Debates: VERSUS?
Editor's note: Since 2009, the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) has surveyed consumers who have purchased ebooks, in an attempt to understand their behavior, and to predict the path of the ebook trend. The resulting study1 has led to many conversations about the future role of print. The subject has also spawned some spirited prose on the matter, including a recent blog, "Why Printed Books Will Never Die," by Josh Catone on Mashable.2 This particular piece prompted the BISG study authors, Steve Paxhia and John Parsons, to publish their own more or less friendly debate.
When the subject of ebooks versus print — EVP, if you will — is discussed, one sees passionate loyalty on both sides. This is good news for the art, science and business of publishing. Such passion shows that this long established format of encoding and exchanging knowledge has captured the hearts of millions who view books as essential to their lives. What it also does, unfortunately, is cloud the real issues. Partisan loyalty to old or new book formats can blind us to what makes a book valuable in the first place.
Remember, all recent books are "born digital." In the vast majority of cases, they are written on computers. Their content is organized and structured using industry standard applications and formats — whether the author knows it or not. They are often designed and produced offshore, using editing and design software, rather than by designers and typesetting craftsmen working in the U.S. Increasingly, these books are being manufactured on demand, using digital presses (print) or highly automated file conversion (ebook). Frequently the print and digital versions of a specific title are produced using the very same content files. Millions of older books have been digitized from scans or PDF archives.
In short, the only substantial difference between printed books and ebooks is the output media format selected. They are all books. The real questions for this debate are whether either format is intrinsically more valuable than the other and whether the rise or fall of either — or their continuation in a partnership of some kind — is in the best interests of the reading public.
The authors are lovers of the written word, reading many books and owning personal book collections — printed and digital — numbering in the thousands. Between them, they have access to at least 12 different e-reading devices, plus the usual number of current and recently retired laptops. Through exposure to consumer data collected by BISG (with comparable data from Library Journal and elsewhere), they have developed an appreciation for the dilemmas now facing publishers. The EVP issue is not a simple pro and con matter; it is nuanced and difficult. Nevertheless, the following is an attempt to speak for the two "sides."
Is It a War?
Steve: I've read articles, blogs and comments describing the growing popularity of ebooks as some sort of warfare against the printed book. One said he found it depressing to see content displayed in a printed bound format being displaced by content displayed in a variety of digital formats on multiple mobile devices. I fail to see how offering consumers more reading choices can be considered war — or even be considered depressing.
John: The term "warfare" infers an absolute winner and loser. That's nonsense; it's not an either/or proposition. The BISG survey shows that — for individuals of certain ages and incomes — the ebook format is rapidly displacing print. However, print still has intrinsic value that digital has not yet replicated. For one thing, printed books are physical products, not software. Once sold, they are not subject to the whims of any publisher or reseller. I agree that format choice is cause for consumer celebration, not depression. If there is a war, it's not about formats, per se, but about who will control book distribution. Software-savvy e-distributors may indeed overthrow the old physical product regime. However, this is only cause for depression if the new order limits consumer choice for commercial gain.
Steve: E-distribution is much more efficient and cost-effective than print distribution. Authors and publishers are currently concerned that their lower priced ebooks will be copied and illegally sold and distributed. Thus far, there is not much evidence that illegal copying of ebooks is a common problem especially if the price of the ebook is reasonable. In fact, we are seeing that the use of digital rights management [DRM] technology is decreasing. When that happens, there will be little difference between "the software" and the physical book.
Curation, Scarcity and Value
John: By drastically lowering the barriers to publication and distribution, ebooks are increasing the volume of uncurated garbage, and making it increasingly difficult to find books worth reading. I know that all advances in print technology — from Gutenberg's time through on-demand digital — have had a similar effect. Ebooks have made the flood much worse. Good content has always been scarce, and worth the price that scarcity commands, but ebooks make all books seem like commodities, which drives down the price. Publishers get a bad rap for making it difficult to publish, but someone has to curate and add value, and ebooks aren't helping.
Steve: Discovery of individual print titles has been an issue for many years. And yes, publishers often served as gatekeepers as to which books were published. In the digital era, publishers will continue to provide a level of curation by deciding which books to publish thereby adding the prestige of their imprint and the clout to their marketing team to published titles. However, authors now have the choice to self publish independently or with entities like Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Lulu. Once an author has built his/her brand name, the economics of self-publishing are quite attractive. Some authors like Addison Moore, Elizabeth Naughton, Gemma Halliday and John Locke have already become bestselling authors and some have sold print rights to their ebooks to traditional publishers.
To improve discoverability options, Inkling has recently announced a new service that will make titles published using its platform searchable by Google. Commercial publishers and self-publishers can benefit from this service.
