考研阅读精选：出版物的电子化
『继唱片业以及报纸产业之后，纸质出版物也将迎来电子化时代，这一趋势是否真的势不可挡？其中又有何利弊？且看本文作者如何解读』Great Digital Expectations
出版物的电子化
Sep 10th, 2011 | from The Economist
Having started rather late, books are swiftly following music and newspapers into the digital world. Publishers believe their journey will be different, and that they will not suffer the fate of those industries by going into slow decline. Publishers’ experience will, indeed, be different—but not necessarily better.
In some ways the transition from paper to digital distribution is a boon . E-books currently have high profit margins , and are free from many of the drawbacks of print. Peter Osnos, the founder of PublicAffairs Books, says the biggest challenge small publishers face is managing their inventories . Print too many books, and lots of them will be returned by stores. Print too few and publishers will forgo sales while they order reprints. None of these problems exists when distributing books digitally.
Romance novels and crime blockbusters have proved particularly popular on e-readers, perhaps because it is difficult to tell from across the aisle of a bus whether someone is reading a bodice-ripper or Dostoevsky on their Kindle. Serialised romance novels generally have a shelf life of just four weeks. Now many are easily available as digital version.
Yet these advantages are outweighed by several looming hazards . The first is piracy . Digital-book files are tiny—much smaller than a film, and not even as big as a music album. Book readers may be an unusually honest lot, but they are not above getting stuff for nothing. E-books routinely pop up on file-sharing websites like the Pirate Bay, both in their own right and as part of vast anthologies with names like “2,500 Retail Quality E-books”.
Piracy is a particular threat because of a second, bigger problem: the apparently arbitrary nature of e-book pricing. When Amazon began selling e-books, it charged $9.99 for many of them, often selling at a loss to fire Kindle sales. Gradually it became clear that Amazon was undermining the perceived value of all books, digital and paper alike. So, last year, the biggest publishers used the release of Apple’s iPad to push Amazon into “agency” pricing. Publishers now set their own prices and give about 30% of the sale to Amazon.
That has meant higher prices for many new e-books. As some prices rise, though, a tide of free and cheap product is flooding the maq�ky"http://kaoyan.koolearn.com/zhuanshuo/mt/" target="_blank">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"http://www.economist.com/node/18744017">http://www.economist.com/node/18744017
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