Comments (16)

• Grant

  This is probably going to backfire when good electronic readers (like Sony's or Amazon's) become more popular. Currently people prefer to read actual books - private goods - but that will change.

  Published: March 1, 2008 4:03 AM

• pairunoyd

  Yea, it might be a tactical niche-filler for this guy, but what's it's eventual outcome 5-20 yrs down the rode?

  Interesting stuff!

  Published: March 1, 2008 7:34 AM

• jeffrey

  in enterprise, 5-20 years is an eternity.

  Published: March 1, 2008 7:40 AM

• Charlie Kester

  Kevin Kelly posted a blog entry recently which explains some of the reasons people will still buy hardcopy even when electronic versions are available for free:

  http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/01/better_than_fre.php/
  

  Published: March 1, 2008 10:53 AM

• Neal Winkler

  I agree with Grant. When you can hold an electronic reader in your hands and you can download .pdf books to it, it will no longer be profitable to offer free ebooks.

  Published: March 1, 2008 12:34 PM

• Ty

  Just because there isn't a content control mechanism and government bullies getting in the middle to enforce everything doesn't mean it's not a conventional economic transaction.

  Giving away a free product is sometimes called advertising.

  Published: March 1, 2008 1:05 PM

• Peter

  When you can hold an electronic reader in your hands and you can download .pdf books to it, it will no longer be profitable to offer free ebooks.

  You can do that today.

  Published: March 1, 2008 7:05 PM

• Carl Marks

  The free ebook seems to a cheap way to market a book which would be too expensive to advertise through traditional means. For books that already have good advertising or rave reviews, a free ebook might not attract as many additional people to buy the hard copy as it would cost in already potential buyers who wouldn't mind only owning an electronic version.

  Published: March 1, 2008 9:31 PM

• Bruce Koerber

  I am about to publish an ebook this next week and I have decided to use a rebate offer rather than a straight out free ebook. The purchaser will get their money back if they reply to the rebate offer.

  Does anyone have any experrience with this approach? Send me your comments ( divineeconomyconsulting@msn.com ).

  Published: March 2, 2008 8:45 AM

• Alex Peak

  I bought For a New Liberty after listening to it for free on this site. Likewise with What Has Government Done to Our Money?/The Case for the 100 Percent Gold Dollar.

  I plan to eventually buy The Ethics of Liberty, but do not have enough money to buy books at this time.

  There's just something wonderful about owning actual books, and actual CDs. Recall V's bedroom from V for Vendetta: that's what I want eventually.

  Published: March 2, 2008 9:42 PM

• Person

  1) They still claim copyright on the physical copy.

  2) Why didn't Stephan_Kinsella, Walter_Block, etc. give away free copies of their books online? Think about it.

  Published: March 3, 2008 8:36 AM

• JCFolsom

  Perhaps is it my age, a tender 28, and the fact that we had a computer in the home from my earliest memory, but I'm not sure it even would take personal readers to make giving away books, particularly certain kinds of books, especially shorter ones, impractical. For certain things, I am perfectly comfortable looking at a monitor and reading rather than spending the money on a book.

  Sure, War and Peace is a bit long to try to tackle with a mousewheel, but who writes books that long anymore anyway?

  Published: March 3, 2008 5:16 PM

• Ron

  I don't know if I'm in the minority here or not, but I still prefer to read a hard copy whenever possible, though I do read quite a few ebooks. I also just like having books around. There's a certain aesthetic to a shelf full of books that you simply can't get from electronic formats.

  Then there's the issue of illustrations. Granted, most novels and "technical" volumes don't contain many, if any illustrations, but there are a great many other books out there that do. You simply can't match print format for rendering effective visualizations...at least not yet. So while we may see a reduction in the availability of print media for non-illustrated texts, I think there's still a rich market for books that rely on a visual component.

  Published: March 4, 2008 10:36 AM

• Inquisitor

  I agree with Ron.

  Published: March 4, 2008 10:54 AM

• Michael A. Clem

  I also agree with Ron. I don't think e-books can ever fully replace regular books. However, e-books will be more convenient and practical when a decent, versatile, and cheap electronic reader becomes available. And since we're not talking about sophisticated, advanced technology, I'm suprised we don't have one already. Being tied down to your desktop or laptop is not the best way to read, and most PDA's have too small a screen.

  Published: March 5, 2008 5:46 PM

• Luke

  Michael, Sony already has their 'Reader' device and Amazon has their 'Kindle,' amongst several other devices.

  Published: March 6, 2008 10:52 AM