Quote:
Originally Posted by Nate the great
MaYbe you should, I don't know, BUY THE EBOOKS?
(snip)
If you are going to keep a copy, then do the honorable thing: buy them.
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Oh give me a break. This is a market economy. All that counts is supply and demand. Consumers won't buy things they can get for free, or pay higher prices voluntarily. Baen knows this, and he doesn't expect us to buy his books out of guilt or gratitude or honour or whatever. He's banking on two factors: 1) people would rather read paper than electronic books; 2) only the first few books in a series are available for free.
So Baen is making these books available for free, as in a free lunch. No strings attached. He isn't saying you can read them as long as you buy the paper copy. He's just hoping his business technique will afford him some leverage to get you to buy other books that aren't free.
Talking about honour in this context is like defending capitalism by toting "corporate responsibility". Companies will never really be responsible, because their number one priority is the mighty dollar. Likewise, consumers will always favour the lowest price for a quality product.
So how about easing up on people who read books that are available for free and who don't intend on buying the paper copy. Just because you may have been _____ enough to buy the paper book for sentimental reasons, you don't have to feel jealous that others aren't losing money the same way.