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What is going to happen to the price of books?

af sudanglo, 11. sep. 2010

Meddelelser: 15

Sprog: English

sudanglo (Vise profilen) 11. sep. 2010 11.55.11

The other day I saw a Sony e-reader and it was quite obvious that eventually such devices would be come very popular and it would be quite normal to download books from the Net.

I had been thinking that my collection of Esperanto books - some of which appeared in very small print runs - would one day, with the spread of Esperanto, become quite valuable.

But I can see how Esperantists would be so ready to upload some title from the 1930's and make it available for free.

Do you think in those circumstances the books I have will become less valuable?

Donniedillon (Vise profilen) 11. sep. 2010 13.27.15

I often worry about the future of print literature. I am very torn between digital and print literature. On the one hand I love books. The feel of the cover, the sound of the turning pages, and even the smell that old books have. On the other hand, I would very much like to get my hands on an e-reader because of all of the obvious benefits that they present. I am afraid that within not to many years most print literature will be gone (at least in wealthier, tech savy nations) and replaced with digital lit. That bieng said, I think that those print books that are around will then become valuable as collector's items. I know that even when I do get an e-reader I won't give up my printed books ridulo.gif

Evildela (Vise profilen) 11. sep. 2010 13.31.06

There will always be those people who enjoy holding a book over a digital device. For instance I have copies of some Esperanto books on my computer, but I’ve also got hard-cover ones. My personnel favourite is the newly acquired (Tinĉjo en Tibeto)

ceigered (Vise profilen) 11. sep. 2010 13.38.37

Depends. I know people who will pay through the nose for something physical that can also be had digitally. E.g. Nintendo Entertainment Systems. A computer can emulate the NES perfectly nowdays, yet, the NES can still fetch a grand price despite the fact it's rather badly constructed by todays standards and can't be assured to stay alive much longer since it's been around for plus 20 years.

So, in the same way, I'd expect good quality Esperanto literature in physical form will still become worth a lot. How much of course depends on a multitude of figures I guess... Maybe one day a library will want to buy them, who knows... I reckon though someone will still want them, I mean, even though I know some things are safer bought and kept digitally, there are still things I like to have my hands on in the real world, as if assurance that it does indeed exist beside me.

Genjix (Vise profilen) 11. sep. 2010 15.28.33

Think of it this way: books have existed for centuries and they still will.

Radio didn't kill music, and TV didn't kill radio. In fact I'd say that the internet will increase the popularity of the book. Well known authors/artists will suffer big hits, but the smaller less well known writer will have increased exposure from giving away his work for free.

Fact: most software is not written as a sold product, but a service to fulfil someone's need.

Fact: live performances and other such things keep music far more alive than the sale of CDs.

Right now this is amazing. I have access to 100's of popular books as PDF's that normally costs me $100's. Normally I would forsake this knowledge, but now I bask, learning so so much. Some bemoan the destruction of old models, but culture will never disappear and new models will arise to replace the old ones.

I like what Cory Doctorow says about this in his book Little Brother (scroll down to the beginning section titled THE COPYRIGHT THING where he goes into detail):
For me -- for pretty much every writer -- the big problem isn't piracy, it's obscurity (thanks to Tim O'Reilly for this great aphorism). Of all the people who failed to buy this book today, the majority did so because they never heard of it, not because someone gave them a free copy. Mega-hit best-sellers in science fiction sell half a million copies -- in a world where 175,000 attend the San Diego Comic Con alone, you've got to figure that most of the people who "like science fiction" (and related geeky stuff like comics, games, Linux, and so on) just don't really buy books. I'm more interested in getting more of that wider audience into the tent than making sure that everyone who's in the tent bought a ticket to be there.

Miland (Vise profilen) 11. sep. 2010 16.28.34

Books are more convenient than computers provided that they are small enough; the full Oxford English Dictionary might be more convenient to use on a hand held computer.
Furthermore, books are not dependent on electricity the way that computers are. They can outlast individual lives and even civilisations. They can be buried, dug up and read again, and even deciphered from lost languages (provided we have enough 'Rosetta stones' available). So I don't see them passing away.
Concerning Esperanto books, I hope they don't become valuable, in the sense that I hope that future Esperantists will be able to afford them!

Genjix (Vise profilen) 11. sep. 2010 18.32.54

I can carry on a paper-thin device ~500 books and it runs off battery for longer than a week.

I can copy the books onto CDs, the internet, portable hard-drives, my camera... And if I lose one copy then I still have backups. Much more secure than a physical copy.

sudanglo (Vise profilen) 12. sep. 2010 11.30.05

Given that one can read 'Murdo en la Orienta Expreso' on the net for free, or download it to an e-reader, what price would an Esperantist pay for my 1937 paperback copy?

I think Agatha Christie must have been favourably disposed to Esperanto, as the Esperanto edition appeared only 3 years after the UK edition in English.

Given the small print run for the Esperanto edition, I can't see that Agatha Christie could have asked very much for the translation rights.

Miland (Vise profilen) 15. sep. 2010 09.27.34

formiĉjo:I still don't think anything digital is "real". It's smoke. If the electricity goes out, all the stuff online basically no longer exists.
My feeling exactly!

sudanglo (Vise profilen) 15. sep. 2010 10.02.41

Thank you all for your encouragement. I will continue to believe that my Esperanto library will one day be worth a fortune.

Unfortunately my potentially most valuable item, a kongres-libro from the 1905 UK in Boulogne, I foolishly sold in the early eighties for a mere £50. It was stuffed full of marvellous Edwardian adverts for local shops as well as the usual kongres-libro contents.

Anyway the advent of digital publishing will probably be a great boon to Esperanto authors. I imagine the costs must be much lower that for traditional print publihing.

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