Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
If you'd ordered a book that turned out to be an ugly hardback, you wouldn't consider it okay to walk into the bookstore or library and just take a paperback copy for free. (And neither would the store or library. Ask them.) To balance out the cost, you'd return one and use the refund to buy the other. They are two distinct properties, and both have to be paid for (or returned, in the library's case).
I still hear an issue of believing that electronic versions of documents are essentially worth nothing, and therefore okay to just take at will.......
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There are some problems with this logic. First, both hardback and paperback books are tangible physical objects, that have definite costs because of the raw materials needed to make them. No raw materials, aside from the text itself, are needed to make an ebook.
The biggest problem with this argument is the inevitable comparison with the Ipod. If I own a music cd, should I have to pay more money to listen to it on my Ipod? Neither Apple (by providing the functionality to rip cd's) nor many others would argue the opposite. The consensus seems to be that if a person purchases a music cd, he should be able to listen to its contents on an Ipod.
Now consider e-books. What some are saying is the exact opposite- well, you bought a hardbound book, and now you have to pay another $15 or so to read that on an electronic reading device. Shell out cash for something that cost essentially ZERO to produce. That just doesn't seem right..............And as far as I know, not a single publisher is offering people the option to return a paper book for an ebook.
I bought a copy of Singh's "Mac OS X Internals" several months ago. Overpriced, of course- I paid around $70 for it (list is $80 I think). If I want to access it at work, I have to carry it in with me- and it's a heavy object to lug. Would be nice to have an e-book version....Guess what!! There IS an e-book version, pdf. And I ONLY have to pay $49.95 to be a good boy and RE-PURCHASE it. Or should I grab, for free, a .chm version that has been posted on the net? Ethically, why should I be required to RE-PURCHASE this content? Spend $49.95 on something that cost about ZERO to produce?