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Amazon Reluctantly Agrees to Higher eBook Pricing
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PLUS Apple will be putting their DRM on books purchased from them, so even if the base file format is a standard, don't expect to read it anywhere else.
I haven't even heard if Apple will let people read books in ITunes yet.
Rip Off!
Not only will publishers save money on printing, shipping, storage, and returns, e-books will (if publishers have their way) effectively kill off resale or gifting of books.
The Doctrine of First Sale has generally provided purchasers with the right to re-sell, give away, lend books, movies, music, video games etc. as long as they don't make a copy. Software companies and media publishers are trying to eliminate that right by insisting that they're licensing the material for your use, not selling it to you.
It's a win-win situation for corporations: lower expenses, same prices, and fewer rights for consumers. I would gladly pay fair prices and respect copyrights if corporations weren't working openly to curtail my fair use rights.
Not only will publishers save money on printing, shipping, storage, and returns, e-books will (if publishers have their way) effectively kill off resale or gifting of books.
The Doctrine of First Sale has generally provided purchasers with the right to re-sell, give away, lend books, movies, music, video games etc. as long as they don't make a copy. Software companies and media publishers are trying to eliminate that right by insisting that they're licensing the material for your use, not selling it to you.
It's a win-win situation for corporations: lower expenses, same prices, and fewer rights for consumers. I would gladly pay fair prices and respect copyrights if corporations weren't working openly to curtail my fair use rights.
I have the Kindle reader for iPhone, and used it for a couple of Rick Steves books for a trip to Europe. Pretty nice, but hardly great.
Non-existent real page numbering, out-of-band images, no pinch to zoom, etc etc.
But for the first time, this thread prompted me to look up a few old paperbacks that I know are available for 5 or 6 bucks new.
AMAZON IS CHARGING $9.99 FOR THEM AS WELL!!!
That's just nuts. I think $15 is fine for new hardcovers (as long as they're available the same day as the printed copy.
But low-demand books in paperback should be WAY less.
If the market doesn't straighten that out quickly, I'll be using my iPad for anything BUT books.
Libraries are looking better all the time.
Non-existent real page numbering, out-of-band images, no pinch to zoom, etc etc.
But for the first time, this thread prompted me to look up a few old paperbacks that I know are available for 5 or 6 bucks new.
AMAZON IS CHARGING $9.99 FOR THEM AS WELL!!!
That's just nuts. I think $15 is fine for new hardcovers (as long as they're available the same day as the printed copy.
But low-demand books in paperback should be WAY less.
If the market doesn't straighten that out quickly, I'll be using my iPad for anything BUT books.
Libraries are looking better all the time.
+1
The eBook version should be significantly cheaper than a paper version. The problem is that there is so much price pressure on even hardcover books that they often sell for $15. I can understand that publishers don't want to transfer that price drop to the eBook versions. But then they should come up with a electronic file system that allows you to resell or gift or lend the book. Just increasing the prices is going to cost them in the long run.
This is true for most of the "consumer" books that you just read once on the plane or in a hotel on a business trip. Good books and literature will hold its price because I (and I can imagine others as well) will want to own a high quality Hardcover print and an ebook version.
Personally, I don't care too much about the pricing of books. What I want is book rental. I plan to get an iPad, but I don't want to pay $15 when I'm only going to read a book once. I'd rather pay $3-$5 to have access to a book for 2 weeks.
I don't ever plan on paying for an eBook. I'd rather build my own book scanner and scan in paperbacks. As far as I'm concerned, the only time I'll pay money for an ebook is if a hard or paperback book I buy comes with a free coupon to download an ebook copy of it - similar to the "bonus digital downloads" available with some DVDs/Blurays.
I sell books and I am not selling pulp or bits. I am selling content. Some content is commodity and is low priced and some content is value-added and high priced. I reserve the right to charge pricing according to what the market will bear, based on the value added by the title.
A copy of the Tuesday L.A. Times is about $0.50. A copy "The Handbook of Chemistry and Physics" is about $150. The second one is a far better deal.
Rocketman
A copy of the Tuesday L.A. Times is about $0.50. A copy "The Handbook of Chemistry and Physics" is about $150. The second one is a far better deal.
Rocketman
There's no incentive for the publishers to do that though. Most people probably only read the average book once, so it wouldn't matter to them if you had it two weeks or two lifetimes, and you can't pass it on or resell it when you are done. To all intents and purposes, when you buy an eBook, you are renting it, just without the time constraint.
Hrmm, well in that case I'm surprised Apple isn't touting the environmental friendliness of their pricing, sure it costs as much as the real thing but think of all the trees we are saving.
You're right!
The ebooks should cost more due to their versatile and permanent format.
The ebooks are a real bargain if they cost the same as books on paper.
After the keynote, Steve Jobs told Walt Mossberg that the books would cost the same on iBooks as it would on Amazon. during the Keynote, as Steve browsed the iBookstore, you can see the prices of some of the books. I think what he meant by the same is true. I figured it would be worth noting for those who didn't catch that during the Keynote.
"Mossberg has concern that the eBook prices will be $5 more than Kindle. Steve Jobs says eBook prices will be the same."
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"Mossberg has concern that the eBook prices will be $5 more than Kindle. Steve Jobs says eBook prices will be the same."
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EBooks, you own them forever. Unless you lose your iPad then there's a nominal fee to redownload them. One time of course.
*Edit* I shouldn't be so facetious since I'm going to buy an iPad and most likely eBooks, I just hope the prices means the authors are going to receive at least the same royalty amount.
Except for the fact that if prices for e-books were cheaper, more would be sold, thus saving even more trees.
Right, BUT, the Kindle is inferior to the iPad in low light and even no light. Can't see the Kindle screen at night unless you have a lamp nearby.
So you're implying that even the Amazon Kindle doesn't take the place of reading a REAL book right ?
Unfortunately Apple needs to keep pricing parity with Amazon, its Amazon's fault more trees cannot be saved.
I am saying thaT THERE ARE VIRTUALLY NO COSTS IN MAKING AN EBOOK (sorry for caps and backspace key on iphone not working) and they should be cheaper.