Possibly, because the model is that of a subscriber requesting specific content and having it delivered on a scheduled basis. The e-book user might subscribe to Time magazine and The Miami Herald , for example. Receiving those publications in digital form is merely a replacement for buying the corresponding print editions at a newsstand or having them delivered via postal mail. The logic is that consumers should accept paying for this content, just as they have to consume their print media of choice. If the paid-subscription model does work, however, most industry experts believe that prices will be lower than corresponding print rates.
Advertising actually looks to be a pretty good revenue source for e-book device content.
As the devices evolve and get color screens, the larger size of the screens makes for a better ad medium than wireless phones or PDAs. So, the short answer about e-book device revenue models is that there's much to be thought through by the industry. Hurdles ahead Publishing to the e-book devices won't be easy in the near term. Fidler describes the situation as akin to when the online industry consisted primarily of proprietary systems like AOL, Prodigy, CompuServe, and Delphi in the early to mid 1990s. Publishers wishing to reach those audiences had to format content for each service.