Publishers are tearing their hair out over ebooks. How do they make money when ebook prices are being pushed so low? One idea that has been thrown around is to subsidize ebook with in-book ads. Yes, the idea is controversial and probably makes traditional book lovers cringe. Heck, it makes me cringe a little too.

I’ve already visited this subject twice on Brad’s Reader. The first was back in 2007 in my post Advertising in Books: Will it Work? and again in 2009 Ads in ebooks – Coming to an eReader near you. Notice that my thinking on this does shift from post to post.

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I hear a lot of people say they will forgo dedicated e-readers, such as the Kindle and Nook, in favor of the more expensive Apple iPad. I think this is a bad idea. While I love the iPad (I don’t own one, but I’d gladly buy one if my wallet would only let me) and think it is useful in a lot of ways, I don’t think reading ebooks is one of them.

A recent post from my favorite ebook blog, Teleread, summed up pretty well why the iPad makes a horrible ebook reader:

The machine is far too heavy to hold for any length of time. It is also very slippery which means that you have to read with it in a case, which, in turn, just adds to its bulk and weight. Also, while I have no trouble reading for extended periods from my iPhone, the iPad has just too much glare for prolonged use. I get sick of reading black text on a white background to cut the glare. More: its pretty much useless outside (I use my Kindle there); I’ll never buy books from the iBookstore and I rarely read comics – at least electronically.

The glare issue alone is a big one. Many of use already strain our eyes too much sitting in front of our computers. Why add the extra strain to your eyes? Dedicated e-readers are designed to read like a print book with minimal strain on the eyes. I can read for extended periods on my Sony Reader with no problems.

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When I first saw the tweet that laptop computers and other digital devices (including the Amazon Kindle, and I’m assuming the B&N Nook) are banned from some coffee shops, I had to read the tweet twice. Then I read this NYT blog post in which the author described his experience at one coffee shop:

After placing my order I sat down at a table and pulled out my Amazon Kindle.

I barely made it a sentence into the e-book I was reading before an employee of the coffee shop came by, stood over me and said, “Excuse me sir, but we don’t allow computers in the coffee shop.”

I looked up at him with an incredulous look and replied, “This isn’t a computer, it’s an e-book reader.”

Surprisingly, the employee makes this argument:

He then told me that the “device” in my hand had a screen and required batteries, so it was obviously “some variation of a computer.” The coffee shop, I was told, did not allow the use of computers.

The basic argument these coffee shops make is that people buy a latte, then sit at a large table with their entire “office” spread out and sit there for 5 hours doing work.

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I think it’s amazing that only a year ago, Amazon was the only big player in the ebook world with their Kindle. Now, they have some major competition from Barnes & Noble with the release of the Nook last November. And it appears that B&N is leading the way in ereader pricing.

About a month ago, B&N lowered the price of the Nook 3G + WiFi to $199 from $259. They followed that by releasing a WiFi-only version of Nook for $149. Amazon quickly followed by lowering the price of their Kindle 2 to $189. Now, they have announced a WiFi-only Kindle that will retail for $139.

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UPDATE 7/22/10: Publishers have responded to and confirmed Amazon’s claims that ebooks sales have been outpacing hardcover book sales. Publisher’s Confirm Amazon’s Ebook Sales Figures

In a recent press release, Amazon.com claims to have sold 180 ebooks for every 100 hardcover editions sold in the last month. As a self-described “ebook evangalist” I’m thrilled that ebooks are becoming a larger part of overall books sales. But I’m also skeptical of Amazon’s claims.

In the press release, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos puts these numbers into perspective:

“We’ve reached a tipping point with the new price of Kindle–the growth rate of Kindle device unit sales has tripled since we lowered the price from $259 to $189,” said Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “In addition, even while our hardcover sales continue to grow, the Kindle format has now overtaken the hardcover format. Amazon.com customers now purchase more Kindle books than hardcover books–astonishing when you consider that we’ve been selling hardcover books for 15 years, and Kindle books for 33 months.”

I have always maintained that print books are here to stay for a very long time, ebooks are also here to stay and not just another fad.

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The biggest reason I hear people use for resisting ebooks is that they like real books. They like the feel of a real book when the hold it. They like turning the pages of a real book. They even like the smell of a real book.

All those reasons are very superficial.

Ebooks, just like printed books, are only the medium that the content reaches us. The story and characters do not change if you read a novel in ebook format as opposed to print. The only difference is that you’re reading on a screen rather than paper.

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I’ve always guessed that the main demographic for those who read ebooks would be the younger crowd. You know, those who are tech-savvy, have a lot of disposable income and like to have the latest and greatest of all the gadgets out there.

Well, I’m wrong. It appears that ebook readers are a little older, at least according to one article.

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The day after Father’s Day, Barnes & Noble drops the price of their Nook to $199 and releases a WiFi-only Nook for $149. Likewise, Amazon dropped the price on their Kindle to $189. I suspect that Amazon lowered their Kindle price in response to B&N’s own Nook price decrease.

Of course, I find it strange both decided to lower their prices after Father’s Day, especially considering how both Amazon and B&N went on an advertising blitz that marketed their respective e-readers as the perfect gift for dads. I wonder how many of these dads who did receive an e-reader will be slightly annoyed that their loved ones overpaid for their new toy.

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I happened to stop by my local Borders store today while running some errands and saw their display for their upcoming selection of ebook readers. Borders already sells the Sony family of e-readers (although the display was quite small and they didn’t have any demo units out).

On July 2 Borders will begin selling 2 more ebook readers. I grabbed some information from the small display and decided to present it here to compare both readers and what they off to you.

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A new post on the Ars Technica blog is making waves around the ‘net today among us ebook enthusiasts. The post, Whatever happened to the e-reader tsunami of 2010? asks where some of these new devices are – most notably the Plastic Logic Que and the Sprint/Hearst Skiff. The post floats one theory, that the iconic iPad has forced new devices from entering the market.

Ars Technica points out that this is only a theory, and there is no way to tell for sure what is responsible for keeping the the Que and Skiff from entering the market.

It was always going to be very difficult for these commoditized products to differentiate themselves from each other, and the fact that they’ll now be competing for whatever is left of the e-reader market after Apple takes its chunk may have been the last straw for some would-be entrants.

No one can deny that Apple’s iPad has had a huge impact in many areas of the tech market, with ebooks being one of them. But as Ars says, we can’t say for sure whether or not the iPad derailed these other products.

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