The Disintermediation of Content

Written by Sam Vaknin


Continued from page 1

Yet, having said all that, content intermediaries still over-charge their clients (the content creators) for their services. This is especially true in an age of just-in-time inventory and digital distribution. Network effects mean that content brokers have to invest much less in marketing, branding and advertising once a product's first mover advantage is established. Economic laws of increasing, rather than diminishing, returns mean that every additional unit sold yields a HIGHER profit - rather than a declining one. The pie is getting bigger.

Hence,repparttar meteoric increase in royalties publishers pay authors from sales ofrepparttar 108510 electronic versions of their work (anywhere from Random House's 35% to 50% paid by smaller publishers). As this tectonic shift reverberates throughrepparttar 108511 whole distribution chain, retail outlets are beginning to transact directly with content creators. The borders betweenrepparttar 108512 types of intermediaries are blurred. Barnes and Noble (the American bookstores chain) has, in effect, become a publisher. Many publishers have virtual storefronts. Many authors sell directly to their readers, acting as publishers. The introduction of "book ATMs" - POD (Print On Demand) machines, which will print every conceivable title in minutes, onrepparttar 108513 spot, in "book kiosks" - will give rise to a host of new intermediaries. Intermediation is not gone. It is here to stay because it is sorely needed. But it is in a state of flux. Old maxims break down. New modes of operation emerge.

Functions are amalgamated, outsourced, dispensed with, or created from scratch. It is an exciting scene, full with opportunities.



Sam Vaknin is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He is a columnist for Central Europe Review, United Press International (UPI) and eBookWeb and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory, Suite101 and searcheurope.com.

Visit Sam's Web site at http://samvak.tripod.com




Jamaican Overdrive - LDC's and LCD's

Written by Sam Vaknin


Continued from page 1

Druanne Martin, OverDrive's Director of publishing services elaborates:

""With Jamaica and Cleveland, Ohio sharingrepparttar same time zone (EST), we have our US and Jamaican production teams in sync. Jamaica provides a beautiful and warm climate, literally, for us to build long-term partnerships and to invite our publishing and content clients to come and visit their books in production".

The Jamaican Minister of Industry, Commerce and Technology,repparttar 108509 Hon. Phillip Paulwell reciprocates:

"We are proud that OverDrive has selected Jamaica to extend its leadership in eBook technology. OverDrive is benefiting fromrepparttar 108510 investments Jamaica has made in developingrepparttar 108511 needed infrastructure for IT companies to locate and build skilled workforces here."

There is nothing new in outsourcing back office work (insurance claims processing, air ticket reservations, medical records maintenance) to third world countries, such as (the notable example) India. Research and Development is routinely farmed out to aspiring first world countries such as Israel and Ireland. But OverDrive's Jamaican facility is an example of something more sophisticated and more durable. Western firms are discoveringrepparttar 108512 immense pools of skills, talent, innovation, and top notch scientific and other education often offered even byrepparttar 108513 poorest of nations. These multinationals entrustrepparttar 108514 locals now with more than keyboarding and responding to customer queries using fake names. The Jamaican venture is a business partnership. In a way, it is a topsy-turvy world. Digital animation is produced in India and consumed inrepparttar 108515 States. The low compensation of scientists attractsrepparttar 108516 technology and R&D arms ofrepparttar 108517 likes of General Electric to Asia and Intel to Israel. In other words, there are budding signs of a reversing brain drain - from West to East.

E-publishing is atrepparttar 108518 forefront of software engineering, e-consumerism, intellectual property technologies, payment systems, conversion applications,repparttar 108519 mobile Internet, and, basically, every important trend in network and computing and digital content. Its migration to warmer and cheaper climates may be inevitable. OverDrive sounds happy enough.



Sam Vaknin is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He is a columnist for Central Europe Review, United Press International (UPI) and eBookWeb and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory, Suite101 and searcheurope.com.

Visit Sam's Web site at http://samvak.tripod.com




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