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Being a discussion of the various merits and drawbacks of physical books and e-books

I don’t think it would be in the publisher’s interest to remove ebooks for individual sale as they can provide a small, but continuing, income stream
 
Not true.

Publishers can set an X amount of licenses that can be sold.
Have you ever seen, heard about, or read about an eBook having only so many copies available for sale or only available for a specified limited time? I can honestly say I have not.
 
Ebooks may not sell out, however publishers can set availability time periods. I’m just using this as an example from another digital domain, but Nintendo just released Super Mario 3-D All-Stars on the Switch in September, and said that both physical and digital would only be available until March 31, 2021. After which point both versions will be discontinued. However, after March 31if I want to, I would still be able to track down the physical version to play whereas digital, I’m out of luck.

Same with book, an e-book could be released and only out for a short time before being discontinued by the publisher or removed because of legalities or whatever. But a physical book, even if it’s out-of-print, can usually be tracked down and read, either by buying second hand or getting it from you local library or through inter-library loan.
You are much more likely to have a limited stock in a bookstore then you are to have an eBook being sold with a time limit or a number of copies limit. I've never heard of any eBook being sold in a limited fashion. But I have gone to the bookstore and not been able to find the pBook that I wanted because the store did not have it in stock. If I see a listing for an eBook at a store, it's in stock and available to purchase. I can see listings for a pBook that is out of stock.
 
I like physical books, but I've been a big ebook user ever since Kindles were available in the UK.

I'm in the process of moving. These days I have dozens of physical books, and over a thousand digital books. If they were all physical copies, moving would be more difficult!
 
With ebooks, and what JWolf is clearly not getting, is that you are paying for access to the book.

There are ways around it. Where you can take and store the file and use it whenever you want. Just like a paper book.

This all just boils down to preference. One is not better than the other. Choose the reading experience that works best for you.

That's it.

That is just too much common sense for modern day America.
 
I don’t think it would be in the publisher’s interest to remove ebooks for individual sale as they can provide a small, but continuing, income stream
Here’s how it was explained to me: publishers have NEW books they want to sell you. Old titles, they fear, cannibalize the sales of the new title that they’re trying to get into bestseller lists.
 
I like the larger sized paper backs to read the larger sized print .I prefer physical books in my Star Trek book collection
 
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You are much more likely to have a limited stock in a bookstore then you are to have an eBook being sold with a time limit or a number of copies limit. I've never heard of any eBook being sold in a limited fashion. But I have gone to the bookstore and not been able to find the pBook that I wanted because the store did not have it in stock. If I see a listing for an eBook at a store, it's in stock and available to purchase. I can see listings for a pBook that is out of stock.
Maybe, however, considering that in 2020 80% of book sales are physical, it’s more likely that a publisher will discontinue an e-book version over a physical release. The fact of the matter is, the younger generations (Gen-Z & millennials) are the one’s ignoring the e-books and are buying the physical, while it’s only the seniors that are buying Ebooks. So even with the extra cost to ship physical, physical books still outsell digital, and if the publisher needs room on their servers, they could easily remove a digital edition that’s not earning its keep, and only keep the physical in print. Also with digital, pricing is sort of the same across the board thanks to the US VS APPLE case from 8 years ago. Physical can see more price fluctuation, which a lot of time result in lower prices than digital.

It’s interesting how in 2018, nearly $23 billion dollars in physical books were sold in the US, but Ebooks only sold just over $2 billion dollars. Ebooks accounted for less than 10% of all book sales in the US. So as I said, it’s more likely for a digital version to be removed than a physical version.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/19/physical-books-still-outsell-e-books-and-heres-why.html

https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/12...ment-of-justice-publishing-lawsuit-apple-ipad
 
Okay, this isn't true.
Did you read the CNBC article?


While millennials are sometimes blamed for killing industries, it’s actually younger people who appear to be popularizing print. Sixty-three percent of physical book sales in the U.K. are to people under the age of 44, while 52% of e-book sales are to those over 45, according to Nielsen.

It’s a similar picture in the U.S., where 75% of people aged 18 to 29 claimed to have read a physical book in 2017, higher than the average of 67%, according to Pew Research.’


(Vox) ‘And in part, Albanese tells Vox in a phone interview, that’s because the digital natives of Gen Z and the millennial generation have very little interest in buying ebooks. “They’re glued to their phones, they love social media, but when it comes to reading a book, they want John Green in print,” he says. The people who are actually buying ebooks? Mostly boomers. “Older readers are glued to their e-readers,” says Albanese. “They don’t have to go to the bookstore. They can make the font bigger. It’s convenient.”’
 
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No, I didn't read the article.

My problem is your statement "only the seniors who are buying ebooks" - you can say "most purchases are made by seniors" but you can't say "only the seniors". It's so obviously incorrect, it's annoying.
 
Yes, it is.




48% of ebook sales (in the U.K.) are to people under the age of 45. So it isn’t just seniors buying them.
Sorry but that’s a small minority. And as that Vox article points out, GenZ and Millennials have “very little interest” in Ebooks.
If I was targeting a book to Gen Z and Millennials, I’d be pushing a physical release, since it wouldn’t be worth putting out a digital edition. A book targeting seniors over 45 then a digital version would make sense.
 
Sorry but that’s a small minority. And as that Vox article points out, GenZ and Millennials have “very little interest” in Ebooks.

Do you not understand numbers, or are you that desperate to be "right"? Of that $2 billion dollars that are spent annually on ebooks, roughly $900 million dollars of it comes from people younger than 44, based on the article you cited*.

Living in the US and being a pretty regular bus rider, I haven't seen someone reading a physical book on one in ages.

*Lets not forget that those numbers are based on UK trends. One nations trends generally don't speak for the entirety of the planet.

If I was targeting a book to Gen Z and Millennials, I’d be pushing a physical release, since it wouldn’t be worth putting out a digital edition. A book targeting seniors over 45 then a digital version would make sense.

How is it not worth it to put out an ebook edition? You do realize that it is likely very cheap to produce ebooks, since the data is already there, as are the servers. So, ideally, publishers should push both as to generate as much revenue as possible. No business throws away free money as the infrastructure already exists.
 
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