eBook crash and burn?

According to Forbes.com, eBook sales by traditional publishers are dropping. There are no doubt several reasons for this, but it makes sense that the issue is rather like video game console sales—there must be great games to make the console sell. Traditional publishers lack the “killer app” that makes it easy to purchase and read eBooks. Barnes and Noble has its Nook, but that’s not been a major success. Apple has its iBook app, which has also not done much to affect the sales of eBooks. Years ago, I was fond of Fictionwise, and read books on my Palm pda, but both Fictionwise and Palm devices are long gone.

The survey above was done by a local news website, and I voted for eBooks. As you can see, most of the voters preferred printed books. Alas, the second highest number was for those who said they had not read a book in years. Only audio books trailed eBooks in popularity in this informal survey.

The prime publisher of eBooks (a company that actually asked me to remove any links to it that I had, so I am not naming it now) courts any author whether a total novice or a seasoned pro with a backlist, and that lack of quality control is a problem. While I hope I am not contributing to the fall in eBook sales by being a mostly self-published author, I do recognize that there is quite a lot of organic fertilizer accepted by eBook publishers. As there is little investment on the part of an eBook publisher, they mostly take anything and let the readers choose to purchase or not. So, readers are beginning to rebel against the eBook revolution in favor of print.

Most of the brick and mortar booksellers in my area are long gone. That includes used book sellers as well as those that sell only new items. Perhaps the reduction in eBook sales will eventually mean a renewal of interest in selling traditional books.

Way to Waste $

E5workshop.com is running long, long ads on YouTube. I’ve been babysitting a family member, who is 22 months old, so I’ve shown him some baby videos, including his all time favorite, “E-I-E-I-O.” Due to the ad supported content, this big bearded guy’s video comes up prior to the little guy’s Baby Einstein, or whatever. When the little guy is watching, sometimes he cries or fusses, and low and behold, the long long ad is playing. It’s a really boring ad. I can’t imagine sitting through the actual “training” that the video is attempting to sell. The sales pitch is bad enough.

I really don’t have anything against ads; after all, they pay for the content my little guest wants to see. But, I really can’t imagine anyone less likely to purchase a the product. No 22 month old is interested in marketing. Nor, I would imagine, is the mother or babysitter of a toddler. I could see placing ads for games or snacks or baby bath tubs along with baby videos, but the bearded guy is supposed to be explaining (or selling) a new technique for “marketing and branding”? Really? Somehow the entire matter seems counter intuitive— a commercial attempting to sell a product that the user can’t use. When I was young, commercials that ran on television during children’s  programming sold cereal laced with sugar or cheap toys made by Whamo or some such. Thus, there is a silver lining here, I suppose.

I am grateful that the little tyke has not once begged for the item that’s paying for the content. Thanks, E5Workshop, and Youtube, for providing the free content. Those ad dollars are wasted, but the little guy wants to see that video about Old MacDonald yet again.

 

SlingTV—Not Quite Ready for Prime Time

As a “cord-cutter” and a football fan, finding a way to stream college games has been getting better, but after watching the buffering symbol instead of watching the Bulldogs and the Crimson Tide in the National Championship game, I cancelled my subscription to SlingTV. Oh, if you want to watch “Vintage Flip” on demand (which is one of my favorite HGTV shows, by the way) then all is well. But let lots of fellow fans try to see the national college championship, and there are many, many technical issues.

We tried everything— change computers, different web browsers, modem reset. In the end, we switched between listening to WSB radio, which worked great except for the visuals, of course, and trying to at least see some of the instant replays. Even if the interface had worked, the evening would have been disappointing, as hubby’s beloved Bulldogs lost, but we didn’t see much until the end of the game. Perhaps a few fans dropped off, because the stream got better during the forth quarter and overtime.

I think SlingTV is a good alternative for folks who might want to see some mainstream news or some obscure shows, but for sports, which was the only real reason I signed up, it is lacking. In September, I’ll be looking for a new way to stream college football, and YouTube TV may be my next attempt to feed my need for live sports.

Is there a “War on Boys”?

I read the book The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men and I do think this lady is very much on point regarding education in modern America. This is a problem that will haunt generations: