In 2014 the ebook suffered a hard braking, unexpected and would to the point of doing to doubt about the possibilities of development of this promising tech. To take a good look at them causes of this braking are reportable a external factors to the quality and potential of ebook technology. In the 2014 are missed great bestseller which, for better or for worse, are the fuel ofindustry of the book in both new and traditional media. As he explains Anita Elberse, the Harvard mass medialogist, i blockbuster are the the heart button ofcultural industry inAge of the nmedium eggs.
But something difficult to explain also happened in 2014. There was a short circuit in the plant that connects authors, publishers, platforms of distribution and consumers. Consciously and spontaneously the “incumbents” (major authors and publishers) and the “disrupters” (technologists and new authors) have erect so many fence defensive that i consumers have lost patience with ebooks and started to address their caution to the competition. First they have rediscovered the use and exchange value of the old and glorious book which, meanwhile, has also become more convenient ofebook.
Children of a lesser God
Today whoever buys an ebook not does a big deal as evidenced by this listing which looks like that of defective goods.
An ebook costs a little less than a book against non-existent industrial costs compared to the book. Who buys an ebook not has full ownership, not can transfer it to a different platform, not can lend it to a friend, not he can resell it at the flea market, not can exchange it with anyone, not can bequeath it.
Throughout Europe (but not in Italy thanks to Franceschini) the consumer payment on ebooks atax of consumption Triple of that of book. Generally the typographic quality ofebook it's depressing modest. The ebook not it has nothing more of the book at the level of content and it is a mere digital copy, since it does not receive any additional investment that enhances the potential of the medium on which it is used. You still see ebooks that don't have a link and are crammed in like a cheap paperback when the legibility , hypertext they are the bread & butter of ebooks.
There seems to be a conspiracy to keep ebook technology in a minority state.
The recovery of 2015
Although this rather unfavorable scenario has not yet been removed, theebook seems to have again la race after the 2014 quarantine. I consumers are returned a download ebooks or read them on streaming services. The UK Publishers Association tells us (UK Publishers Association) that has disclosed i data collected on the performance of the book industry in the first quarter of 2015.
The UK is the second most important market for ebooks after the American one. In this market, ebooks have returned to strong growth, scoring in the first quarter of 2015 un + 11 % over the same period of 2014. We have not returned to the growth rates of 2013 (+20%) but the growth è solid in terms of units sold need market value. In the UK the digital sector of TV series today is worth Present in several = 37% of the entire fiction segment. In just three years it has tripled its market share. It should be noted that the tax differential between books and ebooks in the UK is 20%, since the VAT on books is zero.
If we go to disaggregate il date relating to ebook, leaps to the eye performance of the two segments of the market, so far with the lowest penetration of ebooks, which are growing at Bulgarian rates. The sector of children's booksi scores a + 36 % while remaining, with £22 million in revenues, a still small fraction of the whole segment which is worth £349 million. The digital version of the textbooks (+ 17 %) which reaches the considerable quota of the Present in several = 24% of the scholastic. Super also the outcome of audiobooks to download, growing by Present in several = 24%.
Beyond the rather serene landscape of digital publishing stands the troubled landscape oftraditional book industry is flexes of an ugly 5% on the first quarter of 2014. A rather clear sign of consumption trends. Let's hope that it will be intercepted, interpreted and translated into action by those who can influence the market: authors, publishers, platforms and governments. It's time to break down the barriers and let the new run. We don't know where we'll go, but we have to go.
