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Originally Posted by cortman
A virtual library serving the entire world sounds terrific.
If I understand correctly the problem you bring up is that you wouldn't need to replace the book.
I think it boils down to the fact that if an author is going to release a book as an ebook, they are going to take a profit cut per book as opposed to paper.
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Okay, let's look at this from an author's perspective. Hypothetically, I write a book, call it "SoulScope" and release it as an eBook for $2.99. Hypothetically, I get about $2 in royalties for each copy sold. The first week, the members of this virtual library purchase 5 copies of my book. I get $10. Yea! The second week, those 5 copies of my book are available to borrow on the virtual library page, and I sell 1 additional copy to my biological parents. And that's it. Let's say the virtual library has 1-week loans, and my books are always being loaned out. Over 5 years, my book is read 1300 times through the virtual library, and my sales are still at 6. Now I'm not saying that my book would sell 1300 times, but even if only 1/10 of those readers would have purchased the book, I'd be looking at getting $260 instead of $10.
Now, as an author, I'd be thrilled that so many people read my book. But I'd also look at the 4 years of my life I put into writing that thing and find the rewards totally inadequate to the task. So I'd stop writing. And the next four books I could have written never exist to begin with. Or I refuse to release an eBook at all, and make everybody pay $12.99 for a paper copy, even though I still only get $2/sale. (Hypothetically.)
In any system, you have to balance the needs of the producer with the wants of the consumer. As a producer, you want to charge the highest price possible to as many people as possible. As a consumer, you want the most product for the lowest possible price. Where those conflicting desires meet is called "price" and it isn't arbitrary. Because if the consumer is the only one who gets what they want, the producers cease to exist.