Friday, March 7, 2014

How Do I Keep My I-Pad In Mint Condition?

 In what is a not at all surprising turn of events with the way the publishing market has been going for some time now, Marvel Comics is going to do some major changes and focus highly on their digital publishing


http://goodereader.com/blog/digital-comic-news/marvel-phasing-out-retail-comic-distribution-to-focus-on-digital

We know that e-books are taking off big time, making big bucks for publishing companies with little in the way of actual costs compared to traditional publishing. For good or ill this is the way that we are headed. E-books and digital comics are normally cheaper than their print counter parts (Not always, as I have seen some big name e-books cost as much as print), they take up a lot less room and are easier to carrying around. So there are is a lot on the plus side for going digital.

I myself love the feel of a physical book. There is just something about actually turning the page. That is something you do not get from a digital book.

I am also curious as to how this strategy will affect the prices and collectablity of print comics. While the print comics are not going away, there will most likely be noticeably smaller print runs and less markets to find them in. 

So will there be less going into the discount bins at comicbook stores? 

Will the aftermarket prices skyrocket?

Will this help or harm comicbook stores?

It will be some time before it is clear as the what impact this kind of change will have on the greater market. We still have not yet seen the full impact of the increase popularity in E-books on the after market of print books. It may take some time to see where this all goes.

A big change will come from not being able to hand down and pass on digital media. So we may not see the full impact for a generation or two when the e-books and digital comics basically vanish and need to be repurchased by each generation.

Of course you can't get an autograph on a digital comic or e-book.

3 comments:

  1. There will still be dead-tree books. But the advantages of carrying a library (including Wikipedia) with one are huge. Check out http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/03/how-having-an-e-reader-has-changed-my-reading-habits.

    Oh, and I remove all of the DRM from my e-book purchases. I fully expect that laws will change and you will legally inherit all of my e-books.

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    1. So does that mean you are going to start giving me boxes and boxes of your e-books when you run out of room for them? Then I'll have to figure out where to put all of them.

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  2. The e-books should last until I die. I suppose you could print them up then, but it is unlikely I will collect as many new books as I had old books.

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