We're Getting Closer ...

[Richard Kaufman]

http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-DX-Amazons ... d_i=507846

[Chris Aguilar]

And only $500.00....

[Pete McCabe]

I read somewhere recently that the New York Times could save 30% of their printing and delivery costs by buying every one of their subscribers a Kindle. Of course, lots of their customers don't subscribe, but the writing is on the wall, as they say.

I'm going to have to buy the big one, if only because my wife has a Sony Reader and I can't let her have some tech toy I don't have, can I?

[BlueEyed Videot]

And when can we expect the next Kaufman & Co. release to become available on a Kindle, eh?

[Richard Kaufman]

Eventually all of my books, as well as Genii, will available as pdf downloads for reading on digital devices. It is inevitable for all print media in every field and anyone who thinks otherwise is putting their head in the sand.

The big question is when will prices drop. You're seeing this with Blu-ray players and discs right now. As prices drop, more people buy them. When digital readers drop to $100, we'll start to see a rapid movement toward digital content that can't be stopped.

WHEN it will happen is the big question. For me, it's not going to be in the next few years, certainly. But it's hard for me to envision any printed magazines beyond the next 20 years.

[Jonathan Townsend]

Good time to start exploring embedding video clips, interviews etc.

[Terry]

Having a magazine in electronic format would be a great idea.

Storage would be easier and cheaper. One could reduce 2/3's of the file size just by deleting the ad pages.

[Richard Kaufman]

Terry, don't provocative and silly. Advertising revenue is a great deal of what it takes to keep magazines and newspapers publishing.
No ads = no magazines or newspapers.

[erdnasephile]

Eventually all of my books, as well as Genii, will available as pdf downloads for reading on digital devices. It is inevitable for all print media in every field and anyone who thinks otherwise is putting their head in the sand.

I think that's true, for cost reasons as you said, but also perhaps for environmental reasons as well (saving all those trees, etc.). Couple that with the infinite storage capacity, permanent archival qualities, and easy distribution, and you've got a potentially dominant force.

However, the one major advantage printed text has for me is the ability to quickly jot down notes, underline, add cross references, etc. in technical journals. Although one can certainly electronically annotate files, reviewing those changes/adding notes etc., requires more steps than simply putting pen to paper. Perhaps one day, we'll be able to add "notes" to the text verbally with voice recognition/translation software. I know that without the useful scribble, my magic books would become far less useful to me.

Even though academic articles in my field are nearly universally available in pdf, I have to admit, I still print them out for the reasons above. (Plus, it allows me to keep working during the first 30,000 feet of climb during an airline flight)

The one thing that might forestall the transition is the current rampant piracy of anything electronic. Whilst it's certainly possible to photocopy books, it's a whole lot less trouble to steal/distribute an electronic file. It's the eternal hypocrisy--people who would never shove a magazine under their jacket at Borders, think nothing of downloading the latest movie. If companies can't make enough money from the electronic route, they might not support the digital transition willingly.

Still, piracy hasn't stopped movie sales, so, as you say, electronic print media does look inevitable.

[Jonathan Townsend]

Why try to replace one medium with another?

One could open a subscription login site with significanly upgraded content and let the paper be what it is for those who like paper.

[mrgoat]

Why try to replace one medium with another?

One could open a subscription login site with significanly upgraded content and let the paper be what it is for those who like paper.

Because it's better/faster/cheaper

The printing press was viewed as 'piracy' when it came out because all the hand written stuff by monks etc would be 'copied'.

Horses were replaced.

etc etc

It's 'progress'.

Although I saw The Age of Stupid last night and progress, yes, but at what cost?

[Jonathan Townsend]

How does The Age of Stupid compare to James Burke's After the Warming?

Are we supposed to sacrifice non-believers to the volcano gods in the mean time?

[Pete McCabe]

No ads = no magazines or newspapers.

Not necessarily. If Genii were an ebookreader-only magazine, your printing and distribution costs would be reduced to very near zero, and I believe that your layout time would (or at least could) be significantly reduced as well. It's possible for a magazine to operate solely on subscription costs if layout was much faster/easier and both printing and distribution were effectively free.

Without asking you to reveal any hard numbers, Richard, can you give us a ballpark figure on how your total printing and distribution costs compare to ad revenues?

[Richard Kaufman]

Pete, you have no idea what you're talking about.

[mrgoat]

How does The Age of Stupid compare to James Burke's After the Warming?

