Infinite Access Equal Free?
As quoted in Electronic Books and ePublishing (Henke, 2001), Charles Mann stated: “As piracy makes the cost of information fall toward zero, its obtainability becomes inversely proportional to its value. Infinite access = infinite mess.”
It is not only piracy but availability or access to content that has helped drive the cost of information down. Consider what has happened to companies that sold databases of information either on CD ROM or via dial-up modems, the availability of information, mostly for free or via advertisement (banner ads), on the Internet has conditioned people to expect content for free or at least for the cost of reading (and ignoring) ads. Thus, selling subscriptions to eMagazines have not panned out and very few sites can sell subscriptions to content. An interesting parallel is that some search engine providers, such as Northern Light, try to offer free services, such as search, with “special collections” of content available for a fee. These strategies seem ineffective as the content is sold for a low price, which to many users indicates the content is not worth much more than zero. Thus with the vast amount of information available on the Internet, which includes the good as well as the useless, it is very difficult to persuade people to pay for something they are used to receiving or discarding for free.
Publishers, both magazines and newspapers, have tried to blunt this market force (free content) by building websites to support their paper magazines. This strategy seems to be working at least relative to subscription rates.
But the real concern is that if content is expected to be free, then how will electronic book publishers expect to sell their eBooks? If eMagazines have failed, is this not a similar business as publishing eBooks? Or is the value of the eBook more akin to the value of the hardcopy book over the paper back version? Perhaps users are willing to pay for an eBook because the book can be published quicker than the paper version? In the magazine world, magazines tout that users can get the magazine quicker from the magazine website until the paper version arrives. The magazines also offer extended material form articles and thus, to the end user, the magazine publisher’s website offers extra value that supports the purchase of the paper magazine. Perhaps the same model can be applied to eBooks and pBooks? Thus adding value or perceived value to the user and overcoming the belief, that infinite access equals free.