Why haven't comic book fans migrated to digital platforms? 0

[Mr.Mcknowitall]

1 minute ago, Ken Aldred said:

Yup.  I know what you mean. As a fifty-something, all this technology stuff just confuses and frightens me. The young 'uns are much better with it, apparently.

 

That they are. I am a bit humbled and jealous about it, so I try the shame them with old age wisdom act on them. It doesn't work.

[SilverSniper]

2 hours ago, ygogolak said:

http://www.comichron.com/yearlycomicssales/industrywide/2016-industrywide.html

What cannot be accounted for is piracy of digital formats. The same with other forms of digital media.

Cool! Thanks for that. It does appear that digital circulation has stalled over the past few years.  I suppose it's a bit tough to compare though; you can't get new comics on e.g. Marvel Unlimited, so for those interested in new issues you really have no (legal) choice but to buy hard copies. Seems like apples and oranges until there's a digital platform (from the big 2) which delivers new comics day 1. Completely different use cases.

Edited May 10, 2018 by SilverSniper

[Jimbo749]

19 hours ago, Ken Aldred said:

I have. Not the newest books but trade paperback or hardcover collections in digital format, especially from companies that allow the creation of DRM- free backups, such as IDW, Image and Fantagraphics. Some Marvel and DC too.

 

I haven't read much digital other than trying a few digital codes in modern books, but I never realized some publishers allowed DRM-free backup. Once you "purchase" the e-book do you get to download a pdf (or other e-book format) copy for keeps? Assuming DRM-free means you don't have to use the specific comic reading service to view it?

[Ken Aldred]

1 minute ago, Jimbo749 said:

I haven't read much digital other than trying a few digital codes in modern books, but I never realized some publishers allowed DRM-free backup. Once you "purchase" the e-book do you get to download a pdf (or other e-book format) copy for keeps? Assuming DRM-free means you don't have to use the specific comic reading service to view it?

Either a .cbz or .pdf file.

With DRM-free .cbz you could also use a third-party comic viewer such as Chunky.

[Jimbo749]

Just now, Ken Aldred said:

Either a .cbz or .pdf file.

With DRM-free .cbz you could also use a third-party comic viewer such as Chunky.

Awesome thank you. 

[CKinTO]

1 hour ago, SilverSniper said:

Cool! Thanks for that. It does appear that digital circulation has stalled over the past few years.  I suppose it's a bit tough to compare though; you can't get new comics on e.g. Marvel Unlimited, so for those interested in new issues you really have no (legal) choice but to buy hard copies. Seems like apples and oranges until there's a digital platform (from the big 2) which delivers new comics day 1. Completely different use cases.

Well, Comixology is really the de-facto deliverer of online comics (moreso than Marvel or DC's own platforms), and you can definitely buy new issues through them, same day as they're released in stores (Wednesdays), and for the same price. I know quite a few people (myself included) who have shifted much of their weekly comic reading to online.

If I recall (this was before I read any comics digitally), there was a time when digital comics on Comixology were cheaper than buying the physical, but comic stores were up in arms saying that it would destroy their business. And so they lobbied to get digital comics kept at the same price point as physical. I do think if new weekly digital comics were priced cheaper than physical, a lot more people would switch their reading to digital (myself probably included). I want to support my LCS, and I enjoy the LCS experience, but at some point, the savings would take over.

1 hour ago, Jimbo749 said:

I haven't read much digital other than trying a few digital codes in modern books, but I never realized some publishers allowed DRM-free backup. Once you "purchase" the e-book do you get to download a pdf (or other e-book format) copy for keeps? Assuming DRM-free means you don't have to use the specific comic reading service to view it?

Yes, Marvel and DC don't allow it, but Image (and many other indie publishers) does. You can do it on your computer via Comixology website.

[F For Fake]

2 hours ago, SilverSniper said:

Cool! Thanks for that. It does appear that digital circulation has stalled over the past few years.  I suppose it's a bit tough to compare though; you can't get new comics on e.g. Marvel Unlimited, so for those interested in new issues you really have no (legal) choice but to buy hard copies. Seems like apples and oranges until there's a digital platform (from the big 2) which delivers new comics day 1. Completely different use cases.

