Quotation of the Day - Shelf Awareness, Tuesday, May 10, 2011 - Volume 2, Issue 1460
Book Reader vs. Book Owner?
"There is a growing distinction between the book reader and the book owner. The book reader just wants the experience of reading the book, and that person is a natural digital consumer: Instead of a disposable mass market book, they buy a digital book. The book owner wants to give, share and shelve books. They love the experience. As we add value to the physical product, particularly the trade paperback and hardcover, the consumer will pay a little more for the better experience."
--John Makinson, CEO of Penguin Group, in a Wall Street Journal q&a yesterday.
[Admittedly not applicable across the board, but to some degree, accurate, in my humble opinion, which is allowed on my blog...]
How funny that e-books cost more than paperbacks then. Quality indeed.
ReplyDeleteYou're lucky Google wouldn't let me post the comment I wrote before because I wouldn't give them my phone number.
It's not either/or, it's BOTH!!!!
How sad that these narrow-minded, it-must-be-printed-on-a-dead-tree-musty-smelling-will-turn-yellow-and-brittle-in-5-years-format lovers cannot understand that.
The vast majority of e-book readers continue to read both paper and digital books, and they spend twice as much and read twice as much as before. And they don't call people who prefer paper books shallow or stupid, or imply that they are with their smug attitude. We usually just rejoice that someone is reading, anything.