Impact of the Rise of eBooks on the Lower Classes

So having less money translates for you to "lower class"?

caw

It sums up my basic reaction to people saying print is dead. I grew up reading a lot of library books and second hand books. For a chunk of my childhood, we didn't have a phone. Even if the internet had been the way it is now, we wouldn't have had online access. Digital stuff does have many more barriers.

"lower class" is a term with multiple meanings. One is in reference to manners: "That is such a low class thing to do! She has no class." The other is in regard to economic status. It has to do with the view of an economic ladder. The higher classes are the ones who are higher up on economic scale.

Anyway, I think a lot of the points made in that post were good ones. I bought most of my books secondhand growing up because I couldn't afford many new ones, and I don't have an ebook reader, nor does anyone I know, because they are so expensive. If books are important to educate society and are to be as accessible to that society as possible, then they shouldn't depend on ownership of an expensive electronic device (ebook reader, computer, etc). It's not to say there's no place for ebooks, but the idea of them becoming a blatant replacement for traditional books is definitely a step backwards, in my opinion. Over the years books have become more available to people at various economic levels and I think that's a good thing we don't want to change.

IMO, it seems to me more of a "OEMs should produce more affordable e-readers" problem than a "poor people don't deserve to read" problem.

That said, I don't really think it's anything to worry about, as I don't think print books will really be going anywhere for a while. I still buy vinyls after all. ...though iTunes does tend to be much cheaper...

virtue_summer said:

"lower class" is a term with multiple meanings. One is in reference to manners: "That is such a low class thing to do! She has no class." The other is in regard to economic status. It has to do with the view of an economic ladder. The higher classes are the ones who are higher up on economic scale.

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It may be a digression, but the term "class" is far more than a matter of possession of wealth, historically. It derives from the days of strict aristocratic hierarchies, and is still applied as such in Britain and elsewhere. In Britain, the term "working class" referred, pejoratively, to people who actually had to labor for their daily bread, as opposed to the "idle rich", who simply had money, and whose biggest problem was what to do to entertain their daily lives. Victorian literature is mostly populated by the latter and their awful angst, with the exceptions of Dickens and Gissing and a few others who actually had the gall to present "lower class" people as human beings with desires and vices and hopes and dreams, just like the "upper class" people had.

caw

I read somewhere that public libraries, using Cloud Library eBook Lending Service, are now moving towards renting out ebooks- some together with e-reading device. That should enable each and everyone to access e-books, regardless of their economic status.

epublishabook said:

I read somewhere that public libraries, using Cloud Library eBook Lending Service, are now moving towards renting out ebooks- some together with e-reading device. That should enable each and everyone to access e-books, regardless of their economic status.

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And public libraries are finding their budgets increasingly squeezed by other public needs. Ours have slashed hours of operation and staff dramatically in the past couple of years, and those cuts are almost certain to continue and increase. Icky poor people tend to hang out at the libraries. What else should you expect?

caw

I read the blog.I believe it is just a ramble of half understood ideas forming links between things that are unconnected.I don't believe the e-book will have any impact on the any class of person.Except writers.The E-book is actually a conventional book using a different media.The conventional ,liner, method of story telling is coming to an end.With the tablet and other small transportable computers ,some costing not much more than a good electronic book,there is a much more exiting and faster form of story telling that will send the old book form to,the history book?

In order to read an ebook you must have a credit card.

Are there people who can't get credit cards? Yes.

stephenf said:

I read the blog.I believe it is just a ramble of half understood ideas forming links between things that are unconnected.I don't believe the e-book will have any impact on the any class of person.Except writers.The E-book is actually a conventional book using a different media.The conventional ,liner, method of story telling is coming to an end.With the tablet and other small transportable computers ,some costing not much more than a good electronic book,there is a much more exiting and faster form of story telling that will send the old book form to,the history book?

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And what about those people who literally can't afford one of these 'cheap' computers or ereaders? For a few years I had to choose between heating my house and washing my clothes, or feeding myself. Book-swaps and library sales were my lifeline (as well as writing down the stories in my head). If there were no print books I may actually have gone mad.

James D. Macdonald said:

In order to read an ebook you must have a credit card.

Are there people who can't get credit cards? Yes.