Are we supposed to sacrifice non-believers to the volcano gods in the mean time?

It's not bad. It didn't even touch on the 'other' side. Didn't debunk the people that suggest it is a myth, which I would have liked to see.

And yes, the volcano gods are hungry.

[mrgoat]

No ads = no magazines or newspapers.

Not necessarily. If Genii were an ebookreader-only magazine, your printing and distribution costs would be reduced to very near zero, and I believe that your layout time would (or at least could) be significantly reduced as well. It's possible for a magazine to operate solely on subscription costs if layout was much faster/easier and both printing and distribution were effectively free.

Without asking you to reveal any hard numbers, Richard, can you give us a ballpark figure on how your total printing and distribution costs compare to ad revenues?

There was something out this week that if the NYT gave each of their subscribers a Kindle, they would reduce print/distribution/production costs by 30%!

Problem is most print publishers are '[censored] bricks' about how to make money online. So rather than try and work it out, they stick their heads in the sand.

They will die.

[mrgoat]

No ads = no magazines or newspapers.

Not necessarily. If Genii were an ebookreader-only magazine, your printing and distribution costs would be reduced to very near zero, and I believe that your layout time would (or at least could) be significantly reduced as well. It's possible for a magazine to operate solely on subscription costs if layout was much faster/easier and both printing and distribution were effectively free.

I agree. Especially if the layout was standardised for an ereader.

Mag layout takes ages, I worked in print for 10 years and it does take a long time. But if you had a news/article/interview/review template, kept it the same, then certainly the process could be made cheaper and faster.

The distribution costs would be as good as nothing.

Print costs would be removed.

Problem is, who is gonna drop 500 bucks for a kindle when you could get a macbook for a little more or a dell for less?

Also, if someone was clever about it, then when you sign up for the e-mag you are asked what you are interested in.

I would be NOT interested in kids magic, gospel magic, illusions.

I would then get JUST the stories I am interested in.

More importantly, the advertisers could 'buy' just the people that are interested in their products. Coin guys get Lassen ads. Card guys get suitable ads. etc. etc.

This means the reader gets JUST the content they are interested in and the advertisers get zero-wastage.

I just launched exactly this for a very technical race engine technology audience at http://www.ret-monitor.com and it's working very well. Amazing feedback from both advertisers and readers.

It's a simple pitch. Would you like to get JUST the info you want? Yes.

Would you like to be able to advertise to JUST the people who we know like what you do? Yes.

The future is about data.

[Richard Kaufman]

The salaries of those who produce the magazine to be read on the internet or ebook reader still have to be paid (and that includes layout!).

No one has to tell me the cost of printing and distribution disappear--that's the most obvious point about putting things on the net.

Since people refuse to pay for internet content, advertising must cover the costs of publication.

[Lou Serrano]

Although more and more of my reading is done online, I still love to read physical magazines and books. I get tired of sitting at my computer after a while and would prefer to sit on a couch and read at my leisure. I guess I'm old school, but I hope Genii magazine never goes away. Well... at least not in my lifetime.

[Richard Kaufman]

This particular topic really doesn't have anything to do with sitting at a computer: ebook readers like the Kindle do not have backlit screens and they don't flicker, therefore they do not produce the kind of eye strain or fatigue your computer monitor does.

[Marc Rehula]

Although more and more of my reading is done online, I still love to read physical magazines and books. I get tired of sitting at my computer after a while and would prefer to sit on a couch and read at my leisure. I guess I'm old school, but I hope Genii magazine never goes away. Well... at least not in my lifetime.

I agree. While the internet is a fun, cool resource, I can't imagine the computer (or any Kindle-like cousin), being my PRIMARY resource for learning magic. I can't imagine books in general ever disappearing (though they may eventually fill a smaller niche), but I can envision the end of magazines. And depressingly soon. At some point our crush on technology (computers, cell phones that do everything, Kindles) will dissipate and its truer function in our lives will be determined. Books and ebooks will definitely have a place in our lives in the future, but regardless of quality, magazines' days seem to be numbered.

[Bob Farmer]

I work all day on a damn computer and the last thing I want to do to relax is to read a book or magazine on a computer.

I can still read the magic books I bought in 1959. I can't read the computer files I made more than 10 years ago.

[Tom Dobrowolski]

Web users skeptical about paying for content

http://www.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/05/08/ ... index.html

[Jonathan Townsend]

Perhaps it takes a magician to forget that almost all static offerings offered via electronic media (ebook, webpage) can be pushed onto paper.

