Quote:
Originally Posted by Halk
For me the ideal situation would be... (and I'm using arbitrary prices here).
Cost :
6 dollars
+2 dollars if you want a paper copy
+7 dollars if you want an audio copy to download
+5 dollars for the "hardback" edition which means you get everything, plus the book in hardback format, plus a CD with a suitable codec of the audio book on it
+4 dollars if you want the audio book burnt to audio cds
That means...
6 dollars for the book in electronic format or 8 in paper format, the vast majority of purchases I guess
13 dollars for the book in audio format (as well as electronic) (maybe a 300MB download)
20 dollars for the hardback, with a CD of the MPs (or whatever codec)
Now remember I've picked arbitrary prices, there's no point arguing over the individual elements of the price. I think the basic principle is sound. People get to buy "the book" and they can opt to pay the costs to get it on the format they want.
If publishers like, they can opt to only allow the "full" 20 dollar option for the first 6 or 12 or whatever they like months, in the usual practice of gouging the people who won't wait.
For me it would mean I'd be spending 6 dollars on each book. For books I have a particular fondness for (e.g. Lord of the Rings) I'd probably buy the 13 dollar version, and have it on audio file as well as electronic book. For a book like Dune, I'd probably opt for the 20 dollar package.
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i like the idea of a book being available in all formats, and you can choose which one(s) you want depending on the book, and the cost to you is based on material cost of producing certain formats (hardback is more expensive than paperback, which is more expensive than ebook...). i would love it if publishers would begin to use this model.
i know you said these are arbitrary prices and don't get too distracted by details, however i would like to add that on principle, since the current price of books is largely due to the cost of production (cost of paper, printing, binding, storage, shipping, storage again, etc.), i think an ebook should cost *less than half* of the price of a paper book. so to use your arbitrary numbers, if a paperback ends up at 8$, an ebook should only be 4$ (at most).
so, in the system you propose, if i understand, 6$ is the base price for the *content* (in ebook format alone) and each option would be added to the 6$, and these options are *cumulative*, which means say i want a hardcover copy but not audio, i pay :
6$ for the content
+ 2$ for the paper copy
+ 5$ for the hard cover (in addition to the 8$ already mentioned)
TOTAL : 13$
and then "complete" 20$ package is this plus 7$ for the audio, and the burning it on cds is thrown in free instead of costing 4$ ?
is this correct ?