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Originally Posted by Andrew H.
If the only price that publishers could get for new e-books was $4.99, they would stop producing e-books. And it's hard to take seriously complaints about "this economy" by people who are using e-book readers (including iPads).
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Rationally, I completely understand what you're getting at. But ... "Penny-wise and pound-foolish" applies to a lot of people. You've got the same situation with people dropping hundreds or thousands of dollars on gaming / computer / home theatre systems ... and then they bitch about the high price of games and software and DVDs. I'm not saying it's
right; but it's certainly
human. And with e-reader devices getting cheaper and cheaper, the time is coming soon when -- like cell phones -- they won't be looked upon as luxury items anymore. Gee, I wonder what it would be like if the publishing industry tried to shift to a cellular services provider kind of business model for ebooks?
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And I do think it's kind of cute how everyone now goes on and on about how ebooks should be so much cheaper than paper books because of the $2 or so that publishers don't have to spend on ink and paper and shipping - when the difference between hardback and paperback prices has always been much greater than the difference in the cost of materials.
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Well ... there's no guarantee that a traditional business model is going to last forever. Sure, there are price and business realities in the publishing industry -- but I think that the entire ebook piracy issue is more a matter of public perception: "I mean, of course a hardback costs more than a paperback -- it weighs more, there must be more there! And an ebook - well, it's just a file, ferchrissake, how much do you expect me to spend for a copy of a file? I copy files alla time, it's easy! Why should I pay $X for a copy of a file that I don't even know if I'll like it or not?"
It strikes me that an advantage the publishing industry has over the film / television / music / game industry is the "personal" nature of the relationship between author and reader. Like it or not, people in general find it easier to rip off a billion dollar multinational than (say) the guy running an independent toy store down the street. I guess what I'm trying to say is: I think the publishing industry should really try to push the message that most writers are
not Stephen King or J. K. Rowling, and that pirating an ebook is taking money out of an author's pocket. Yes, they've heard this message before from the film and music industry -- but it hits closer to the heart when the focus is on their favorite niche writer who they know is still working a day job as a tech writer while they crank out great (but largely unappreciated) literature every night.
Craig