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I think the the whole debate is pointless .But just to answer the question. There are plenty of web sites were you can down load books for free.In fact, once you have made the initial investment ,you can very easily recoup the cost of the reader. There is a vast quantity of, out of print and once expensive books available .

pangalactic said:

And what about those people who literally can't afford one of these 'cheap' computers or ereaders? For a few years I had to choose between heating my house and washing my clothes, or feeding myself. Book-swaps and library sales were my lifeline (as well as writing down the stories in my head). If there were no print books I may actually have gone mad.

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Most people have to make decisions about their priorities.
The point I was making,badly, was .E-readers are already out of date . Story telling and information gathering is moving away from the conventional book ,including the e-reader .

I think she has a point in that people who can afford the Internet and ereaders and have credit cards blithely assume that the whole world lives in an environment like theirs.

That said, it's not as if print books are going to disappear, ever. Even if print publishing ceases for all but niche markets (which won't happen for a long time), books will still be around.

Amadan said:

I think she has a point in that people who can afford the Internet and ereaders and have credit cards blithely assume that the whole world lives in an environment like theirs.

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Definitely.

I've been at the kind of poor she talks about. I'm still very, very close to the line, and I don't know if it's ever going to be behind me.

I do know that I will never forget what it's like to be that poor -- and with that knowledge, I can say unequivocably yes, poor people aren't going to be reading ebooks. And I say this as a person who writes for more than one primarily ebook publisher.

"Initial investment" to people in situations like this just doesn't even compute. There is no investing. There is praying you can somehow scrape enough money together to keep from having the electricity shut off next month, or to keep from getting kicked out when you can't make the rent / mortgage payment, or to keep your car going and/or filled with gas for just one more week, or month, or year.

And no amount of people telling you to "just stop being poor" or "make better decisions" is going to help.

John Scalzi and the 400+ commenters on this post say it much better than me: Being Poor

I can't afford an e-reader. They're too expensive. I buy most of my books second-hand, or get them from the library. To me, talk about 'initial investment' is ludicrous. I don't want to invest over £100 of money I don't have when I can buy a second hand book for a couple of quid and enjoy it just the same.

Regardless of whether print books survive, the author makes a valid point about ignorance.
I find it hard to believe that anyone could read that post and still think that ebooks can in any way be made readily available to those living in poverty.
E-readers will get stolen. Computers will get stolen and if you are so poor that you are sucking ketchup out of the packets in McDonald's to settle your stomach, then how the heck are you going to afford internet access anyway?
And what about the rural poor? Many can't get transportation to the county seat to apply for Medicaid. How are they going to get to the nearest library to read an ebook?
No. Print books are not going to disappear, but it's always good for writers to have empathy, to have an understanding of the world that surrounds them. The author of this blog is trying to bring about some of that understanding.

James D. Macdonald said:

In order to read an ebook you must have a credit card.

Are there people who can't get credit cards? Yes.

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That's not true. You can buy a gift card to the iBookstore in cash and use the gift card. Does a B&N gift card not work on a Nook? (I don't know, but if it doesn't, that's pretty weird.)

I am surprised that people think physical books are going away anyway. Seem like the only reason that would happen is if/when ebook become fully substitutable. The cause and effect is the other way around.

veinglory said:

I am surprised that people think physical books are going away anyway. Seem like the only reason that would happen is if/when ebook become fully substitutable. The cause and effect is the other way around.

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Hell, we still have newspapers, and they've been obsolete for about a decade.

Let them read paperbacks.

Print is pretty expensive, too, if you're catsup-sucking poor. Me, I've moved up to the Grey Poupon-sucking class (I can get these packets for free in the work cafeteria) and I still hesitate to buy new hardcovers. I would similarly hesitate to buy ebooks that are nearly as expensive as discounted print.

I imagine that if "E" becomes all, the readers will drop dramatically in price and libraries will work out a feasible lending plan. I'm not expecting this consummation any time soon, though.

Meanwhile, I'm contacting Marvel with my idea for their next movie project: "X-Men versus E-Book!" I can already see it, Wolverine diving through a Starbucks skylight and impaling two Kindles at once! Graaaaawr!

Phaeal said:

Print is pretty expensive, too, if you're catsup-sucking poor.

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Free books for everyone?

Government grants for authors?