Quote:
Originally Posted by DMcCunney
In part, it's because I recognize the motives of the publishers for going to the Agency Model. This isn't about greed, it's about survival. The intent was to protect the hardcover best seller, which is a critical part of the industry's revenue.
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It's not about survival. It's about trying to prop up a business model that's not thriving in the face of new technology; trying to force customers to continue to buy things with habits based on distribution limitations that no longer exist.
Or rather, it's about survival, but not of "the publishing industry" but instead of "the way we've found to make money." It ignores several crucial aspects of non-commercial support for the publishing industry (book sharing among friends, used book market), and assumes that the publishing industry will be economically viable if the digital market focuses only on the hardcover sales market as the potential ebook market.