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One thing that seems to be being missed in all of this - regardless of whether or not people believe ebooks to be overpriced with respect to pbooks, books of all formats are actually amazingly good value. For less than the price (in very many cases) of a takeaway pizza, you can get something that can give you pleasure for the rest of your life.
With regard to the arguments in this thread, I'm very much of the same mind as Kali. Publishers, retailers etc. are all businesses and are by necessity run in the interests of their shareholders. Even the most rudimentary understanding of how business works points out the fallacy in trying to define price solely based on the costs of production. Any business will try and charge what the market will bear - set the price high initially (e.g. hardback) to get the custom of those who are willing to pay more for early access, then lower the price, usually in stages, to ensure that you get the most that each customer is willing to pay. That's not immoral - it's standard business practice.
/JB
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