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There was some useful info in the article ... but I agree the author is a bit of a red herring here. I have not been put out by agency pricing: in general, $9.99 is a barrier ... and I am much happier when the final price (with tax if applicable) lands under $8 ... or $6, depending on the content.
And for all the electrons spend railing against agency pricing around the net and here at MR, I've also noticed a lot of agency books priced far below $12.99 to $14.99. All that agency pricing seems to be doing is "windowing" new releases; a lot of back title material is priced as you might expect and almost everything is lower than hard cover, trade or mass paper, depending what's actually in print for a specific title.
I frankly don't blame publishers for trying to get a premium for new stuff because some people (and lots of people: that's what makes the books bestsellers); I just choose to read something else in the meantime. And, it has to be said, bestsellers are the MOST likely to turn up at public libraries (for free) or appear later at affordable prices.
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