Kindle edition discount with physical purchase?

[cjschmidt]

I know this has been batted about by ebook fans for a while, but it seems like the K2 release would be the perfect time to announce something.

Why not offer a Kindle edition for $2.99 to anyone who buys a print edition of a book? It seems like most of the holdouts are those who despise the DRM or have some luddite fetish for flattened trees glued together. Something like this would bring in lots of on-the-fence customers and put a little more money in Amazon and the publishers pockets.

Is there something obvious I'm missing here?

[Alisa]

Well, sometimes the holder of the print rights is different from the holder of the electronic rights. I wonder how many Kindle owners buy many print books. If they open Kindle books up for other devices or even to read on your computer, that might be a bigger deal. Maybe people who haven't tried ebooks might give it a whirl. Personally, I avoid pbooks if I can so I'd rarely use this option. What I would like is the ability to get a big discount on the ebook version of any pbook I already own but I doubt that would ever happen.

[rho1640]

But Amazon does offer the Amazon Upgrade --- for a little more you can buy a copy of the book you just bought or previously bought from Amazon - that can be read on your computer and you can print pages, make notes, etc -- so that gives me hope that they will do the same thing eventually for Kindle - because if it is set up in their system now that if any books you have bought from them that are set up to do it are available that way how hard is it to transfer it over to Kindle.....

Lord that was a confusing sentence - hope you can figure out what I am trying to say...

eta - to clear it up - not a lot of books are available yet for this but it is a start and I am sure more will be available soon.

[MattEcho]

Well I would think that the ebook should be free if you purchased a hard copy. That would seem to make sense. Kind of like buying a piece of software to download followed by the physical disc in the mail.

Matt

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by cjschmidt

I know this has been batted about by ebook fans for a while, but it seems like the K2 release would be the perfect time to announce something.

Why not offer a Kindle edition for $2.99 to anyone who buys a print edition of a book? It seems like most of the holdouts are those who despise the DRM or have some luddite fetish for flattened trees glued together. Something like this would bring in lots of on-the-fence customers and put a little more money in Amazon and the publishers pockets.

Is there something obvious I'm missing here?

Yes, there is. If I buy a hardback book can I get a paperback for a discount? If I buy a VHS tape, can I get a DVD cheaper? If I buy a CD can I download it to my computer for a huge discount?

Amazon is in business to make money, and they must answer to shareholders. If you were a shareholder, would you support this idea?

[KindleKat]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

If I buy a CD can I download it to my computer for a huge discount?

Technically yes..actually. you have to right to rip it from the CD.

[rho1640]

I don't think it should be free - but I am thrilled that there is a possibility that eventually I could get them at a discount - since I have been buying my favorite books to have on my Kindle -- I do re-read books many times - which is why I never got rid of any of my hard bound books and my house is over run with them.

[cjschmidt]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Yes, there is. If I buy a hardback book can I get a paperback for a discount? If I buy a VHS tape, can I get a DVD cheaper? If I buy a CD can I download it to my computer for a huge discount?

Amazon is in business to make money, and they must answer to shareholders. If you were a shareholder, would you support this idea?

Yes. CDs and DVDs are starting to come with mobile versions of their content for FREE on the disc.

This is an additional purchase that would not have happened otherwise - selling an item that costs nothing to ship or print, helping to sell an expensive piece of equipment, and boosting a new market with wonderful profit margins for Amazon and the publishers.

[MattEcho]

Originally Posted by rho1640

I don't think it should be free - but I am thrilled that there is a possibility that eventually I could get them at a discount - since I have been buying my favorite books to have on my Kindle -- I do re-read books many times - which is why I never got rid of any of my hard bound books and my house is over run with them.

Why shouldn't it be free? I mean it's not really free, you're buying the hard copy. To me the answer hinges on whether there is an additional cost to the publisher to produce an ebook. My guess is this cost is nil or close to it. Presumably the document is already in an electronic format before printing, so converting that e-document into an e-book would be nothing.

Of course, I could be way off here; there might actually be a significant cost to publishing ebooks. But I don't think so. Assuming there is no additional publishing cost, I ask again, Why shouldn't it be free?

Matt

[Gideon]

I'd love this. And wouldn't mind paying a small upcharge (long as it is reasonable.)

I'm really hoping that's where the market is headed. You buy it - it's yours and you can use it however you like.

Hell, I could even get behind DRM as long as this was the case. Portability is my primary problem with DRM. Second, of course, being the "the moment they turn off their servers you're screwed" thing.