Quote:
Originally Posted by astra_lestat
an e-book is just as substantial as a printed book. if that's the case, then I should be able to have as much fun with e-book as I have with a printed book. Such as, read it as many times as I would like to, be able to read it on a whim lets say in 25 years time, just as I can do with £15 hardbacks I have on my shelves. Also (not about me, I don't do it but..) I should have a right to sell ebooks in future if I don't want to have them.
Then and only then, I would agree to pay for ebook a certain price regardless whether I have a printed book at home or not.
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There's no logical reason why you can't keep an e-book for 25 years, or re-read it as often as you'd like. (Obviously, DRM and transient formats makes this harder, but if we ever get our universal format, that problem will go away.)
In the meantime, e-books are still worth something. Maybe not as much as a hardback or paperback, but
something. If you pay less for the lesser quality (and theoretical shorter lifespan) of a paperback, why not pay less than a paperback for an electronic copy (which most people apparently consider as less transient than paper)? So, $15 hardback = $5 paperback = $2 e-book. You can get the e-book for less, and the author gets to earn a living. Is that really so odious a system?
As far as re-selling e-books goes: Theoretically, sure, it can be done. I don't know that I'd call it a "right," but I don't see any reason why it should not be done. The only issue is, how do you control it? It's not the same as a used book, really, since a reseller can generate multiple copies, and because an e-book doesn't degrade with time, which has an impact on a used book's price. If you can't guarantee that 1 e-book will stay 1 e-book, I'm not sure a "used e-book" market is viable at all.