be pretty hectic, but I am determined to get that MSc under my belt and move my career on a stage.  Just need to manage my distractions and I should be fine…..!

Towards the end of October came the announcement from the Publishers Association that ebooks should not be available remotely from libraries but should require users to enter the building and download from a terminal – rather defeating the object of ebooks.  I still find it hard to believe that this statement could have been in any way a serious proposition.  Not only was it failing to think imaginatively about how to manage ebook delivery in public libraries, it showed a real willingness to give libraries a good kicking whilst they were ‘down’.  Quite frankly, it still rankles to this day.  Madness.

I also blogged about e-audiobooks, something I had often overlooked in the past.  Libraries now offer them as well and they are a superb service for commuters who can listen to books on their commute as well as for mor traditional audiobook users.  Another fantastic service and another example of libraries adapting to meet the needs of their users.

November

 

Also in November - a trip to Aranjuez, outside Madrid.

Ah November, a serene peaceful month where nothing much happens.  Quiet, peaceful, serene, until someone writes a load of guff about it being a good thing that libraries are being closed.  Not only guff, but guff backed up without a single, solitary fact.  I dread to think what kind of marks I would have got at uni for handing a piece of work of that standard.  I think a ‘try again’ would have been the only adequate response.  Yes, I am talking about that infamous article in a paper in the north-east.  Looking back, it kinda seems silly.  This is a broadcaster with very limited reach.  No-one down south had even heard of him (hence my provocative, yet also very accurate, title of my blog post).

 

Of course, there are those that write provocative pieces all the time, designed to provoke a response and, in many ways, this was merely another one to add to the canon of provocative guff.  However, as is always the case with guff-jocks (as opposed to ‘shock jocks’), when you call them on their guff they become predictably defensive.  Oh, it’s fine for them to talk offensive guff, but when you call them on it you are worse than a guff devil (ok, think that’s enough ‘guff’ references for now…).  Oh yes, they play the ‘I can say what I like, screw political correctness’ card for all its worth, they just don’t think it should be used against them.  Bless their sensitive souls.

Anyway, the job was done and I think it is fair to say that one guff monster was laid to rest (oops, sorry).  It did highlight for me, however, the need to challenge nonsense wherever it rears its head.  The influence these people have on their followers (sheep?) is quite immense and they should be challenged and made to justify (if not think about) their statements.  It’s not easy, but on the flip side, you’ve just made someone look an utter fool to a worldwide audience (ie Twitter).  Some things are worth pursuing.

So, what else happened in November?  Well, I was also interested in the growth of agency pricing for ebooks – something that threatens to undermine Amazon’s stranglehold on the ebook market.  Whilst I am not overly keen on this method of pricing, the fact that it levels the playing field for ebook platforms is a very good thing and, if there is any justice, Kindle will be forced to accept the ePub format rather than push their proprietary one.  Yes, it may well remain a pipe-dream, but it’s my pipe-dream and aim to cling to it for all it’s worth.  It’s either that or eternal hope that the Kindle perishes, crushed by its failure to look beyond proprietary formats.  Let’s hope for the former, I’m a gentle soul after all.

December

 

Winter strikes in December.....

December – and winter chaos fever has struck the 24hr news networks.  It even made an appearance on my blog…struck, as I was, by the way information was being distributed during the travel chaos and how some were excluded from this flow of information, leading to frustration and no little stress.  Whilst those on Twitter were able to communicate with various transport companies about their travel arrangements, others were stuck with the odd Tannoy announcements at the airport…..something that is never really satisfactory.  It certainly highlighted for me the advantages that the information rich have over the information poor.

 

I also posted my thoughts on the Wikileaks story….a story that has been dominating the news for what seems like a lifetime.  I am of the opinion that this flow of information is a very good thing.  And, despite the claims of those wishing to play it all down as nothing more than tittle-tattle, there has been some very interesting stuff coming out of the whistle-blowing organisation.

The Wikileaks story has also opened up another area for discussion however….the increasing clamour from governments and corporations to not only control the Internet, but to establish a two tier system.  Couple this with the destruction of the library service (where free Internet access is a given) and we can see the seeds of a deeply ingrained digital divide being established.  This should be cause for concern for everyone.  A two tier system would virtually ensure that there is one service for the wealthy and another for the poor.  This is a very dangerous road to go down and one hopes that we are not too far down the road that we can’t turn back.

