Will Amazon Save Newspapers and Magazines?

Amazon has now officially announced the launch of its Kindle DX, a larger and more expensive version of its Kindle 2 e-reader. It is big enough, says the company, to display text books, but there is also much anticipation that new larger-size devices like this will be delivery systems for newspapers and magazines. It doesn't look to me like the new Kindle will be up to that particular task--it seems more geared to the text-book market.
    That seems logical--e-readers like this could cut the very high price of college test books, and college students are comfortable with technology like this. But if publishers can't make a profit on these books--and college texts can be gold mines--they will probably be cool to the whole thing.)
    Other devices are on the way, and they will cater more to newspaper and magazine formats and production quality. What would it take to get you to buy one? Size? Portability? Price? The image quality will certainly have to improve to make the experience of seeing pictures worthwhile.--David Schonauer

Comments

[btom]

There is a pretty good incentive for textbook publishers to support something like this. Right now, they only make money on the first sale of a text. The most successful texts are also the most available to students used. A electronic copy without resale rights would mean that each student would be paying the publisher (and Amazon) each semester for new ebooks. They could likely drop the price significantly and still do well. One of the reasons students tolerate high new book prices is because there is resale value down the road.

[iMack]

I think students tolerate high book prices because they have to.

I remember having to buy two physics books for a two-semester course because one professor insisted on using HIS OWN book instead of the one that all the other professors in the department used for both semesters.

I hate to say it, but that kind of nonsense will happen MORE often with electronic versions because now it's going to be so much easier to "publish" text books.

I also wonder how they'll manage digital rights. Students these days are also pretty clever. Piracy has just about killed the music business. Someone will figure out how to get these electronic books for free.

And if greedy academics are going to abuse the sytem like my old prof did, I almost can't blame them.