Is bundling ebooks with print books a good idea?

[Reisnice]

I agree with paper books turning into a niche market, but that sort of bothers me.  Having been in computers since the 70's, the transient nature of file formats means that without changes to DRM, going back to reread an old favorite after a few years may be impossible.  I lately found a treasure trove of 50's science fiction paperbacks ( yellowed acid paper and all) that I practically learned to read with. It's fun to read them again.  Won't happen for most ebooks.  The epub format will be extinct in a few years - sooner if Apple has its way. With DRM attached, it will be illegal for me to even try to convert an ebook to something I can read in the future.  I may be able to re-buy it if some publisher sees fit to convert it, but I'm not seeing many reissues of most of those old books I found.

[keriflur]

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Reisnice wrote:

I agree with paper books turning into a niche market, but that sort of bothers me.  Having been in computers since the 70's, the transient nature of file formats means that without changes to DRM, going back to reread an old favorite after a few years may be impossible.  I lately found a treasure trove of 50's science fiction paperbacks ( yellowed acid paper and all) that I practically learned to read with. It's fun to read them again.  Won't happen for most ebooks.  The epub format will be extinct in a few years - sooner if Apple has its way. With DRM attached, it will be illegal for me to even try to convert an ebook to something I can read in the future.  I may be able to re-buy it if some publisher sees fit to convert it, but I'm not seeing many reissues of most of those old books I found.

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What have you heard about Apple?  They currently use the epub format, and I haven't heard that they're looking to switch, but I don't follow their news terribly closely as I don't use any of their products.

[gb18]

http://radar.oreilly.com/2012/02/unified-ebook-format-end-drm.html

[patgolfneb]

I think many of us agree that DRM is failing to have a significant impact on piracy. It could be modified to act as a watermark type process to stop casual theft. Its hard to see how DRM even slows down a pro doing it to make money.

The better long term solution is a process where a secondary market where e books could be transfered for a fee, with publishers, authors, and resellers sharing the revenues, through a process like overdrive.

I am not convinced format changes are as big a threat as it might seem.  I think the majority of people keep a small percentage of their books permanently. I would be suprised if conversion programs or backward compatibility in reader apps is not available for current formats for some time.