And on that note, we come to the end of my blog review of the year.  It’s been interesting (if not time-consuming) looking back at my old posts and re-evaluating some of my thoughts at the time (or even just re-affirming in some cases!).  2011 is shaping up to be a very interesting/challenging year.  Library closures are increasingly on the agenda and cuts will start to bite deep.  That said, library campaigning is getting better and stronger and there is much to be optimistic about in the year ahead.  Yes, let’s end on a positive shall we?!

2011?  Bring it on!

Free library books on your iPhone

Free ebooks on your iPhone from your library!

Oh yes, you read that right my friends!  As well as being able to download ebooks for free from your local library, you can now download them directly onto your iPhone or other mobile device.  No syncing, no transferring from your PC, just download Overdrive’s latest application and you can search your library’s catalogue for ebooks and download them directly to your phone via the app.  Up until now you were only able to do this with e-audiobooks from the library catalogue, the addition of ebooks is a real bonus for those who want free ebooks to read on the go (particularly good for commuters).

There is an added bonus too.  If you own a reader device compatible with library ebooks (the Sony Reader for example), by downloading from the library you can have a copy on your phone and on your reader.  Although the two won’t sync like Amazon’s ebooks, at least you will be able to keep a copy with you for the odd dip in and out, and a copy on your reading device for a more prolonged read (I still don’t like smartphones for prolonged reading I’m afraid!).

If your library service provides ebooks via the Overdrive service then you should be able to take advantage of this development, although I don’t think many services are making their users aware of it at the moment.

Google Editions on the way…….

Could Google change the ebook market?

Now, I’m well-known for being a bit of a fan of the Sony Reader and not so keen on the Kindle.  The reason for this?  I think that all the players in the ebook market should gather around ePub as the standard format for ebooks.  Sony has certainly got onboard with this, Apple sort of have, but Amazon so far have not.  The main drawback to being a non-Kindle fan?  The price of compatible ebooks.  Sadly, well for me anyway, Amazon offers fairly good deals on ebooks (although this may come to an end with increased agency pricing – see earlier post).  Owners of Sony Readers on the other hand are stuck with slightly more expensive ebooks via Waterstone’s or WHSmiths.  Although I shouldn’t forget that ePub is also the format that library ebooks are delivered in – that’s quite important! Well, there could be some good news coming after Christmas.

It looks very likely that Google are going to announce details of their (much delayed) Google Editions service after Christmas.  From InformationWeek:

Google Editions are digital books with digital copying restrictions; they look like what’s currently offered through Google Books.

Purchasing a Google Edition will give the buyer the ability to access that book from most devices that support Web browsers and devices offered by an as yet undisclosed set of supported device partners. This marks a significant point of differentiation from Apple and Amazon, which limit purchased e-books to proprietary hardware.

In another departure from what Apple and Amazon are doing, Google is taking a federated approach, allowing Authorized Resellers to sell Google Editions through their own online book selling sites.

Pretty good news, and could almost certainly prove a serious challenge to Amazon if it takes off (Google Wave anyone??).  What makes this all the more exciting is that Google has already done a deal with Sony for its scanned Google Books, and that deal is likely to be extended to Editions too.  This means that Google Editions books may also be downloaded onto a Sony Reader, as well as iPads and iPhones.  Really good news for Sony Reader owners.

Of course, a lot can change between now and the launch, but it is an exciting prospect.  Let’s just hope it isn’t another Google flop akin to Wave.  That would be really disappointing.

“Libraries are dead” says little known regional radio bloke

No need for libraries in the digital age?

As some may have noticed yesterday, there was a lot of indignation thrown at one particular local radio broadcaster based in the north-east.  The piece itself provided very real proof of the danger that is inherent in not challenging out-of-date notions of the public library.  Not only are outdated notions relied upon as the basis for this argument, but also a fundamental mis-understanding of technology and how it is used.  Odd when you consider that this is supposedly a peek into the future.  But then this broadcaster is not exactly a Tim O’Reilly, Clay Shirky or even a journalist at Wired, so maybe this is to be expected.  But what of this vision of the future?

Well, he provides an interesting insight into the future of books:

Much as it pains many people to admit, there won’t be books in 50 years time unless they are novelty items in museums, or like a vinyl single.

A rather weird and interesting statement on many levels.  Even O’Reilly Media, a leading media company heavily involved in ebooks and has worked with publishers on digital distribution, has not gone that far:

Much of the conversation in publishing today revolves around ebooks, digital reading, and the exploding mobile web. As it should. But of course print books are still the cash cow for most publishers, and will remain an important revenue stream and delivery format for some time to come.

If even those at the heart of developments in the digital world don’t believe that print will be obsolete, one wonders where this notion has come from.