If one wishes to illustrate or teach there's little to be gained by avoiding video tutorials shot from several angles so students can watch and then learn.

IMHO it might do to let the advertisers carry the cost of delivering their context since the online community has pretty much blocked it out when it comes up on webpages thanks to adblock and user configurable browser extensions.

A good word of mouth post from a credible and non-vested source probably does more for sales these days than the graphic ads - again IMHO.

[Pete McCabe]

Richard,

Insults aside, why don't you answer the question?

Right now you get money from subscriptions/sales and ads. You pay for printing, distribution, and your layout time.

In an ebook model you would get money from subscriptions and pay for your (reduced, I still believe) layout time. Why is this model impossible?

Are you assuming that no one will pay for an ebook-format genii because no one will pay for internet content? If so you are making two very obvious mistakes. The first is that people do in fact pay for internet content. Just off the top of my head, ESPN.com has an "insider" mode that requires a subscription, and the New York Times sells subscriptions to the online crosswords. Do you think these companies continue to offer these subscriptions with no one paying for them?

The second is that if you distribute Genii Magazine under the Kindle model it will not be "internet content." I'm not suggesting that you put each issue of Genii up on the internet. We already pay for Genii to be delivered in paper, why do you think people will not pay for a Genii to be delivered to my Kindle? I sure would. I am already looking forward to switching my New Yorker subscription to the Kindle (when I get one :-) and would do the same with Genii in a heartbeat.

Instead of saying that I have no idea what I'm talking about, can you please tell me why I'm wrong? I would love to learn.

[David Alexander]

Then there is the conscious or unconscious opinion/thought/feeling that a magazine or book is real and permanent, a thing of value one can hold in ones hand while electrons delivered and stored on a disk are not.

Ebooks, with embedded video, may be a profitable approach to certain types of niche publishing, but it has yet to take off and prove its worth.

I have been in computers since the launch of the Apple IIe. I recently tossed out a stack of old floppies that became obsolete in less than a decade. I have several books that are 100+ years old that are still useable.and they dont require batteries.

Books as artifacts containing valued information (and valued of themselves) are not going away any time soon. There is a sound secondary market for books both for the information contained and the scarcity of the artifact itself, while the secondary market for electronic files is usually called bit torrent theft.

I have always said that the primary market for electronic readers like Kindle would be the textbook market. Apparently, from what I hear, some publishers are catching on to that idea.

We have not yet reached a time when information is valued above and beyond the medium of delivery, currently (and into the foreseeable future) a less-than-permanent form of delivery than a book. Other than the text book market and some limited niche marketing, that change of attitude may come in my lifetime, but Im not holding my breath.

[DrDanny]

ebooks (as well as e-music, iTunes, DRM'ed DVDs, etc) are an invention of "content" creators who have the mistaken idea that piracy (the non-Somalian kind) is costing them vast fortunes. They are _counting_ on that technological obsolescence to ensure you have to buy everything more than once.

Yes, I agree that sometimes it's nice to see something in action, and I have benefited from embedded videos in ebooks -- Michael Close uses them particularly well, IMO -- but at the end of the day, I've hard-copied every ebook I've ever bought, and burned every purchased tune (e- or i-) to CD, simply because I've experienced harddisk failures first hand. I've also experienced CDR failures, but I figure I'll be dead before that's a real problem. ;-)

I had a point, but now I've forgotten what it was....

[Lou Serrano]

Okay, I actually just took a look at the Kindle, and I have to say it's fascinating. I'd have to see one live to see of it's something that would work for me.

I remember the days of vinyl records and when they disappeared I really missed them because I used to love looking at the very large artwork on the covers. CDs never had the same allure for me, but I have to say, I love my my ipod and the thousands of songs that I can carry with me. So maybe there is something to this Kindle thing after all.

I shall keep an open mind...

[Terry]

Terry, don't provocative and silly. Advertising revenue is a great deal of what it takes to keep magazines and newspapers publishing.
No ads = no magazines or newspapers.

Not being silly.

The revenue issues are necessary to keep a paper publication running. You could be more selective of what/who you carry with an electronic version.

I wouldn't want to see books in electronic format, but magazines are a different matter.

