The very existence of a book scanner for consumer use is one of those early warnings of turbulence to come.
Comment: I haven't read a book in years. Not since I discovered my public library allows downloading of audiobooks. Much better on the bus, especially with noise-suppressing earphones. And I continue to 'read' while I walk the extra-healthy three-quarters of a mile I've added to my commute. Funny thing is, I often can't recall whether a particular book is one I've read or listened to. So it must scratch the same itch.
Comment: Why spend $2,600 on a book scanner, when you could make your own for a few bucks? Go to Google and type in "homemade book scanner"..
Or if people really were to scan in books and trade them like digital files of music, it is just a question of getting hold of a cheap copy of a book, cutting off the cover and spine and scanning it in on a flat bed scanner. This process destroys the book, but if you are going to keep it as a digital file, then you don't need that bulky paper version any more do you?
Comment: What makes you a technology pundit? Have you ever heard of a scanner with OCR software? They do not cost thousands they are under a hundred bucks! I can find most bestsellers right now in digital format with no trouble what so ever. I agree with Michael Stackpole below, who is a bestselling author by the way, that the idea of ripping the backlist is assinine. He is right in saying that once authors start publishing their own works digitally from their own websites or from independent publishers like LuLu.com is where the real risk to print publishing exists.
But to think that you are some sort of technology expert saying that ripping books is not a real problem and won't be for several years completely blows my mind, and just goes to show how far out of touch you are with technology that has been around for over a decade.
Comment: Remember. It's not the iTunes Store that makes iPods successful. It's the ubiquity of MP3s generated by users that fill 97% of all iPods space.
Completely agree with the Author. The ease of conversion that allows distributed creation of ebooks is the key.
Comment: Does reading on screen bother anyone's eyes? It bothers mine. It didn't so much at first, but it has gotten worse; I think it is rough on the eyes. It is also nicer to hold a book, turn the page, put your thumb in one place, forefinger in another and refer back and forth, then write notes in the margin. Unless you throw or give it away, it will always be there for you; it won't fry a hard drive, jumble memory, or suffer in bright sun. J. Smith
Comment: I found the article disappointing. It completely ignores two things:
1) a $100 scanner comes with OCR software that allows anyone to scan a book (turning the pages themselves). I know this because I have novels for which I have no electronic files, but I do own the electronic rights, so I'm in the process of doing the conversion.
2) There already is a thriving trade in pirated books, where people scan and upload the latest books and classics. Bittorrent steams are full of such books.
The trick with e-books is not the ease of conversion, but the ease of reading. With the Kindle, The Sony E-reader and the iPhone/iPod touch (as well as countless PDAs) that hurdle is already passed.
The idea that consumers will provide their own content (ripping backlist) is nonsense. Books are all about frontlist now, and frontlist is being made available. Once writers start selling their own work from their own website, publishers (who are in the business of warehousing and transporting dead wood) will have no more front list. Game over.
And that's a change you see long after this machine is forgotten.
Michael A. Stackpole
Comment: Best product and low price!!!
Comment: "Then I tested a BookSnap for myself. Short verdict: not a revolution. More a thud than a snap, the device???an ominous three-foot high construction draped with a thick black darkroom-style shade???looks like a Goth puppet theater and weighs 44 pounds"
That was fun - proof is in the pudding - how true and well said. You raised some very interesting issues regarding piracy and the new digital age - things are cresting for a big big change as i listen to my i tunes and cannot remember the last time i bought a cd and so many other examples of a brave new world, not sure if it will pan out to be a better new world though i will do what i can to make it so.
Comment: The future is almost here. Bring on the brave new world, the revolution that would destroy the so-called culture industry and move the pimps out of the way. The artist comes face to face with is audience, the true art goes straight to the hearts of its recipients. The best will survive as there will be no marketing and hype to keep the rubbish afloat. You want to be a writer? Be good, be excellent, "write in blood" and then take your work to your readers, you will discover that "blood is spirit." Already some excellent writing is sold through artist's own websites, for 'nothing.' 'Shareware' books are already here, free books are already here. Radiohead gave their latest album for nothing! Cut out the middleman and even 'nothing' is good enough for most artists. Real readers will always pay for real good writing. For whom the bell tolls? It tolls for the 'culture industry.' The future is bright indeed but only for the real artists.
Comment: ...and don't forget the ereaders! The industry is surrounded from all sides. They can reject a Jane Austen novel without realising what they are rejecting, do they still deserve to control our reading? My iRex Iliad is more dangerous than anything, as far as the publishing 'industry' is concerned.
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