He goes on to say:

“Yes, but we have moved on, Tony. Some people do go to the library to use the internet. Not everyone has it at home,” cry the library folk.

This is an even more outrageous piece of self-justifying deceit when you can get a laptop for £200. Statistics show that there are two mobile phones (with internet, therefore) to every one person in this country.

Where to start with that little lot?!  At this point, I should probably point out that the north-east (the region where he broadcasts) has some of the lowest Internet connectivity in the country.  According to the latest statistics, 59% of households in the north-east have access to the Internet – an amazing 41% do not (that’s two in every five households maths fans!).  Compare this to London (83%) and you can see there are very real problems in the north-east with internet connectivity.  This service is, of course, one that many libraries provide for free.  It is also worth adding that an astonishing 9.2 million people across the UK have never used the internet.  Presumably those 9.2 million people do not have an internet enabled mobile phone….which makes you wonder where that 2 for every person figure comes from.

But it’s not just the internet connectivity aspect that is way out.  The very idea that everyone can afford a laptop and an internet enabled mobile phone (which the majority of people still do not have by the way) is a world apart from the realities of normal working people.  18% of people in the survey referred to above said that they did not have an Internet connection because they could not afford the equipment to do so. Presumably that is tough luck for them.

Furthermore, one might ask where children stand in this argument?  Are parents up and down the country going to purchase Internet enabled phones and laptops to enable their children to learn to read? I think not.  Although it would be entertaining to watch a child fling around a Kindle (heck, it would be fun to see anyone chuck around a Kindle).

But we get to the heart of the problem in the final section of the article:

Librarians, you need to know that Google is the library of today and tomorrow. And in the information era, data must be portable. That means you need your books, your net, your music and your phone on your phone. The Facebook generation won’t settle for less.

Data must indeed be portable (or books as we like to call them).  You need them on your phone, your ereader, your netbook…….that is exactly why libraries have been providing this service to library users for free in many areas across the country.  Many authorities already offer ebooks and eaudiobooks to library users to be downloaded onto their electronic devices and read at their leisure – for free!  No need to splash the cash at Amazon.  Browse through your library catalogue, find an ebook you like, pop in your borrower card number and hey presto a free ebook…portable and accessible from your mobile phone or ereader.  Brilliant!  So brilliant, in fact, that when my authority introduced them they issued 4,000 in the space of less than four months.

As for the Google aspect (who needs libraries, we have Google!), as I have demonstrated before this is a bit of a non-starter as an argument.  As my example in that piece shows, even well-known journalists fail to grasp how to use Google effectively.  Too often people settle for poor quality information and accept it as fact just because it was at the top of Google’s rankings (and we all know that just because it’s top, doesn’t mean it is trustworthy!).  And the end result?  Journalists repeating false claims about human rights work in another country, damaging the reputations of said organisations on the basis of a quick (poorly executed) Google search.  Using Google correctly relies not only on high levels of literacy, but also high levels of IT literacy.  Which might explain why 21% of the population have not bought into the Internet on the grounds of a ‘lack of skills’ (see survey referred to above).  Incidentally, do a search on Google using the term:

congo human rights industry

Guess what is top?  An article that has proven to be entirely inaccurate.  Digital literacy is one of the most pressing issues facing our digital future, libraries are absolutely fundamental to addressing that.

As someone who manages online resources (electronic journals, ebooks etc) and is relatively well up on technology issues (I own an ereader, I have an iPhone and I write frequently about ebooks on this very blog), I think this kind of argument is completely wrong-headed.  Digital content is the future of course, many librarians were way ahead of the game in this regard.  Ebooks and eaudiobooks will become more prevalent in the future (it’s no surprise to hear me arguing that!).  They will not, however, replace the physical item for a very long time indeed.  Despite the problems that the music industry faces with the growth of iTunes and Spotify, many people still purchase CDs.  Books will be in a similar situation.  Sales will decline, but people will still buy print editions.  Take myself – a typical ebook ereader and advocate.  I often download and read ebooks…normally it is the first place I look when purchasing a book.  However, if a new title is published by Chomsky, Easton Ellis or Coupland, I am more likely to buy the print edition (even the hardback) than the digital version.  Mainly because I’m a bit of a completest.  Ebooks have, of course, changed my reading habits, but it has encouraged me to read more widely whilst also purchasing the same number of print books as I did before.

