[bksvol-discuss] Re: Publishers and Bookshare As a Library
- From: Soronel Haetir <soronel.haetir@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:57:50 -0900
The missing element is that there are in fact market segments that it
is not worth pursuing.
The whole thing behind disabling TTS on e-books is that publishers
wish to continue selling audio books. They've made the choice that
market is more important to them.
I imagine that it does not help that the current legal regime allows
us a significant copyright waiver.
On 12/12/09, Kim Friedman <kimfri11@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Bravo, Monica! It's ironic that folks who need accessibility in the form of
> Braille displays can't afford to get it. Put it this way, it's amazing that
> what seems logical to us isn't apparent to them all because of that bloody
> bottom line. Make books available to us in accessible formats and we will
> buy and read them. We will ask our friends to buy them. Everybody (including
> authors) will profit. I understand your frustration and get where you're
> coming from. Regards, Kim.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Monica Willyard
> Sent: Saturday, December 12, 2009 11:35 AM
> To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Publishers and Bookshare As a Library
>
> Denise, you're right. I see the logic in your point in that Bookshare
> doesn't work like a local public library. There is an inequity here. Yet
> Bookshare's existence was created by another inequity that publishers
> knowingly chose not to rectify. Bookshare stands in the gap, providing a
> service we cannot get elsewhere, even if we are prepared to pay for it.
>
> It costs us over $1,000 for equipment to scan and read a book for ourselves,
> not even counting the cost of the book and the time taken to scan it. Yet
> any person who can read normally can walk into a library, get a book, read
> it, and return it with ease. All they have to pay for is the gas to get
> there or for someone to drive them. My dad has read 54 novels this year, all
> bestsellers, without paying a dime. The library is 10 minutes from our
> house, near our grocery store. He pops in for a book, and he's happy as a
> clam.
>
> We generally don't have that option, except for the small amount of books
> available with NLS. There are over 35 million books out there, and the NLS
> only has around 65,000 of them, half of which have been retired due to age.
> The NLS has destroyed thousands of our books, against our will, because they
> were supposedly too old or not recorded well enough. We actually have a
> total catalog now of about 40,000 books through the NLS. Out of 35 million!
>
> Is Bookshare totally fair to publishers? Probably not. Then again, is it
> fair that we have to pay dearly for a scanner and software just to read one
> book when they already have that book in electronic form? I'd say no. So
> there is unfairness on both sides. I think the person with the deeper
> pockets, greater muscle, and the clout to act should be the party to take a
> step forward. Then I'm ready to meet them halfway.
>
> This is an issue where I feel a lot of frustration. To me, this whole thing
> boils down to one issue, business 101. You sell what customers want to buy,
> and they pay you for it. Your customers show you what they want by their
> spending actions and feedback. That's not happening here, and it's not
> Bookshare or any of us causing it. The publishers will not sell us what we
> want to buy. And when Amazon started making it possible on the Kindle, the
> publishers stepped on us like we were little black ants under their boots.
> If I treated my customers that way, I'd go out of business right now.
>
> I'd be happy to pay for books if publishers would make fully accessible
> versions of their books available. My Audible account reflects this in
> abundance. All publishers need to do is give us access to TTS on the Kindle
> and a secure Braille converter for their e-pub format. Both actions are
> simple to do at a very low cost to the book industry as a whole. They can
> still use DRM, and they would find that print disabled people read a great
> deal more than the general public. Since they're not willing to address this
> issue, I'm not willing to give up Bookshare to possibly prevent them from
> losing money. When they treat me like a customer worth something, I'll
> become one, and a loyal one at that.
>
> Publishers don't seem to remember that their customer matters and that if
> you treat a person like a non-customer, you will lose money. This is
> economics 101, what every kid learns in high school. Action comes first,
> than comes the reward of a sale.
>
> Finally, since I need to buy and scan books for Bookshare if I want to read
> them, I am annoyed that I have to find a home for the print book when I'm
> done with it. It's of no use to me since I can't see it or read its contents
> myself. I use a free site to swap it for something else, and the publishers
> scream bloody murder for not getting a royalty from that swap. If they want
> me to stop doing this, they need to treat me like a customer, let me buy
> books I can read, and enjoy their profits. I'll enjoy not needing to scan
> and can spend that time doing something with my family.
>
> Ok, climbing off my soap box now. (smile)
>
> Monica Willyard
> "The best way to predict the future is to create it." -- Peter Drucker
>
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--
Soronel Haetir
soronel.haetir@xxxxxxxxx
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