Recently, Graphicly announced it was adding the ability for creators to build and distribute their own eBooks through the company to such destinations as Apple iBooks, Amazon Kindle, Barns and Noble’s Nook and so on. While this is great for publishers of any shape and size, it also begs the question, “What is going to happen to the comic book distribution and sales the company was founded on?” The company addressed the situation this morning.
Here’s a list of the changes that will be occurring:
- As of this week, we will be retiring the previously-released Graphicly Comics marketplace applications. Our iPhone, iPad and Android applications, as well as a our Adobe AIR Desktop application will no longer be available for download.
- If you have purchased titles and use these apps, you will still be able to read your titles via the apps, but you simply will not be able to purchase titles through the apps anymore.
- Your complete library of purchased titles will be still be, and always be, available to be purchased and read via our website at http://graphicly.com/store as well as through our Facebook Application (http://apps.facebook.com/graphicly/).
Being able to access more content is always a good thing, and this announcement should come as a great surprise.
2 Comments
Every time DRM prevents legitimate playback, a pirate gets his wings…
So when you upgrade your computer, phone, or tablet you are no longer able to get the old application to consume the media you’ve purchased in the way you intended when you purchased it? Perhaps I misunderstand, but it sounds like anything you bought prior to this change will only be able to be consumed through the website, or on Facebook when you to upgrade to new hardware. This is exactly the type of behavior by digital media companies that encourages consumers to crack DRM schemes so they can use the media they paid for in the ways they want.
Interesting development but not surprising given Comixology’s success in this arena. Now we get to see an example of what happens to your purchases if a company “changes” their strategy. I love digital comics, but as Bruce points out, DRM schemes sometimes worry me. I was an early adopter of eBooks and got burned a couple of times when companies would switch formats or retire platforms (and a couple of times when I upgraded my hardware) and suddenly my purchases were no longer compatible. Having said that, I considered it the cost of early adoption and luckily I had the resources to replace the titles I really wanted to own.
In my opinion, the best app for reading comic books is Comixology. I’m also very happy with their selection and don’t feel worried about their future. But I do see that other companies are choosing to compete by expanding their compatibility to other applications which I think is a great approach (I believe in competitition in the marketplace) but based on my experience, I only see iBooks as a serious competitor (on the APPLE platform – – I read my books on an iPad).
Guess we’ll see :)