Comments on: Cory’s novel (creatively licensed) is out

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Jan 2003 15:30:30 +0000

The book is not very long (just the right length, I liked it a lot) and I had no trouble reading it on an lcd screen of a laptop. So I am not sure 'I'll want to see it in its bound form'. I wound not have read it on a crt display though, and I did find my big a clunky laptop a bit inconvenient, since I read most dead trees books lying on a bed/sofa. The licensing is great for readers, but I, too, wonder if it is too good to last.

By: Bill Katz

Bill Katz — Fri, 17 Jan 2003 17:40:41 +0000

I think it's great that Doctorow has released his work under such pro-reader licensing. And he'll probably do quite well from the added publicity, much like MJ Rose did well after the publicity regarding her self-publishing success. But is this a viable system for those that follow? E-paper will eventually allow bound-form experience for e-books; we're talking three to five years before e-paper products hit the shelves. When that happens, how do authors make reasonable money through electronic distribution?

By: Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell — Thu, 16 Jan 2003 06:15:12 +0000

I do appreciate the licensing; however, I’m not certain that your idea (“once you start the book, you’ll see you want it in its bound form”) is entirely correct. In the last year, I have almost totally ceased purchasing bound books, instead relying upon the ebooks (all legimately purchased, I might add) that I can read on my Palm handheld. I now carry between 10-20 unread or partially-read books in my pocket; I can read on the train, in the queue, before the movie starts, or in other locations. I would be perfectly willing to pay for the downloadable version, but there’s little chance that I will purchase the “bound form” even if I like it. Now, I’m certainly an “early adopter” of such technology, but I believe it will expand in the future. I also pay to download music (via listen.com’s Rhapsody) and to listen online (which makes me a moral archaic, I suppose). P.S. Sorry to hear about Sonny Bono.