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Originally Posted by Elfwreck
If, of course, the book exists in print. If the book is only released as an ebook, Billy just has to hope his local library has an ebook department, decides to buy it, and in some cases, if Billy's one of the first 26 people to check it out.
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Nope. It's NICE that we've had libraries and used books for all these centuries, but they are hardly required. It is those who actually contribute financially to the creation of content that enable the creation of content. Billy is not served in ANY way by harming or devaluing the creation of books.
I can't afford Mercedez Benz's, but it's a good thing that SOME folks can. If you lowered the prices of luxury cars to the point I could and would choose to buy them you'd eliminate all reason that such things would be created in the first place.
It is perfectly fine that some people can't afford everything that exists.
And the reality is we are nowhere close to the time when actual books and used books and libraries have ceased to exist.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
The lack of legit loaning/resale of ebooks is working toward re-establishing access to books as something for the upper classes, or at least removing access from the most impoverished classes of people. The first sacrifice in the ebook-vs-paper publishing wars will be mmpb's--and suddenly, Billy will have a lot fewer chances to find a copy at a yard sale for fifty cents.
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We are nowhere close to that dystopian scenario. But let's say we were. We'd be in no different a situation than everyone not being able to afford Mercedez Benz's or Tiffany lamps. One is not harmed by something existing one cannot afford. On the contrary, the financial viability of any product is essential to it's existence.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elfwreck
I don't mind waiting for lower-priced secondhand books, but I'm baffled that authors & publishers seem to think this is a *good* thing for them. They don't get royalties on those sales. Why not release $5 ebooks instead of telling me to read something they don't get paid for?
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I'm sure publishers and authors would be quite pleased if they COULD get remunerated when anyone benefits from their work. Used books were something that couldn't be worked around, they had to be accepted. Libraries are the balancing good to the copyright laws. By the time everything is ebooks, they will work out the balancing good.
Society will not benefit by making information free. Patents and copywright laws are the foundation of Western civilizations success and prosperity. In the digital age there HAS to be Intellectual Property that can be enforced or we will severely halt the march of progress. No one will spend the time and effort to create works that cannot be protected.
Lee