Ebooks and the Price War featured on Jim Lehrer News Hour

[fugazied]

Originally Posted by Hellmark

The tech to do packaging like that has been available for years, just companies don't want to do it. They'd rather sell individually. Even the iTunes LP thing is a bit of a joke, because it isn't anything new.

Which other online store offers full album sales that include videos, liner notes, artwork and band interviews with the purchase? MP3 sales were always digital file no extras.

[Hellmark]

Fugazied, I was refering to technology. Yes, They are the first to sell digital songs with that information, but they are using existing technology to do it.

[Rob G.]

Originally Posted by fugazied

Which other online store offers full album sales that include videos, liner notes, artwork and band interviews with the purchase? MP3 sales were always digital file no extras.

Often times if you buy downloads direct from the band or the band's label, you can get all that and the option to have superior quality lossless files such as FLAC. And they're usually cheaper than Apple's iTunes LP. Bands have been doing this since before Apple. Not just small acts, but people like David Byrne, Radiohead, Paul McCartney and the Beastie Boys.

[thename]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

On a related note, Matt Lauer interviewed John Grisham on this mornings today show and the talk turned to loss leader sales on his latest book by Amazon and Walmart. He indicated this was likely just a short term thing. He then indicated his long term concern about eBook pricing coming down and hurting writers and brick and mortar stores. In his mind $9.95 is too low.

This is the short-sighted "well our old manner of doing business won't survive this!" vision of the economy displayed by the music, movie, and newspaper industries in the past few years. Instead of evolving their businesses ("hey, why don't we just offer our product in this adopted manner?") they spent millions fighting, litigating, and obstructing the progress. $9.95 across the board probably is too low to support the entirety of the publishing industry's old-guard distribution, printing, advertising, etc.

Which is why, I believe, we need to lobby booksellers to raise prices on paperbacks. Clearly it's ruining the publishing industry as they're forced to sell this, effectively stealing sales of this!

I will, however, continue imagining a 15th century Grisham railing against the new-fangled printing press and how the cheaper method of printing would be ruinous for authors and monks.

[K-Thom]

Well, you see what happened to monks. They end up as neurotic profilers in TV shows ...

[thename]

Originally Posted by K-Thom

Well, you see what happened to monks. They end up as neurotic profilers in TV shows ...

That, or spiral into a life of insane criminality. Either way, we know who to blame:

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by thename

This is the short-sighted "well our old manner of doing business won't survive this!" vision of the economy displayed by the music, movie, and newspaper industries in the past few years. Instead of evolving their businesses ("hey, why don't we just offer our product in this adopted manner?") they spent millions fighting, litigating, and obstructing the progress. $9.95 across the board probably is too low to support the entirety of the publishing industry's old-guard distribution, printing, advertising, etc.

Which is why, I believe, we need to lobby booksellers to raise prices on paperbacks. Clearly it's ruining the publishing industry as they're forced to sell this, effectively stealing sales of this!

I will, however, continue imagining a 15th century Grisham railing against the new-fangled printing press and how the cheaper method of printing would be ruinous for authors and monks.

This reminds me of the story of Digital Audio Tape (DAT). It was a format that could have been an excellent replacement for the compact cassette, just like CD was the replacement for the LP and 45. Unfortunately, it ended up being killed by industry forces and by advancing technology (recordable CDs soon became practical).

[K-Thom]

Originally Posted by thename

That, or spiral into a life of insane criminality. Either way, we know who to blame:

Whoa, is this Steve Jobs in his office with an iPad on the table and a Cease and Desist note in his hands?!

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Wait a minute-I thought in price wars the price goes down! What kind of horrible backwards world are we living in?

[K-Thom]

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

Wait a minute-I thought in price wars the price goes down! What kind of horrible backwards world are we living in?

We're right in the beginning of the war. MacMillan won a battle.

[ficbot]

I think we should raise the prices of cars. We have to protect the people who work in the horse and carriage industry, who are clearly under threat from them.

[thename]

Originally Posted by ficbot

I think we should raise the prices of cars. We have to protect the people who work in the horse and carriage industry, who are clearly under threat from them.

It's true. And my Vaudevillian great great great grandfather's lost-wages suit against the Marconi radio is still tied up in the appellate courts. When will we have justice?!

[kjk]

Originally Posted by K-Thom

Whoa, is this Steve Jobs in his office with an iPad on the table and a Cease and Desist note in his hands?!

can't be, that is definitely a widescreen tablet.

[ficbot]

Originally Posted by thename

It's true. And my Vaudevillian great great great grandfather's lost-wages suit against the Marconi radio is still tied up in the appellate courts. When will we have justice?!

And how about electricity? All those tallow rendering employees, out of work just like that! For shame! And do you know how many loyal civil servant town water carriers lost their jobs with the invention of the aqueduct?

[K-Thom]

Don't get me started with electricity and power plants!

My great-grandfather had a gerbil farm and about a mile of exercise wheels which provided enough electricity for the whole region - at least if those little critters really went wild.
The came coal and all went down the hill. Progress, I'll tell you ...

The Ten Commandments, those were the days! One author self-publishing, a devout agent, and no one dared to raise prices without HIS consent!