Professor Harry Lindsol noticed a trend in regards to how the Internet had taken over the purchasing habits of individuals, particularly in college students. Dr. Lindsol observed students’ purchasing habits regarding college textbooks and how constantly the students are connected to the Internet. Lindsol recognized a potential business opportunity by questioning if student’s textbooks were available on their electronic devices, would an online company prosper? Dr. Lindsol analyzed the textbook industry for the possibility to start-up a potential eBook company. Lindsol examined the publishers’ business models of traditional textbooks and etextbooks, the competitors in the industry, and the advantages and disadvantages of a strictly-eBook publishing company.
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First, Harry evaluated the used textbook industry and was astonished to how severely they cut into profits and market shares. The feature to buy and sell used textbooks online appeals to college students and demonstrates traditional publishers cannot compete effectively due to the substantial discount. Lindsol examined rental textbooks and found many students find it easier to rent textbooks from third parties to save money on their college textbook expenses. Companies tried to retaliate against used and rental textbooks by frequently updating editions of the book to keep with the industry itself. However publishers encountered another issue that lead to international editions of books. Students may find international editions for a much cheaper price with the almost identical content manufactured with cheaper materials. Amazon and Apple released items and applications, the Kindle Fire and iBooks, which allowed readers to download digital copies on their electronic devices. Lindsol became aware of the potential competitors in the textbook industry and weighed the advantages and disadvantages of an eBook
In contrast to Borders Group, Barnes & Noble which is a leading bookstore in the US recorded an 11% increase in their share value in the past year with the introduction of their e-book reader “Nook”. It is clear that Barnes & Noble were not “Myopic” in their approach and were able to retain and even grow their customers as well as profits by embracing a new product.
The digital books business eliminated the physical books in the store. Barnes & Noble offered a wide range digital platforms to its customers. The digital system was comparable with Window 8 personal computer and tablets. It also worked well with Apple’s product such as iPad, iPhone and other products like Android smartphones and tablets. The firm continued to stay in a competitive advantage position in the marketplace, even though it had to compete with many powerhouses in the same industry such as Waldenbooks and Crown Books. And yet, Barnes & Noble remains on the top of the leading U.S bookstore chains.
The Kindle website (https://kindle.amazon.com/) and the competing Nook website (http://nook.barnesandnoble.com/u) are both trying to get you to do one thing: go digital. Technology is an ever-changing area, and it has somehow made its way into almost every aspect of our lives. Improvements have been made to make it possible to read thousands of books on one device. The only catch? There are multiple companies who are competing for the consumer’s purchase of their version of the device.
The author of this article Mrs. Denise Davis is the director of the Office for Research and Statistics of the American Library Association. This means that Mrs. Davis is able to access and is responsible for the reports mandatory for each library across America to turn in each fiscal year, these reports are used to determine what changes the libraries need to make to better serve the public. Given her credibility to write on such topics she then chooses a topic each year to write on to prepare libraries and librarians across the country for the upcoming years. In 2010 Mrs. Davis choose to write on eBooks and their increasing popularity throughout the American population as well as the difficulties libraries have encountered in the past fiscal year to compete with eBooks. Because this article is written in 2010 it shows just how long libraries have struggled with the topic of eBooks and can demonstrate the new policies that have been used by the libraries throughout the past four years. This information can help my research in showing how eBooks have affected the library's behavior, and consequently give me the statistics needed to show the effects of eBooks on the libraries throughout the recent years. Understanding this source is outdated other sources will also likely be used in my final project from the American Library Association websites of statistics of more recent years.
“Marketing Professors’ Perspectives on the Cost of College Textbooks: A Pilot Study” is a paper by Lawrence S. Silver, Robert E. Stevens of Southeastern Oklahoma State University and Kenneth E. Clow of University of Louisiana. It was published in the Journal of Education for Business Volume 87. The first half of the paper starts off by explaining why the cost of textbooks is an issue. They go on to explain different competitors’ textbook have in the marketplace today and how publishers are trying to appeal new customers through professors. The second half of the paper focuses on a study that was done by surveying random marketing professors in the United States. The survey contained questions asking about the pricing of textbooks and how they
By looking at these examples in the bigger picture, the vicious cycle created by publishers becomes evident. Students find themselves forced to buy the books the professors assign, they must buy them new in order to get special access codes, and then they have difficulty selling the books back. Not to mention the fact that the release of newer editions can leave many students stuck with a book they do not want and more debt they cannot afford. This cycle created by publishers works by continuously finding new ways to charge students full price for textbooks while simultaneously finding ways to release newer editions on an almost semester-by-semester basis. The result: increased textbook prices and an increasing financial burden on students.