[Lee Almond]

I completely agree with the Farmer, I spend all fricking day staring at a screen and burning up my eyeballs. Last thing I want to do in the evening is read a damn ebook. Give me a good old hardbound book of Bro. John's anyday. Big hardbound books will someday fetch the price of an original Kellar poster from 1905 if not more $$$$$. Hell it could happen! Peace all.

[Joe Naud]

With the Kindle, if it dies all of your books are still hovering in the Amazon universe and can be reloaded, no need to lose your purchases. I don't have one, but my sister who is a serious lover of books in the physical form says that this device changed her life, she can't imagine being without it. Now she is not like so many of us that "spend all fricking day staring at a screen" so her experience may be different. I have been in retail bookselling for 20+ years and have been hearing about the electronic revolution for years, I think we are getting a lot closer than we were even just a few years ago. I won't do without my physical copy, but this generation does not have the attachment to the physical as the rest of us do. Sad, but increseing true. I also disagree with publishers "sticking their heads in the sand" over electronic issues. My most recent job was with Simon & Schuster, the second largest publisher in the universe and they are publishing most of their new titles electronically simotaniously with the hardcover editon. Science Fiction titles from Baen are all available electronically as that genre fits well with the electronically savvey. We are getting much closer than we have ever been with physical books going electronic than ever before, how much longer this will take God only knows. The way my sister talks about her Kindle makes the idea of me buying one very close to becoming reality.
Peace, Joe

[the Larry]

Pete, having worked as publisher of journals (17 journals to be precise) I can give you a rough idea about revenue and costs. Of course, this varies from area to area and I have never published a magic magazine. Therefore take this with a grain of salt. In general the rule of thumb was that subscriptions paid for your cost (paper, printing, delivery) and ads covered human resource cost plus profit.

I agree with you that in a digital world your layout and design costs could go down, depending on how it is done. However one wants to look at this, one is clear, costs will dramatically reduce in a digital model. This means that in the digital world two new business models are possible:

1) No subscriptions, meaning free contents and purely ad based.
2) Subscriptions but no or little ads.
- or a combination of the two.

Right now it looks like 1) is the easiest to do. Make the core contents free. Earn ad revenue and perhaps offer some special services for a subscription. For magazines it is very easy to make a few articles per issue non-public. So you get people to your site and earn ad revenue with the public content. And one earns subscription revenue from those people who want the additional stuff. It is really not so hard. What is hard for traditional publishers is letting go of their old traditional thinking models. I can tell you first handed that many of the people who run those big publishers have no clue what is going on online. Many don't even own a computer because they have their secretaries do their emails. What can you expect from such people? Once this old cadre of traditional print publishers is gone and replaced with people who have a facebook account and twitter, then my friend print books and magazines will be something kids will learn in history class.

Now a word to e-readers. I am an old fart, but I have always kept my mind open. As a publisher and somebody working in media I have tested almost all e-readers on the market, and many who are not yet out. We get contacted by those hardware companies all the time. If you want my personal opinion, the Sony Reader is the choice for me. Kindle this Kindle that, it is more hype than what is inside. And as a publisher why do I want one retailer (meaning Amazon) to own the customer relationship monopolizing the ebook market? You gotta be kidding me Amazon. Also as a customer, why do you want to limit yourself to be buying ebooks from one retailer? Are you nuts? Monopolies tend to be customer unfriendly. Maybe right now you can buy your NYT bestsellers for $10 at Amazon. But imagine Amazon is successful and monopolizes the ebook market. No more bargains for you my friend.

If you want to support the new digital wave, and I am all for it because I embrace progress, do the publishing industry a favor and stay away from the Kindle. Buy yourself a Sony Reader or wait for the next wave of devices with color screens, flexible screens and other innovations.

[John Carney]

Funny how we can't imagine what it will be like.....as the technology advances, it accelerates.

here, pdfs, texting, iphones and the internet are nowhere in sight!

check it out:
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?s ... FlH&ref=nf

or even earlier:
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?s ... FlH&ref=nf

carney

[Magic Mike]

Thank you for the links.
They both seem to be linking to the same video, albeit a very interesting clip.

[John Carney]

oops....sorry.

because I went through facebook, it went through the same link. Here are the clean links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WCTn4FljUQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0pPfyYt ... re=related

[El Mystico]

oh, those are fabulous!

and now I look around me and wonder what is going to look most dated in 40 years time.
Well, that stack of DVDs for one thing....

[Randy Naviaux]

Darn it - I clicked on this thinking this would be an announcement for the next Jennings book.