Buying Books One Chapter at a Time
With the arrival of the Apple Tablet, media companies are preparing for another paradigm shift similar to the one that revolutionized the distribution of music. One of the disruptive elements of iTunes, according to music industry people, was the way it upended the concept of “the album.” You no longer had to buy 12 songs just to hear the one song you wanted. Personally, I call that a big improvement, but it did impact cash flow. And eventually that cash needs to trickle to the musicians who attempt to earn a living making the music we love to download. Much has been written elsewhere about what many believe to be the well-deserved demise of the old music business model. I won’t add to it. But I’m curious what impact the Apple Tablet will have on books.
What if you could buy a book one chapter at a time? I would be well in favor of such a system, given that I am a finicky reader who rarely finishes a book. I’d much rather pay $1 to read the first chapter, then decide after that whether or not to keep reading. Even better, I’d like to read the first chapter for free. If I’m hooked, I’ll keep paying. But if you’ve lost me after the first ten or twenty pages, I’d like to keep my money, thanks, and read something else.
When technology disrupts industry, a lot of time and energy is spent trying to keep old business models alive. Too often these efforts are focused at the great middle man between artist and audience–publishing companies, newspapers, record labels, etc. These entities have the size, power, and influence to control the pace and direction of change. But what if we thought only of the artists and their audience? What delivery model serves us best? And can we exploit new technologies in such a way that consumers get what they want (for a good price) while the creators of content earn a living?
Or will the middle man suck both of these parties dry?
What do you think?
No, it wouldn’t work for me. I have to finish a book if I start it, no matter how much it sucks. SO, I’d end up just buying the entire book one chapter at a time. And if a book has 30+ chapters, then I’d end up spending $30+ on a book that I probably could have bought for about $10-20 full price. It sounds like an interesting idea but it wouldn’t be marketed towards anyone like me. NOW, if there were special bonus features that would be awesome!
Interesting. Which bonus features would you like? I think the total cost of the book should be no more than if you bought it all at once. But I’d love the option of paying less if I quit reading part way through.