Very interesting article, yes. thanks for the link.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaleDe
The article flies in the face of the folks around here that believe eBooks should be substantially cheaper, some say a $1, because they are digital and free to reproduce.
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i am one person who thinks that ebooks should be substantially cheaper (although i've never dared to propose 1$). i recognize there are costs associated with producing digital media just as with print media, however i suspect that the publishers may be playing things up just a bit in the quote you included... and apparently i am not the only one : to quote again from the article,
Quote:
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Mark Le Fanu, SoA general secretary, says: “I am not entirely sure the costs will be as great as publishers say. If you look at the audiobooks download market, publishers are selling content through a lot of intermediaries and many of the costs are being carried by third-party distributors such as Audible.”
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i think this (third-party distributors lessening the costs for publishers) is an important point which publishers may be neglecting. not to mention the fact that, as you mentioned, once a file is created, it can be sold countless times, whereas each printed copy must be paid for ; and a reprinting can involve starting the layout from the beginning, apparently. surely this is more expensive than converting the kindle edition they've already got to lrf. maybe kovid needs to explain a few things to them.
(should i mention how much money they would save, if they dropped DRM and its associated costs ?
not to mention that they would probably thereby increase sales, effectively getting two hits with the same stone...)