I’d be happy to pay for a library card if it meant we could all stop pretending a standardized sequence of bytes (ebook) is a unique lendable object available to a single patron at a time.
The publishers also place a limit on the number of times an eBook can be lent, as well as charging more for the eBook edition than a comparable paper (or ‘codex’) edition of the title.
Publishers still view libraries as constituting ’lost sales’ for them. “People come in, take a book, bring it back, and then someone else does the same, AND NO ONE BUYS A COPY!!”
When I was a publisher, Libraries got wholesale discounts, not ‘RRP plus 25%.’ I was unique.
I wish that the world switched to a socioeconomic system where using resources efficiently (getting more use value out of less material, energy and labor cost) is rewarded instead of "how much profit can I squeeze out of everyone else".
@LunaDragofelis Oh, goodness, I dream of this as well. When publishers started doing this about twenty years or so ago, librarians all over the U.S. posted videos showing books which they had tracked being leant out twenty or more times being in fine shape, whereas the ebooks’ licence only permits something stupid like 12 or 15 borrowings before a relicensing is required, which publishers claimed was ‘much longer than the expected life of a trade paperback.’
@LunaDragofelis Big publishers feel that paperback (mass market or trade) are actually ‘disposable copies,’ with the expected use pattern being once or maybe twice and then they’re chucked in the bin.
The eBook market makes things better for them as they no longer have to budget for 15–20% of the run having to be pulped from lack of sales. You print too many, get a better printing price, then even if you pay to get extras tossed you’re ahead.
we went to our local library and asked if there was any way to get free ebooks downloaded and they looked at us like we were crazy and then pointed us towards an app that did virtual ebook copies and it was absolute garbage
@h33h33wuffi3 as usual, blame the greedy fucks in charge of the publishing industry. they threw a gigantic fit when ebooks were first coming out and threatened libraries with copyright lawsuits if they just made copies.
the present arrangement, like the price of a month's rent or an hour of labor at minimum wage, is a perfect expression of class power relations, and nothing more :/
Some library systems offer cards for non-residents. Those are usually an annual subscription. Last price I remember for such a card was US$15 for one from a state library on the US East Coast.
So, yes, some people might be paying for a library card. @Binder
That Old Guy with the Beard
in reply to Shannon Prickett • • •The publishers also place a limit on the number of times an eBook can be lent, as well as charging more for the eBook edition than a comparable paper (or ‘codex’) edition of the title.
Publishers still view libraries as constituting ’lost sales’ for them. “People come in, take a book, bring it back, and then someone else does the same, AND NO ONE BUYS A COPY!!”
When I was a publisher, Libraries got wholesale discounts, not ‘RRP plus 25%.’ I was unique.
Ramin Honary likes this.
Luna Dragofelis ΘΔ🏳️⚧️🐱&
in reply to That Old Guy with the Beard • • •I wish that the world switched to a socioeconomic system where using resources efficiently (getting more use value out of less material, energy and labor cost) is rewarded instead of "how much profit can I squeeze out of everyone else".
A catgirl can dream…
That Old Guy with the Beard
in reply to Luna Dragofelis ΘΔ🏳️⚧️🐱& • • •That Old Guy with the Beard
in reply to That Old Guy with the Beard • • •@LunaDragofelis Big publishers feel that paperback (mass market or trade) are actually ‘disposable copies,’ with the expected use pattern being once or maybe twice and then they’re chucked in the bin.
The eBook market makes things better for them as they no longer have to budget for 15–20% of the run having to be pulped from lack of sales. You print too many, get a better printing price, then even if you pay to get extras tossed you’re ahead.
This is simply avarice.
That Old Guy with the Beard
in reply to That Old Guy with the Beard • • •wuffy's basilisk
in reply to Shannon Prickett • • •THIS
we went to our local library and asked if there was any way to get free ebooks downloaded and they looked at us like we were crazy and then pointed us towards an app that did virtual ebook copies and it was absolute garbage
Alexis
in reply to wuffy's basilisk • • •wuffy's basilisk
in reply to Alexis • • •Don't be a 🍕💩. Vote blue.
in reply to Shannon Prickett • • •Quasit
in reply to Shannon Prickett • • •Jonathan Lamothe
in reply to Shannon Prickett • •@Shannon Prickett
like this
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acetone_kitten
in reply to Shannon Prickett • • •patter
in reply to Shannon Prickett • • •David W. Jones
in reply to patter • • •@patterfloof
Free to residents of our state.
Some library systems offer cards for non-residents. Those are usually an annual subscription. Last price I remember for such a card was US$15 for one from a state library on the US East Coast.
So, yes, some people might be paying for a library card.
@Binder