What this whole piece demonstrates is the danger of librarians keeping quiet about what it is exactly that they do.  By not taking charge of the narrative, there is the risk of articles like this springing up in their place.  And if you don’t think this has an effect, think on:

@HorneyMedia knows what hes talking about & many people agree with him

These beliefs have to be challenged wherever they emerge and however banal we might think the arguments are.  Libraries already provide portable digital ‘data’.  They do provide free internet access in an area where 2 in 5 do not have an Internet connection. And they are used now more than ever with book issues on the rise and library usage at record levels.  So let’s end on a positive shall we.  Here’s a non-librarian Twitter exchange posted only this morning that demonstrates why this broadcaster has misunderstood the digital future and public libraries:

Downloaded two audio books to my phone from Canterbury library….my weekend listening sorted!

@aekins that sounds a fab idea! I’d love that. Do all libraries do it? (I’m in Ashford?)

@LibertyCoach any library in Kent….It’s provided by a company called overdrive. Ask your local lib for details

That’s the reality of public libraries in the digital world, not the one presented in the article on the Chronicle Live website.  We all need to do more to remind people of this.  The narrative is not beyond our control.

UPDATE

Since posting this, Tony Horne has very kindly devoted an almost entire post to me. He hasn’t linked it back here because he thinks it’s ‘not worth’ his readers time.  I will, however, link to his as I like to credit my readers with the ability to read two points of view and draw a conclusion from them.  Personally, I think his decision not to link may be because his argument is a bit flakey in a number of areas.

I think the first thing to notice is that there isn’t a single hyperlink (or reference) in his entire piece.  If I submitted a piece of work like that I would be lucky to scrape a pass. One bit in particular stands out:

OK well, let’s do a Clark thing now and counter that “FACT” on low internet usage with a fact shall we? Sunderland has the most prolific Facebook users in the country. That actually is a fact as of last month.

Apparently, there is a ‘fact’ there, although you will be lucky to find it as there is no hyperlink to any verifiable data to prove this.  But deeper than that, there is a fundamental misunderstanding here.  Prolificacy is not the same as quantity.  You could have a population of 50,000 people with 500 tweeting relentlessly about The X Factor – that may be prolific, but it still means 49,500 people aren’t tweeting about The X Factor. His stat would make more sense if he said Sunderland has the highest proportion of citizens on Facebook.  Even then, it would be helpful to have a hyperlink to prove it (incidentally, I kinda felt a warm glow whenever I saw my surname referred to – made me feel quite important!).

He also adds:

By the way I don’t know anybody digitally illiterate, unless they are under six.

As I pointed out above, latest ONS figures show that over 9 million people have never accessed the Internet (see reference above).  That’s 9 million people who are not digitally literate. 9 million adults.

I guess the most curious aspect of his blog (apart from the lack of references of course!) was this:

Namely, you can’t trust everything on Google, or indeed anything. What he doesn’t recognise is that real journalists now all resort to Google. That is a lifestyle choice, so it’s happening. It’s real…..Really good journalists will sift through all the fat on Google and develop an even sharper journalistic mind as they probe the layers to find the real facts, not just half the facts.

I wrote a whole article for The Guardian website (sorry to harp on at it…but you know it was a big deal for me!) based on how the famous, respected journalist Melanie Phillips (well, respected in certain circles) wrote a piece based on a pathetic Google search (again, see my earlier reference).  It took my article to get her to add a correction on the bottom of her article indicating that her source was incorrect.  Interestingly, he also had a pop at SimonXIX – so he’s had a go at someone who has written about the digital age for The Guardian and someone quoted in The New York Times on ebooks.

I think I’ve probably wasted enough time on this now.  It was certainly entertaining.  It was also rather enlightening.  As someone who manages digital resources and keeps on top of digital trends as part of my job, it was quite interesting to see how deep some mis-conceptions run.  One thing is for certain, I won’t be adding his blog to my tech feeds – his pronouncements are quite embarrasingly amateurish in comparison.

Kindle, ebooks and agency pricing

Is agency pricing the future for ebooks?

This is not the post I was originally going to publish today,  I was actually going to post a blog post comparing the cost of ebooks on Amazon and WHSmiths – to see what the price difference was between ebooks for the Kindle and the Sony Reader (it worked out, over 29 random books to be just under 30p more expensive for the Sony Reader btw).  But you know what?  I’m bored of posts filled with numbers, so I thought I’d fill one full of text instead!  This was mainly prompted by the following story on The Bookseller:

WH Smith has began selling Penguin and Hachette e-books at agency prices, with the retailer’s digital offer falling into line with Amazon.co.uk and Apple.

The retailer had been at an impasse with Hachette since it switched to agency pricing in September. Until now, Hachette titles were removed from sale from WH Smith’s website, as well as Waterstone’s and Tesco’s digital offer. Penguin implemented agency pricing, along with HarperCollins, on 1st November, leading to their books also becoming unavailable at online retailers, with the exception of Amazon and Apple.

