Printed books are by no means on life support, but based on the recent story that e-Books outsold them 8-to-1 and that devices like iPad and Kindle are flying off the shelf, printed books are, at the very least, on the ambulance ride to the hospital.
Don’t despair. There may be help from an unlikely source.
That’s because the days of unlimited surfing of the Internet are mostly over. American broadband Internet providers are imposing caps to how much of the Internet you can consume each month. That number rests somewhere between 50 and 250 gigabytes. The number is irrelevant, really. What matters is that the number will change behaviors in the way people surf, play online games, watch streaming films and more.
The cap won’t affect Kindle users, who get their materials delivered free via mobile networks, but for other tech users, there could be budgets put in place for home entertainment. Limits already exist for mobile users on 3G/4G networks (wireless phone and tablet users). There are also implications for “cloud computing,” a term and business model that I mostly loathe.
It could also mean a return of the patrons to the books stores. With less Internet to be surfed and excessive fees to be charged should you bust that monthly cap, users could be more retticent about gulping new data via WiFi on their iPads and home computers and more time touching, feeling and experiencing what lies beyond that.
Most of this is speculation on my part. It’s about markets. The broadband market wants more from your wallet. But what exactly is the tradeoff? Will publishers recognize a potential opportunity and lower prices? Can they? Thirty-three dollars is still expensive for a hard-cover book. In the ‘Net savvy user’s mind, that’s 40 more gigabytes of data each month. That’s four more books on Kindle. That’s another hour of time on an XBox. That’s three more streaming movies. You get the idea.
I’m not a proponent of big book/media stores. I like them. I’ve bought books in them. However, I like small book stores and I like buying books online (printed and electronic). I’m also a proponent of the business or market that enables me the best experience for the least amount of my time, money and resources. Buying eBooks to be read via Kindle software on my iPad most efficiently meets that need.
However, there are a number of people who cozy up to Borders, Barnes and Noble, and Books-A-Million just fine. Capping the Internet might just be the action that pushes some of the current e-suitors back into those bricks-and-mortar havens. It could also mean a wholesale return for consumers to the litany of shops and stores that have faltered because of online shopping.
What do you think? Does limiting your Internet use mean you will change your habits? Let me know in the comments.
(Image source: thaliapress.com)
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I am the co-host and creator of "The Science Fiction Show" podcast with my good friends Keith Houin and Michael Wistock. Join us each Friday for a look at all things Sci-Fi in the world of pop culture, TV, film and more. How? Easy! 
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I think the cap business is greedy and a terrible idea, although if I was on the other side of it.. I might think otherwise- Im not, Im a typical consumer and seeing a cap in broadband would ruin me and my habits.. it wouldnt bring me back to the book stores, but I might get out more often other places
They can limit our internet access? I hadn’t heard that, but it completely freaks me out.
If it helps bookstores I think that’s great, but that’ll seriously screw with a large part of my life. O.o
Really? I had no idea they were doing this already. I read that Comcast is doing that, here in Portland. I need to check my bills. I leave the internet on at all times. I’ve heard this would happen at some point, and the internet has killed many companies, but I didn’t know they were doing it already. Ouch. Where have I been?
Hopefully, this will have a positive effect on the economy. Is this going to just be a tax, or a fee by companies for something that doesn’t really cost them more than they are covering by their current prices?
Anyway, anything to get people back in the stores, I suppose. But still, not a fan in many ways. I’ve yet to buy an ebook, and I doubt I ever will.
Draven Ames