Difference between revisions of "The future of books"
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=== Market === | === Market === | ||
[[How many paper books are sold each year?]]<br /> | # [[How many paper books are sold each year?]]<br /> | ||
[[How many e-book readers have been sold so far?]]<br /> | # [[How many e-book readers have been sold so far?]]<br /> | ||
[[How many audio books are being sold each year?]]<br /> | # [[How many audio books are being sold each year?]]<br /> | ||
[[To what users would e-books provide a serious advantage over paper books?]]<br /> | # [[To what users would e-books provide a serious advantage over paper books?]]<br /> | ||
=== Paper and ink === | === Paper and ink === | ||
[[What is the price of printing a book out of the total costs?]]<br /> | # [[What is the price of printing a book out of the total costs?]]<br /> | ||
[[What is the current trend in price of paper?]]<br /> | # [[What is the current trend in price of paper?]]<br /> | ||
[[Will the price of paper go up in the future?]]<br /> | # [[Will the price of paper go up in the future?]]<br /> | ||
[[Will the price of ink go up in the future?]]<br /> | # [[Will the price of ink go up in the future?]]<br /> | ||
[[Are there physical alternative to paper books?]]<br /> | # [[Are there physical alternative to paper books?]]<br /> | ||
=== Language === | === Language === | ||
[[In what amount are printed books available in non-native languages?]]<br /> | # [[In what amount are printed books available in non-native languages?]]<br /> | ||
[[What percent of the market is the industry loosing because of non-native speakers (in the US)?]]<br /> | # [[What percent of the market is the industry loosing because of non-native speakers (in the US)?]]<br /> | ||
[[Would on demand printing of translated ebooks satisfy this non-native speaking market segment?]]<br /> | # [[Would on demand printing of translated ebooks satisfy this non-native speaking market segment?]]<br /> | ||
=== Financial === | === Financial === | ||
[[What is the main source of revenue for writers?]]<br /> | # [[What is the main source of revenue for writers?]]<br /> | ||
[[Breakdown of sales of different book types]]<br /> | # [[Breakdown of sales of different book types]]<br /> | ||
[[How are freely available ebooks financed?]]<br /> | # [[How are freely available ebooks financed?]]<br /> | ||
[[Breakdown of publishing costs]]<br /> | # [[Breakdown of publishing costs]]<br /> | ||
=== Digitizing of books === | === Digitizing of books === | ||
[[What companies are digitizing books?]]<br /> | # [[What companies are digitizing books?]]<br /> | ||
[[Are all new books printed already digitized?]]<br /> | # [[Are all new books printed already digitized?]]<br /> | ||
[[What is the percentage of old books that has already been digitized?]]<br /> | # [[What is the percentage of old books that has already been digitized?]]<br /> | ||
[[How much does it cost to have a book digitized?]]<br /> | # [[How much does it cost to have a book digitized?]]<br /> | ||
[[At what rate is the digitizing of old books happening?]]<br /> | # [[At what rate is the digitizing of old books happening?]]<br /> | ||
[[How many books that are in the public domain are already digitized?]]<br /> | # [[How many books that are in the public domain are already digitized?]]<br /> | ||
[[What is the size (in megabytes) of a typical ebook?]]<br /> | # [[What is the size (in megabytes) of a typical ebook?]]<br /> | ||
[[How much data-storage will be needed to store every book in the world?]]<br /> | # [[How much data-storage will be needed to store every book in the world?]]<br /> | ||
[[What is the number of new digitized books per year?]]<br /> | # [[What is the number of new digitized books per year?]]<br /> | ||
=== Distribution of books === | === Distribution of books === | ||
[[What are the current major companies/sources that offer free ebooks?]]<br /> | # [[What are the current major companies/sources that offer free ebooks?]]<br /> | ||
[[What are the current major companies that offer paid ebooks?]]<br /> | # [[What are the current major companies that offer paid ebooks?]]<br /> | ||
[[What is the price for a standard ebook? (and how does that compare to a normal book)]]<br /> | # [[What is the price for a standard ebook? (and how does that compare to a normal book)]]<br /> | ||
[[How much does it cost to distribute ebooks over the web? (bandwidth, server costs)]]<br /> | # [[How much does it cost to distribute ebooks over the web? (bandwidth, server costs)]]<br /> | ||
[[How are ebooks distributed?]]<br /> | # [[How are ebooks distributed?]]<br /> | ||
[[How is access to certain 'sensitive' books regulated?]]<br /> | # [[How is access to certain 'sensitive' books regulated?]]<br /> | ||
[[How is 'renting' of ebooks from libraries handled?]]<br /> | # [[How is 'renting' of ebooks from libraries handled?]]<br /> | ||
[[What are alternative ways to get (e)books to the customer?]]<br /> | # [[What are alternative ways to get (e)books to the customer?]]<br /> | ||
=== Format of ebooks === | === Format of ebooks === | ||
[[In what file-format will books be distributed now (in the future)?]] <br /> | # [[In what file-format will books be distributed now (in the future)?]] <br /> | ||
[[What are the alternatives to ebooks?]]<br /> | # [[What are the alternatives to ebooks?]]<br /> | ||
