ENTRIES TAGGED "openquestion"
Open Question: Is it realistic for publishers to cut Amazon out of the equation?
Charlie Stross argued that publishers are cutting their own throats with DRM. But should we drop DRM or just drop Amazon?
Author Charlie Stross argued recently that Amazon's growing position toward a monopoly can largely be attributed to publishers' use of DRM. A back-channel discussion brewed about whether cutting Amazon out of the picture entirely would be a viable solution.
Open Question: Would you fund your favorite author?
A new service lets authors pitch ideas and collect funding from readers. Would you donate?
With the launch of the Unbound.co.uk publishing platform, readers can fund the books they want to read — and the startup launched with some pretty big-name authors. Would you fund the next book from your favorite author?
Open Question: Are we at the ebook tipping point?
It's official — Kindle books are outselling print books.
Not only have Kindle sales increased by a factor of three year over year, the digital copy sales have overtaken the combined sales of hardcover and paperback book sales. Is the ebook tipping point upon us?
Open question: Are ereaders too complex?
The trend toward more ereader features seems to undermine the simplicity of reading.
More and more features appear in new and updated ereader apps and devices. But are those features functional to reading, or are they just extraneous toys that obfuscate the core purpose?
Open question: Do libraries help or hurt publishing?
As libraries stuggle for funding, we're forced to imagine a world without them.
Libraries around the world are underfunded and struggling to stay open. If they ceased to exist, how would that affect publishing?
Open question: How is your publishing organization addressing DRM?
If DRM's impact on piracy is negligible, what's its real purpose?
If digital rights management doesn't hinder pirates, and one-click stripping solutions are on the horizon, why do publishers turn to DRM?
Open question: Do you trust market research surveys?
A deluge of recent ebook and ereader research raises a host of methodology questions.
As the publishing industry is inundated with statistics about user behavior, how do we determine if the reported numbers are accurate, and whether they are meaningful?