The Aesthetic Argument
Steve: Many argue that printed books are more beautiful than ebooks, and that art should be valued over mere utility. I agree that many print books are beautiful. I have many books that are quite lovely to read and that add warmth to a room when viewed en masse.
This mostly pertains to book covers. In my experience, print and ebook covers are often the same. Along with aesthetics, their goal is to help sell copies by drawing the attention of potential readers. Because many print books are sold online, a cover has to work both in person and online.
When we consider the contents, there certainly are beautiful print books. However, the whole point of good book design is to create a great experience for the reader, not art for art's sake. One of the best features of ebooks is that I can choose my own font styles and sizes, change the line length, spacing and margins. So my ebooks may look little like their printed versions, but if the whole point is readability, then ebooks have the better aesthetic.
John: There are many ugly print books, so the pure aesthetic argument only works for books that are well designed in the first place. Also, books that are truly works of art are seldom used as books! I own a rare edition of the novel News from Nowhere — with type designed, paper made and possibly hand printed by William Morris himself. It's beautiful, but I'll never cut the folios and read it. If I didn't have a paperback edition (which I do), then I would read it as an ebook. Let's not confuse seldom-read collectibles with books as a whole.
If the purpose of a book cover is primarily to attract attention in a bookstore, or on a shelf, then a digital image is just fine — especially on larger color screens. The book content argument is tricky, however. Well-structured ebook files and capable e-reading software do give the user the power to create an aesthetically pleasant page. For narrative, text-heavy works, this is adequate. However, print designers currently have more tools for creating beautiful and effective pages, especially if one needs more fonts, has more illustrations, if reflowable text is inconsistent with overall design goals, or if the subject matter (e.g., maps or large images) benefits from a reading area larger than a tablet screen.
Steve: Book designs are developed with a certain page size in mind. This can be a major limiting factor in creating designs because book pages are sequential and changes in one page can have an impact on subsequent pages. We all have books with one or multiple blank pages required to maintain the book's overall design. Already content designers are producing open or page free designs that provide attractive, functional and readable displays on a wide range of digital products and also support the constraints of a traditional book format.
Space Required
Steve: Even the greatest lover of print books has to admit that they take up a lot of space. I can store thousands of ebooks on my e-reading devices and move them from device to device as I upgrade. I can even download my ebooks to several devices at the same time.
John: It's true that physical books come with storage and display costs — and an occasional sore back. However, for the works I value (and am not willing or able to re-purchase as ebooks), the space needed for physical books is an acceptable burden. If there were a way for me to transition most of my print formatted books to digital — similar to the way I've converted my CDs and vinyl albums to MP3s — then I would gladly do so, and reclaim the space currently occupied by paper.
Steve: If you were willing to take the time, you could scan your books at very little cost. There are also services that will scan your books for a dollar.
John: Sorry, but I just don't have the time to scan hundreds of pages myself, even if I had a fancy auto-feed scanner (which I don't). The services you mention are fine for books unavailable in ebook format, but even with prices like one dollar per 100 pages, the total cost, including shipping the original, is $8 or $9 — and all you get back are scanned PDF pages, not EPUB files. (I've written about my recent experience with one of these services in my blog: http://wp.me/pBNZg-1D.)
Technical Requirements
John: Because ebooks are software for electronic devices — not physical products — they impose a technical requirement on the consumer. He or she must be able to afford a device, often requiring a monthly paid data plan or at least the presence of an Internet connection. Operating systems and applications must be maintained, batteries must be recharged, and the devices themselves fail or become obsolete. In short, ebooks impose a technical requirement that is all but non-existent with print. (I'll admit: You do need a light source and basic literacy.) It's true that ebook technology is getting easier and more affordable, but print simply does not impose this type of post-sale burden.
Steve: While it is true that the consumer needs a device to read an ebook, the cost of these mobile devices is quite reasonable, ranging from $59 to $400, and in our research the price of devices was considered a good value by all but 2.4% of respondents. Only 5.6% of respondents said that the device purchase price was a significant problem. I think that you are overstating the support issues. Most households already have Internet access and free Wi-Fi is readily available to most consumers. Devices can fail or need replacing, but so can the bindings of well-used books like my favorite cookbooks.
Provenance
Steve: Some argue that print books have provenance that ebooks lack, and that pixels are somehow more temporary than good old print on paper. This ignores the fact that books get wet or burnt, or the paper deteriorates. It also does not explain why libraries are now scanning important books, published before the rise of digital technologies, so that they can endure in a digital format.
John: I agree that format and provenance are not linked in any way. Both print and digital are, for different reasons, subject to degradation over time. Both are subject to human folly, from the burning of the Alexandria library to the latest cloud server crash. Digital does have far greater survival potential, if only because we can make unlimited backup copies. However, I'd be cautious about declaring that "digital is forever." After a century or more, will we be able to decode all the bits that make up today's equivalent of Moby Dick or Walden?