At one time, it is true, e-book publishing barley made its niche. This was particularly so in Europe. But Amazon Kindle and similar tools have made it more acceptable and popular and studies such s those by PWC (nd) predict incremental but sure growth of the digital book publishing future.
Along with high prices come high consequences. The extreme prices of textbooks have caused some students to skip out on the appointed book. Educators get to choose the book of focus, and the paying student has no choice but to buy that book, or risk a low grade by opting out. (ksl.com) In fact, some students are sharing book content with peers, illegally downloading material, and some have just gone without
It’s imperative that this same California Law be initiated at Universities across Louisiana as well as two-year colleges like Delgado to cut the cost of overpriced textbooks. Let’s face it. We’re now living in a microwave, fast-paced, and digital generation where smart phones, I-pods and I-pads are taking over. A generation where life is at the touch of a handheld device where you can receive emails, telephone calls, and even order a movie or concert ticket at the blink of an eye. Devices such as the Apple I-pad starts at a price of $499 for 16gb 3g up to $899 for 32gb 3gs compared to the Kindle which sells for a whole lot cheaper, but the Kindle
Barnes and Nobles is one of the biggest bookstores that has a brick-and-mortal store concept. In the past they were know as a “big bully” that drove small book stores to close down because of their aggressive tactics to have competetetive advantage over them. Nonetheless, with the evolving circle of technology they have had a hard time in keeping up with the E-book era. In 2014 E-books increased its reader subscription by 28% compared to 23% in 2013. This number will continue increasing because 50% off American’s have access to devices that are either an e-reader or a tablet. B&N changed its business model to adjust to this new setting before it suffered a
The prevalent of e-books creates numerous platforms for the marketplace of books. For example, when Steve Jobs announced the launch of the iPad iBooks, it created an enormous opportunity for publishers.
It is necessary when looking at this predicament to understand what causes the underlying structure of the conflict. The fact is that the government feels that Apple and the five publishers were trying to create a structure that would cause not only a rise in pricing but a monopoly within the business of selling e-books to readers. Coltri tells us in Alternative Dispute Resolution a Conflict Diagnosis Approach, “We can’t read minds. To respond efficaciously in frequent and often rapid-fire social interaction requires us to understand and predict the thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and behaviors of others,” (Coltri, 2010). This tells us that when the government was in talks with Apple and the publishers, and after the lawsuit was brought against the companies the lawyers knew that some would fall. It proved to be true, three of the publishers settled out of court and gave up on the idea of driving e-book prices higher and causing a strain on the public.
Barnes & Noble, Inc. operates as a content, commerce, and technology company in the United States. It provides access to books, magazines, newspapers, and other content through its multi-channel distribution platform. The company sells its products directly to customers through its bookstores and on barnesandnoble.com. Barnes & Noble conducts its online business through Barnes & Noble.com, one of the Web’s largest e-commerce sites, which also features more than 3 million titles in its eBookstore. Through Barnes & Noble’s NOOK eReading product offering, customers can buy and read eBooks on the widest range of platforms, including NOOK eBook
The seller of digital textbooks will also be saving money over producing hard copies. 32% of the cost allocated to paper, printing and editorial can be completely eliminated along with 22.4% of costs related to bookstore operations and personnel. Bookstores as we know them could become obsolete or transformed into stores that sell tablets, e-readers and software packages on campus. Publishers or sellers will now be able to tap into a more global market with electronic textbooks as the information can be translated into many languages quickly.
Some may think that the only customers of textbooks are the students but that is not the case. There are a variety of customers that buy the textbook before it even reaches the student, someone has to decide what textbook the students are going to be using for which particular course. Business school curricula is changing and therefore their textbooks needs are changing, they want textbooks that cover a variety of information and data in one single, easy to transport textbook. Some school that were moving the modular course structures wanted books that were easy to cover in a course that lasts sometimes as short as a week long. And now, more and