I think the publication to Marvel Unlimited gap is only like 3 months now, is that right? It usually takes me a year or more to get around to reading a "new" book (there are exceptions. I will drop everything for a new Love and Rockets) so that three month gap is no big deal to me. Or is it 6? Regardless, not an issue for me, though I can see how it may be for readers who are hanging on month to month.

[CKinTO]

29 minutes ago, F For Fake said:

I think the publication to Marvel Unlimited gap is only like 3 months now, is that right? It usually takes me a year or more to get around to reading a "new" book (there are exceptions. I will drop everything for a new Love and Rockets) so that three month gap is no big deal to me. Or is it 6? Regardless, not an issue for me, though I can see how it may be for readers who are hanging on month to month.

It's still 6 months... I don't think they'll cut it much shorter than that, as it gets closer and closer to cannibalizing their new issue sales.

[FineCollector]

Digital comics are great, all you need is a $600+ iPad to read them comfortably! 

I'm with Lizard, my eyes are on a screen all day, I need the break.

Beyond that, I don't want to spend money for a digital item.  Give me the comic, give me the DVD, give me the book.  I'm going to want to go back to these things, and consume them on my terms, no one else's.  Netflix is the best example of this: start typing in "Bloodsport" and it'll offer me a slew of other Van Damme movies, but Bloodsport isn't available.  It knows what I want, but it won't give it to me.  That's not my kind of kinky... I'll just pop in the disk and enjoy.

[ComicConnoisseur]

On 5/8/2018 at 8:09 AM, Anniloebig said:

Hi there! 

I'm a college student doing some research on why comic book fans and readers haven't migrated to digital platforms despite the digital revolution decreasing print sales. The survey below is based on my qualitative research on the topic, which means that this one will only require you to tick a couple of boxes instead of providing extended answers. 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdthjxJD35_nemVE77s0rWYsrRlaULWaHifOi4PHrjg90wHEw/viewform?usp=sf_link 

This research is part of what I need to do for my exam, and the challenge is to get as many responses as possible. I hope that some of you can take 2 minutes to help out a student with pre-exam stress by completing this survey.

Many thanks,

a student with next to zero knowledge about comic books, but enough curiosity to learn about it 

They don't realize how cool they look and how easy it is to read on a Kindle Fire or iPad. Most had the unfortunate experience of reading digital comics awhile ago on their desktops or laptops. Kindle Fires and iPads changed the games as far as digital comics is concerned.

btw There are sales all the time now for Kindle Fires for $30 which is the cost of like 8 or 9 monthly modern comics. 

 

[FineCollector]

7 minutes ago, ComicConnoisseur said:

They don't realize how cool they look and how easy it is to read on a Kindle Fire or iPad. Most had the unfortunate experience of reading digital comics awhile ago on their desktops or laptops. Kindle Fires and iPads changed the games as far as digital comics is concerned.

btw There are sales all the time now for Kindle Fires for $30 which is the cost of like 8 or 9 monthly modern comics. 

 

Unless the screen is the same size as the page or bigger, I'm out.  Either I'm squinting at a really small page, or I'm scrolling around a full sized page to find the next piece of text, and not seeing the art fully.  Either way, it's laborious and unpleasant.

[jools&jim]

A couple of big EMPs combined with a major geomagnetic storm or two, and all those tablets and e-readers will make nifty drink coasters.

So, like Chuck Heston in Omega Man, I will stockpile the forgotten things...the neglected physical product of the World the Way it Was, and listen to real records on a real stereo, read real books and comics on real paper, play real games on real game-boards, drink real booze and smoke real cigars long after our Overlords have outlawed it in the name of What's Good for Us All, and generally sing in my chains like the sea until, as with all ages of humanity, me, my outmoded kind, and all our non-digital/non-virtual stuff have crumbled to dust and gone the way of the dodo...! 

 

Edited May 10, 2018 by jools&jim

[F For Fake]

1 hour ago, CKinTO said:

It's still 6 months... I don't think they'll cut it much shorter than that, as it gets closer and closer to cannibalizing their new issue sales.

Ah, well, shows how far behind I am then. 

