Quote:
Originally Posted by CommonReader
I wonder if people here would be happy to see their own salaries cut dramatically because of "customer demands"? It is always nice to demand that other people should cut back their income. Book publishing isn't exactly the profession you will enter when you are keen on a high income as it is.
Just yesterday I stumbled in an unrelated forum on an ebook collection for download. Some 2,000 books in Spanish, excellent literary taste. Whatever the technical quality, with one hour download time that is for most people a lifetime's reading for free. No legitimate business model can compete with this and I can understand that the publishing industry is struggling to adapt. The low data volume of ebooks is an additional problem for the industry. Imagine you have an ebook you like with no DRM. Even otherwise law abiding people will probably be happy to just forward that book by email to family and friends.
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But I
have seen my pay cut dramatically. Have you not been paying attention around you over the last 3-4 years in the US? Since the end of 2006, I have been averaging 1/3 of my previous 10 year salary, with no benefits.
You can download a lifetime's worth of reading from the public domain. And that's after the abusive copyright extensions in the US. As Hemmingway said, "You either do something new, or you're trying to beat dead men at their own game."