[[What are the options to read digital books?]]<br /> | # [[What are the options to read digital books?]]<br /> | ||
[[What are future possibilities of ebooks, will they for example incorporate sound or video?]]<br /> | # [[What are future possibilities of ebooks, will they for example incorporate sound or video?]]<br /> | ||
=== Copyright of digital books === | === Copyright of digital books === | ||
[[Who holds the copyright to books? Writers? Illustrators? Publishers?]]<br/> | # [[Who holds the copyright to books? Writers? Illustrators? Publishers?]]<br/> | ||
[[What are current copyright laws on books?]]<br/> | # [[What are current copyright laws on books?]]<br/> | ||
[[How is copyright handled on current ebooks?]]<br/> | # [[How is copyright handled on current ebooks?]]<br/> | ||
[[What limitation imposes copyright on ebooks?]]<br/> | # [[What limitation imposes copyright on ebooks?]]<br/> | ||
[[Are there any open-source books?]]<br/> | # [[Are there any open-source books?]]<br/> | ||
[[What is creative commons?]]<br/> | # [[What is creative commons?]]<br/> | ||
[[To what limit can people read copyrighted books without buying them?]]<br/> | # [[To what limit can people read copyrighted books without buying them?]]<br/> | ||
[[Does piracy of books pose a significant threat to the industry?]]<br /> | # [[Does piracy of books pose a significant threat to the industry?]]<br /> | ||
<br/> | <br/> | ||
Revision as of 16:06, 3 May 2009
Team Composition
Research Questions
General book and e-book
- In what kind of categories can we split different kind of books?
- What is pleasant and unpleasant about reading a paper book?
- What is pleasant and unpleasant about reading on a e-book reader?
- What is pleasant and unpleasant about reading on a laptop?
- What is the typical weight of an e-book reader?
- What are current limitation of e-book readers?
Market
- How many paper books are sold each year?
- How many e-book readers have been sold so far?
- How many audio books are being sold each year?
- To what users would e-books provide a serious advantage over paper books?
Paper and ink
- What is the price of printing a book out of the total costs?
- What is the current trend in price of paper?
- Will the price of paper go up in the future?
- Will the price of ink go up in the future?
- Are there physical alternative to paper books?
Language
- In what amount are printed books available in non-native languages?
- What percent of the market is the industry loosing because of non-native speakers (in the US)?
- Would on demand printing of translated ebooks satisfy this non-native speaking market segment?
Financial
- What is the main source of revenue for writers?
- Breakdown of sales of different book types
- How are freely available ebooks financed?
- Breakdown of publishing costs
Digitizing of books
- What companies are digitizing books?
- Are all new books printed already digitized?
- What is the percentage of old books that has already been digitized?
- How much does it cost to have a book digitized?
- At what rate is the digitizing of old books happening?
- How many books that are in the public domain are already digitized?
- What is the size (in megabytes) of a typical ebook?
- How much data-storage will be needed to store every book in the world?
- What is the number of new digitized books per year?
Distribution of books
- What are the current major companies/sources that offer free ebooks?
- What are the current major companies that offer paid ebooks?
- What is the price for a standard ebook? (and how does that compare to a normal book)
- How much does it cost to distribute ebooks over the web? (bandwidth, server costs)
- How are ebooks distributed?
- How is access to certain 'sensitive' books regulated?
- How is 'renting' of ebooks from libraries handled?
- What are alternative ways to get (e)books to the customer?
Format of ebooks
- In what file-format will books be distributed now (in the future)?
- What are the alternatives to ebooks?
- What are the options to read digital books?
- What are future possibilities of ebooks, will they for example incorporate sound or video?
Copyright of digital books
- Who holds the copyright to books? Writers? Illustrators? Publishers?
- What are current copyright laws on books?
- How is copyright handled on current ebooks?
- What limitation imposes copyright on ebooks?
- Are there any open-source books?
- What is creative commons?
- To what limit can people read copyrighted books without buying them?
- Does piracy of books pose a significant threat to the industry?
Driving Forces
Invention of digital ink and paper
Increased usage/penetration of digital portable devices
The security of digital right management
The availability of Internet bandwidth
Difficulty of having a book published and distributed
Cost of digital book compared to normal book
Increase in reachability of potential customers
Lower cost of datastorage & bandwidth
Increase in amount of people connected to internet
Increase of amount of people connected to internet with mobile device
Systems Diagram
Scenario 1
<suggestion>The downfall of printed books
Scenario 2
<suggestion>Copyright laws and DRM makes ebooks a complete failure
Scenario 3
<suggestion>Printed books and ebooks both die and internet based open source information becomes the new way