Formats and Genres
Steve: Nicholas Carr in his Rough Type blog3 and subsequent New York Times article suggests that ebooks might be acceptable for genre fiction but not for literary fiction. One respondent to his blog quipped, "That's like saying that CDs are good for heavy metal but not for classical music," which is pure nonsense. Our research shows that, while certain genres are somewhat more likely to be read as ebooks, genres have very little to do with format choice. Some genres are preferred on specific devices (e.g., narrative works on e-readers, how-to guides on tablets or PCs, and travel books on smartphones), but once a consumer switches to ebooks, genre considerations are irrelevant.
John: I agree that when it comes to basic narrative book genres, the EVP argument is moot. Even complex nonfiction content such as reference works and educational content can only benefit by becoming fully digital. However, there are several ways in which ebooks (or interactive e-content, if you prefer) have not yet met the standard set by print. While digital reference materials and other nonfiction can be digitally enhanced, it is presently cost-prohibitive to do so.
Ebooks are Only a Fad
Steve: Carr adds that many ebooks go unread. This argument lacks force, since the same could be said of print books and our research shows that 96% of Power Buyers reported that they finished the ebooks they purchased. Our research also suggests that once readers try ebooks, their preference grows rather than diminishes, and that the number of people who report leaving ebooks for print books is close to zero. The mere fact that ebook sales are overtaking print book sales is proof that it's not a fad.
The reader's nostalgic feelings for printed books are also used as a pro-print argument. It's true that I look at my bookshelves with fond memories, but that applies equally to my library and my digital bookshelf. What is the difference?
John: I can't say I have the same feelings when I look at a tablet screen's worth of summary data and thumbnails as when I look at a row of well-ordered bookcases, but feelings are beside the point. Ebooks are a fact of life, not a fad, and I'll probably read more books, not less, as a result. Today, it is more cost-effective for me to reach for a printed dictionary, or re-read a favorite printed book, than to spend the extra time and money needed to go "all digital." Tomorrow, there will be better digital alternatives, but for now I have good reasons to use both formats.
Cost Structure
Steve: As I've said before, I believe that both print and ebooks are reasonable consumer options for the foreseeable future. However, people who want to buy print books need to expect to pay more. It simply costs more to manufacture, warehouse, distribute, retail and/or ship a printed book. I expect the prices of ebooks to continue to become more affordable when ebooks become the primary distribution media. Happily, the costs for digital print-on-demand are also dropping so that the printed book option should also become more economical over time.
John: On this point we agree, especially for narrative trade books. However, interactive content and certain types of educational and nonfiction work — if we can even call them "books" — have their own development and creative cost issues, but that's a discussion for another day.
Conclusions
Choice is a good thing for readers, not a bad thing for books. With today's technology, every book is digital. Because ebooks are less expensive to produce and distribute, require less capital and physical goods, and have no returns, they will become less expensive than their print versions as the industry completes its transition. The data clearly support the projection that ebooks will be the book format of choice for readers who have sufficient access to the required devices and infrastructure. Over time, that will include a very large percentage of humanity, even if that means reading ebooks on smartphones in less developed countries.
Today's ebooks are new technology; what we find troublesome today will certainly be addressed, as were the problems of print. Print books will never go away, but they will become a premium format option for consumers. There will always be individuals, situations and economic conditions for which printed books are the most desirable medium. These additional choices should be exhilarating, not depressing, for readers of all ages.
We propose that instead of debating the differences between print books and ebooks, that we turn our attention to developing content products that delight readers regardless of the media format. That might help attract even more active readers which would be good for all stakeholders in the publishing and reading communities.
Steve Paxhia's (steve@paxhia.com) consulting practice is focused upon the digital publishing strategies and technologies employed by publishing and education professionals. Steve has been working in publishing and publishing technology for many years, has aided in many successful publishing-related business ventures and pilot programs, and is the author of numerous in-depth research reports for BISG, Library Journal, BookStats and the Gilbane Group.
John Parsons (john@intuideas.com) is a writer, researcher and consultant for the printing and publishing industries. He has written and advised on a broad range of publishing-related technology and business topics. He has written for Book Business, Folio and other publications, as well as research reports for BISG, AAP and IDEAlliance. He was formerly the Editorial Director of The Seybold Report.
John Parsons (john@intuideas.com), former Editorial Director of The Seybold Report, is an independent writer, ghostwriter, and editor. He is the co-author of the interactive printed textbook, Introduction to Graphic Communication, on the art, science and business of print, which has been adopted by Ryerson, Arizona State, the University of Houston, and many other schools and vocational training centers. Custom editions of the book are under consideration by major printing companies and franchises for internal training purposes.