The agency pricing model seems set to be the standard pricing strategy for the delivery of ebooks in the future.  Under the ‘agency model’ system, publishers set the retail price for books which booksellers are then obliged to sell at.  The ramifications of this are obvious.  If publishers set the price for books, then there is no room for suppliers to offer a variable pricing strategy and one format will not be able to steal a march on any other (naming no names *ahem*).

Of course, this is not exactly good news for the consumer either.  It will prevent ebooks from being more realistically priced in comparison to their print counterparts.  That is hardly going to persuade huge swathes of people to ditch print and take up ebooks.  Handily for consumers, Amazon have made it very clear that they are completely opposed to the agency pricing model:

“We believe [the publishers] will raise prices on e-books for consumers almost across the board. For a number of reasons, we think this is a damaging approach for readers, authors, booksellers and publishers alike.

“In the UK, we will continue to fight against higher prices for e-books, and have been urging publishers considering agency not to needlessly impose price increases on consumers.”

Although, obviously, Amazon aren’t exactly in this solely to protect the consumer, oh no.  There’s the question of a monopoly to consider.  As author Charlie Stross explains:

“…..to customers, Amazon would like to be a monopoly (i.e. the only store in town). To suppliers, Amazon would like to be a monopsony (i.e. the only customer in town). Their goal is to profit via arbitrage, and if they can achieve those twin goals they will own everyubody’s nuts — the authors, the customers, everyone. They are, in fact, exactly the kind of middle-man operation that the internet tends to squish, gooily.”

Interestingly, he also adds:

“Just before Apple announced the iPad and the agency deal for ebooks, Amazon pre-empted by announcing an option for publishing ebooks in which they would graciously reduce their cut from 70% to 30%, “same as Apple”. From a distance this looks competitive, but the devil is in the small print; to get the 30% rate, you have to agree that Amazon is a publisher, license your rights to Amazon to publish through the Kindle platform, guarantee that you will not allow other ebook editions to sell for less than the Kindle price, and let Amazon set that price, with a ceiling of $9.99. In other words, Amazon choose how much to pay you, while using your books to undercut any possible rivals (including the paper editions you still sell). It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the major publishers don’t think very highly of this offer …”

I think this gets to the heart of the problem and is one of the reasons why I am unlikely to be converted to Kindle any time soon.  Essentially, they want to stitch up the market so that they are the sole provider of ebooks.  This would be fine in principle if they employed a format that worked across all products.  They don’t.  Instead of supporting an open format like ePUB (which doesn’t, incidentally, mandate DRM – vendors add that), they utilise only their own format which is incompatible with others (unless you push it through some conversion).  The agency model is bad news for them (as it is for the consumer of course) because it becomes a level playing field and they no longer have the advantage over Apple, Sony etc.  This means that there is starting to emerge a straight choice between AMZ and ePub.  With the latter having the added advantage of being the format that library ebooks are delivered in.

Amazon have two choices, either adopt ePub as a standard format for the Kindle, or try to fight off the inevitable leveler.  It’s interesting that, in recent weeks, they have been employing some aggressive marketing (particularly attacking Apple’s iPad – Apple being the driver behind agency pricing) – with ads all over the newspapers, billboards and regular TV spots.  Maybe they are trying to get people to buy Kindles before agency pricing is applied across the board.  Once it is widespread, it is hard to see what advantages there are to having a Kindle at all.  Interestingly, agency pricing could be a good thing for libraries….just a thought.

Of course I could add that this the agency model is regressive and flawed, but that’s another post for another time.  In the meantime, for that argument, check this post out on FutureBook.  I’ll be interested to hear people’s thoughts on what agency pricing means for ebooks, Amazon, ePub and, of course, us consumers.  Good for some and not for others?  Bad across the board? What do you think?

Library ebooks on your mobile…..

Good news for those of you who like reading ebooks on your mobile phone, Overdrive (the predominant supplier of ebooks to public libraries) have just put forward an app to iTunes that would enable users to download ebooks from their library directly onto their iPhone (Android app to come).    This service has been available for a while for audiobooks, but if you wanted to download an ebook you needed to do so at a computer and sync it to your ereader (or read it from the screen of course!).  With the ability to download them direct to your phone I can see real growth in ebook loans from public libraries.  Considering that some library authorities have already issued around 4,000 ebooks in the space of four months (none of which could be read on a mobile device), the addition of the ability to download to a mobile device could really see issues take off.  Exciting times indeed for ebooks in libraries.