WSJ.com is reporting that both Simon & Schuster and Hachette Book Group are looking to delay the release of e-Books by 4 months following the release of a hardback.
“The right place for the e-book is after the hardcover but before the paperback,” said Carolyn Reidy, CEO of Simon & Schuster, which is owned by CBS Corp. “We believe some people will be disappointed. But with new [electronic] readers coming and sales booming, we need to do this now, before the installed base of e-book reading devices gets to a size where doing it would be impossible.”
How awesome – not! It amazes me how people in the content industries still regard the consumption of bits differently than other formats. Consumers don’t care. Charge a fair price for goods delivered and we’ll pay. Choose to play a different game and well … things work out differently don’t they. Let’s just ask our friends in the music and movie businesses.