[ComicConnoisseur]

1 hour ago, FineCollector said:

Unless the screen is the same size as the page or bigger, I'm out.  Either I'm squinting at a really small page, or I'm scrolling around a full sized page to find the next piece of text, and not seeing the art fully.  Either way, it's laborious and unpleasant.

You can tap to zoom in and out, It is actually much better than the old ways now..You can see much more detail. The power of Jack Kirby and other old time artists really shines on the Kindle Fire.This is how I have been learning to appreciate the old masters more.

The modern colors alone are a big improvement compared to old dusty bronze age/copper age newsprint.

Also the price.

I was buying Marvel Masterworks/Marvel Epic Collection with each costing me .99 cents a piece. So these are full Masterworks not single comic books.

 I have bought Amazing Spider-Man runs 1-100 and Uncanny X-Men 94-143 each for under $20 to read. We are talking I bought them from Amazon. So it is unlikely they will ever go out of business. 

I have thousands of comic book reading material on my Kindle Fire now and it would take me years to read, A full library basically in my pocket.

When I go in a LCS and plunk down that $4.00 for a 15 minute read it feels like I am not getting my value. It's like $4 for this when I could subscribe to ComiXology for about the same price a month?

Like I said once more people get exposed to the digital comics on Kindle Fires and iPad it will eventually overtake the print.

Myself,I prefer reading the comic books on the Kindle and iPad as to me it is the superior reading experience.

I would be disappointed if I had to go back to reading them the old ways.

Just like if someone told me they would take my Netflix away and said here you are back to watching dvds or vhs again.  lol

 

 

[mrc]

It's common knowledge that e-book sales have peaked (2014) and hardcover book sales have surged in recent years. It amazes me that after the launch and popularity of new formats on the promise of 'convenience' sensible people migrate back to original formats once they realise they've been duped into believing new formats are automatically better. There is a lot of money to be made in the digital arena but I refuse to be mugged. Why haven't comic book fans migrated to digital platforms? REALLY?

[jaydog]

I have purchased some books digitally but mostly buy physical copies of new books. I think the problem with your research is going to be none of the big companies post sales of the digital comics so you cant get a good reference point and while I love the boards, they likely represent only a tiny fraction of comic readers.  Did you try reaching out to comic related YouTube channels with large amounts of subscribers and see if they could help you get info ?

 

[Buzzetta]

Marvel Unlimited... I took a year off but I will rejoin next year and catch up.  It makes no sense whatsoever to pay $4 a comic books.  The Unlimited App pays for itself after 15 books. 

[SteppinRazor]

On 5/10/2018 at 5:55 PM, mrc said:

It's common knowledge that e-book sales have peaked (2014) and hardcover book sales have surged in recent years. It amazes me that after the launch and popularity of new formats on the promise of 'convenience' sensible people migrate back to original formats once they realise they've been duped into believing new formats are automatically better. There is a lot of money to be made in the digital arena but I refuse to be mugged. Why haven't comic book fans migrated to digital platforms? REALLY?

The answer IMO to the OP question is age.  Most comic readers are 30+ years old.

To the above, though, I think what drives people back to printed books is that digital books aren't cheaper, but you pay that money and do not get a possession.  It feels like a rip off.

[Cat]

There's a certain price point on digital that I find it impossible to overcome. I love getting omniboo and other Deluxe hardcovers, and I simply cannot justify their price in digital. I picked up a HEAP of books when they were 99cents, though. That was far below my threshold. 

The other problem is that I like to peruse my library, and pick out what I want. I simply don't have the digital storage for all my digital comics on any of my devices. We're talking hundreds of gigs, well over 500. 

I do have bookcases, albeit not enough, but enough to have my favourite few hundred hardcovers etc on display, and I can always find anything else immediately. 

[F For Fake]

11 hours ago, Buzzetta said:

Marvel Unlimited... I took a year off but I will rejoin next year and catch up.  It makes no sense whatsoever to pay $4 a comic books.  The Unlimited App pays for itself after 15 books. 

Yup. I like to subscribe, read a bunch of books in a month, then unsubscribe, wait a couple of months, and rejoin. There aren't a lot of modern Marvels that I'm interested in reading, but the Star Wars titles alone (plus the entire library of Dark Horse SW stuff that they added) make for a very good value.