Quote:
Originally Posted by Harmon
Still, at some point we might reach the "give away the razor, sell the blades" point in connection with ebooks.
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Gosh, I hope not.
Suppose Company A makes an e-book reader that they give away for free. They take a hefty loss per customer on the e-book reader, which they plan to recoup by selling books for the e-book reader, and charging extra for each book.
But suppose Companies B, C, D and E are all making e-books--and they *don't* give away e-book readers, so they don't have to charge extra for the books. Their books are cheaper than Company A's.
If customers buy books from B, C, D. and E, instead of Company A, A never makes any money at all, and loses big time on the e-book readers they gave away. Company A is neither a charity, nor run by morons, so they make darn sure their reader will display their books and only their books.
Say goodbye to any hope of Company A's e-book readers displaying a wide variety of e-book formats. Say goodbye to any hope of Company A's e-book readers having a good source of free or inexpensive e-books. Say hello to overpriced e-books in a proprietary format and DRM'ed up the wazoo.
No thanks, I'd rather pay for the e-book reader.