Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
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.
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I agree with everything you just said.
$2 for freaking DRMed ebooks - agree.
re-selling ebooks - impossible to control - fine, reduce the price of ebook in comparison to hardback edition down to paperback edition.
The only people who
might loose money are publishers. No real writers. As far as I know writers gets peanuts for paper back editions. This is outrages. IMHO it is a rip-off. But then again, I am sure publishers will not loose money. First of all no one got to pay for all expenditure related to printed books. Second, people who don't pay for ebooks today because of unrealistic prices/DRM, will pay the money. Moreover, they should stop being greedy and appreciate writers more and understand that they are just middle men with no real talent, they are supposed to earn peanuts not the writers.