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Books in Your Pocket - Penguin Ties up With MobiFusion
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I once heard someone from one of the big research businesses saying “media content providers are more interested about fame – I doubt they are keen on distribution”. Well things are changing (or at least partially).
Penguin, Asia’s biggest English language publisher has tied up with Mobifusion, who is a Mobile VAS provider and distributor. The partnership that will begin with a focus on the Indian consumer base will look to a global roll-out in time, expanding to include Penguin’s global brand and an array of international products.
I think books on the Mobile is a natural progression (Jeff Bezos, the Amazon.com has already said that the book is the last bastion of Analog) my only concern is that one cant really read for longer hours when reading using even the best of phones (try reading on an iPhone for a couple of hours, in my opinion the best phone for reading stuff; you will still find the experience quite annoying). Also if one is looking at reading on the move, it’s quite difficult. I think Multimedia content works better for ‘books’ on the move.
We have written quite a bit about the Amazon Kindle and also about the Future of Books and I think one of the things that stands out with respect to the Kindle especially is the fact that the screen is conducive to reading. That’s a limitation that Penguin will have from the use perspective.
The Penguin-Mobifusion partnership will begin with content from three popular Penguin books -The Joy in Loving: A Guide to Daily Living with Mother Teresacomplied by Jaya Chaliha and Edward Le Joly, The Path to Tranquillityby His Holiness the Dalai Lama and The Book of Prayer edited by Renuka Narayanan-being made available on mobile platforms.
The company hasn’t quite made it clear what the revenue model will be. I have my reservations about the scalability of this model though. I’m not too sure books will be able to be tools of mass consumption. They never have been! There will be certain individuals who will be willing to pay for such content while others will simply make do with books available in pdf formats on various websites (even thought they may be pirated I doubt the end consumer cares). Im sure Mobifusion will do a lot to customize the book towards the mobile platform but im not too sure consumers will be willing to pay for titles on their mobile which still isn’t really considered a ‘serious’ medium. Thus one needs to realise that in consumers’ minds, certain devices have certain utilities.
This Video Tells you a Little more about Books on the Mobile!
The other problem is distribution – today most Mobile Phone operators are not really ready to have fair revenue sharing agreements with VAS providers primarily because they control supply. Have a look at what DoCoMo did with i-mode. Indian Mobile Service Providers are far away from such a model (at least for now)
This is from my Post on the Future of Books – I think its quite interesting for some of you who may not have already read it!
“Once books go electronic there is the opportunity to ‘value add’ with multimedia and get the user closer to what the author percieves.
I also think that there will be customization of books. Users will be able to buy chapters but I also think that customization can go to the next level where an author can actually customize a book for a consumer (or an intermediary can do that) with respect to his or her profession/ preferences etc. With the Internet and more direct distribution platforms, there is the opportunity for publishers to custom make a ‘book’.
So I see an opportunity for a Finance book being custom written for Rajiv Dingra the entrepreneur, where only those elements of finance that are relevant to him will be given in the book with a few value additions to make the book more ‘understandable’ to him.
Remember also, that the Internet as a delivery platform has lower lead times
With electronic books I also see the opportunities for interactivity. One obvious feature of interactivity could be such where within the electric book itself, readers can set up chats or videoconferences with the author via reservations and discuss the book. This can also ensure that consumers actually benefit more than just the actual content of the book (which would be available for free on the internet otherwise). Such a feature could again get the reader closer to the mindset of the author.
Finally i also see options for networking via e books. Books with specific subjects can auto sign readers onto networks (from the Kindle kind of ebook itself) where they can meet other readers with similar interests and share ideas, have a platform for discussion. Another value add that will give users incentives ‘not to pirate’ and also make them ponder on content a little more. Although networks can also be quite distracting.
To sum it up i think books will do more with less. E books will open up a host of possibilities. The danger is that if the publishing industry does not innovate, people will read only pirated material. The innovations however have to be low cost.
What do you think a book will be like 5 years from now?”
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Interesting insight , Harshil
so ankit what do u think a book will be like 5 years from now - insights are all good! im looking for u and other readers to add and collaborate!
Together we can be thought leaders!
Hi Harshil well written, I feel books are really convenient to read compared to reading in a digital gadget. e-books are slowly decreasing the sale of books as its easy to access and a wide range of options are also available. Although I like reading books but since most of the time I can’t find my choice of books in the market, I go for e-books, SiliconIndia is one site which I frequently visit, it provides a wide range of book of all categories and they also have a publishing section where you can publish your articles. It will be great if you can publish some of your articles there, I am sure that most of the members will like reading it. http://www.siliconindia.com/register.php?id=T49I1Fh5