A VP's take on the E-Book Industry

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In the video narrated by Michael Taamblyn who is the VP of Content, sales and merchandising for the e-book bestseller Kobo he states how the business model for e-books has changed over recent years. He explains how his company Kobo has tried to adapt to the ever changing market. One of the first facts he brings up is the recent studies by Indigo that paper books would lose 5-10 percent to ebooks over the next few years. He points out how long form books are what people want the most on their portable devices. He next focuses on how they had to revamp their entire software programs in order to meet what the customer wanted which is full scale books available on all mobile platforms. He then breaks down how more people purchase e-books on either Tuesday or on Sunday and that most people start to read around noon and continues through late afternoon. This information provides actually sales information for e-books and how well they are doing in the current market. Then he goes into how they set their prices starting with matching Amazon price of $9.99. The question then remains as to how much is an e-book worth? He goes into the science of how Kobo averages out to sell each book for $8.76. He acknowledges that e-books have a limited use and should be much cheaper than paper. He also notes that e-books are perceived to have less value due to the fact that they can not lend or technically own the product. Next he points to the lesson that e-books have to have multiple platforms to succeed. The next point is the expanded market world wide has Kobo is in over 200 countries. He then announces that Kobo will release a new application on their own hardware device as well release the applications to any hardware company.

Once unique about this particular video that would allow someone to effectively create an argument is that this is the VP of an actually e-book company who has facts as to how the industry works. He brings up how his company Kobo has broaden their e-books to extend to all readers. His facts on how consumers feel about e-book prices could easily be used to support an argument for the lowering or raising of prices. His information on the slide show create a strong view point that is hard evidence for those who wish to use his research to present an argument. Ultimately it comes down to assessing what his company has researched and using the facts he presents to the best of your argument.