Ah, but you can't always get a used print copy cheaper. Believe me, I've tried in some cases. Being in a rural area probably does not help with that.
I
am concerned about five years down the road, too. I lost one darn fine physical collection of books due to a divorce and a move, and no money to ship them. I went with ebooks to rebuild that collection so I'd never be in that position again. I want a way to archive/back up my collection at my discretion so that I never have to worry about that again. Being able to keep a copy in .rtf on my computer, and backed up to disc alleviates that concern, which is exactly why I'm so adamant about not being locked into one format, and one copy of any particular book. I don't trust Amazon or anyone else to store my material where I can retrieve it five or ten years down the line.
I've already found one book that I really wanted in Topaz format. It's only available at Amazon, and it's the first in a series. I've written the publisher, I've written the author. I finally got a response from the publisher, but it was basically a whine about how they can't do everything at once. Highly unsatisfactory.
I do realize if I hang on and wait, a lot more things will become available. I've never been much on patience, though...
I do agree, though, that the limited number of books I will find (at least at the present time) that are only available at Amazon (because if they're available anywhere else I won't be getting them from Amazon) that are also Topaz would probably be a distinct minority.
I also realize that this is a decision I alone can make, but I do appreciate y'all letting me rant and get my thoughts in order here in public.
