Comments on: Pullbox Online Launches

By: Johanna

Johanna — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 11:37:44 +0000

It’s not that simple, because “too much” or “too little” depends on which group you’re talking about. New readers wanting a cheap way to sample may find $1 too much. Comic readers used to print copies for $3 consider $2 too much. Retailers seething about undercutting find $1 too little.

By: Kevin McShane

Kevin McShane — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 09:54:24 +0000

Hmm. DriveThru lets publishers set your own price.

So if $1.99 is too much and $.99 is too little, then where’s the sweet spot? $1.50?

By: Johanna

Johanna — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 00:30:30 +0000

I'd mentioned them back in September, actually. I suspect that their almost $2 price is too high for most people to seriously consider them, though.

By: Kevin McShane

Kevin McShane — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 00:12:26 +0000

One player that hasn’t been mentioned in this whole downloadable thing is DriveThruComics.com. They have a proven track record (from their sister site DriveThruRPG.com) and their DRM is pretty minimal (an unobtrusive name and purchase # watermark on the PDF). I use them for e-versions of my book and, while the whole downloadable comics thing has yet to produce a viable buisness model (a la iTunes), DriveThru seem to strike the best balance between the freedom desired by the user and the protection desired by the publisher.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 16:09:04 +0000

What insightful additions! I agree, as a customer — no DRM is the way to go, because it plays to the collector mentality (“you’ll be able to keep these files around”) without an additional hoop to jump through.

I can’t agree, Mark, that the comics should have been much cheaper. People won’t pay for crap no matter the price, but if you want them to see some value in their purchases, then they can’t be too much less than the print price. Especially if you intend to transfer them from digital to print.

Jim: Good point, and an important refocusing.

By: Jim Kosmicki

Jim Kosmicki — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 13:21:49 +0000

What everyone seems to forget when a place like Pullbox says something like they’ll take 10,000 of the 100,000 who are reading the book anyway: comics have always had a larger readership than purchase population. Just as more people listened to music than ever bought it, comics have always been shared or read at the newsstand. The “This ain’t a liberry, kid” cliche came from reality, after all.

So I’d say that Blaylock is just saying out loud what has always been the reality. He’s not saying that if downloadable comics went away, those 100,000 readers would all of a sudden be purchasing. He’s saying that he thinks he can convert some of those non-purchasers into purchasers of a different form. It’s an important distinction, i think.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 10:38:08 +0000

I had a look at their offerings and given that some of the stuff that is offered probably won’t ever see the light of day again through any other channel I guess it’s reasonable to offer it online. Still I think the $0.99 tag is too much compared to 2.99 for a printed issue. If it’s suppossed to help readers catching up with back issues it should have been cheaper. That way more people would try it and then perhaps start buying the new issues (if available, especially in the Devil’s Due section some titles seem to have been raised from dead to make one last dollar with the content).

By: Journalista » Blog Archive » Dec. 6, 2006: Dave Sim’s nose and a pair of pliers

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 09:49:46 +0000

[...] Related: Johanna Draper Carlson refuses to believe the hype. [...]

By: Ray Cornwall

Ray Cornwall — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 22:28:22 +0000

Also note that the Family Guy comics aren’t 99 cents, but rather $1.99.

Blaylock is dead-on right by removing DRM from the content; who wants to give a start-up company control over their computer, which is effectively what you do when you place DRM’d files on your PC? I semi-trust Apple with DRM’d iTunes files, burning them to CD and re-ripping to mp3 when I can’t find the music elsewhere; I’m not going to trust a new company with DRM’d comic files.

By: Guy LeCharles Gonzalez

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 21:35:47 +0000

I noted last night that I thought Pullbox launched a bit prematurely, with a too-limited selection that's only going to appeal to a very narrow audience. Wowio's got a broader selection (both of comics, if barely, and of non-picture books) but their business model is questionable and they compete with much bigger players like mobipocket.com. Of course, if there's any real money in this concept, DC and/or Marvel will come up with their own platform, or Diamond will do it for them.

By: MangaBlog » Blog Archive » The future is here

MangaBlog » Blog Archive » The future is here — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 21:18:02 +0000

[...] UPDATE: Johanna has more. [...]