Why Ebooks Must Fail

Evan Schnittman, head of Global Business Development at Oxford University Press, explains Why Ebooks Must Fail. After examining the economics of print publishing versus e-publishing, Schnittman concludes:

[U]nless a very different model evolves, ebooks can never become the dominant version of content sold by book publishers. It means that ebooks will always be priced to sell, but sold as an afterthought, not as the primary version of a work. It means that the need for blended e plus p models will evolve, in order to take advantage of all the great qualities of ebooks, while providing the financial support and structure that print offers. It means that consumer ebooks, as a stand-alone version of an intellectual property, must fail.