[J. Strnad]

There is no single price point for an ebook.

I think of the movie theaters, where it costs the same to go see Win Win as The Adventures of Pluto Nash. One was cheap to make and excellent, the other was an expensive piece of crap. However you weigh those values, it cost exactly the same to buy a ticket. Other films being offered might be cheap pieces of crap and expensive masterpieces. All cost the same to see.

Since movie theaters can't charge according to the quality of a movie (which can't be determined objectively...some people would enjoy Pluto Nash over Win Win)...they charge a uniform price and it's take-it-or-leave-it. Consumers find their price point in other venues: DVD, PPV, NetFlix, streaming, over-the-air for free, etc.

With ebooks, the price is fluid, more like a stock offering. Books from unknown writers have a lower value that may actually go up in time as they pass the initial bargain-offering phase, and books from bestselling authors start high and (I would think) should go down over time after the initial gotta-have-it-now readers have been "gouged." (That's a pretty strong term, but it makes my point.)

The factor that varies is "when" not "where" you buy it. New release, major author: Hardback price (however you define that after discounts). When the paperback comes out: the ebook price goes down. When the paperback is out of print and the only alternative is the used book store: the price takes its final plunge.

It seems kind of obvious to me. I don't know why publishers are having such a hard time with it.

With B&N demanding a 60% discount on new bestselling hardbacks, why shouldn't the ebook price be 65-70% off? If nothing else, the publisher isn't going to have to wait 6-9 months or more to be paid! (At least, I don't think they do. If Amazon can pay a little guy like me every month, surely they cut monthly checks to the big boys.)