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Originally Posted by sabredog
Well said! This is precisely the way I see it as well.
The music/entertainment industry meanderings and failures should serve as a prime example of what not to do.
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People keep saying this, but it's not true. E-book publishers may have made their own mistakes but they have *not* made the mistakes that music publishers made.
The mistake music publishers made was that they *did not provide a convenient, legal way to buy digital music*. Not that they charged too much money, or set monopoly prices. They simply did not make the music available at all. Music publishing's problems were *never* about how much they charged for digital downloads, no matter how much people who don't like the cost of e-books would like for it to be.
Once digital music was able to be found, downloaded, and paid for in an easy way, digital music became very successful and piracy became much more of a marginal, niche activity. Note, however, that digital music also used fixed prices of 99c for a single and $9.99 for an album, in most cases.
Amazon, specifically, greatly increased the popularity of e-books by making a large number available, by offering predictable prices, and by instituting a shopping experience that is much easier than iTunes ever was or still is - wireless downloading through a cell network, which for most people in the US means anywhere, at any time. With syncing between devices and the ability to store and redownload books on Amazon's server. (This convenience is probably also the best protection against piracy at the moment).
A lot of people don't like Agency prices, and it may well drive some people to stealing books. It may turn out to be a mistake on the part of the publishers. But even if it is, it's *not at all* the same mistake that music publishers made. And it may not turn out to be a mistake at all, of course.
I do wonder whether Amazon will renew the Agency agreement next April. It's my belief that publishers were able to push it because they believed that Apple would provide a significant counter to Amazon, and that Amazon didn't fight because they were afraid of Apple. Now that Apple has turned out to be a paper tiger as far as e-book selling goes, it's at least possible that Amazon will fight that battle again. Or not...