[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by carld

I really don't think Ingram gets it right here.

Me neither. He points out some (maybe) inconveniences in the e-book market, but doesn't show how removing them would weaken Amazon.

>Instead of making it easy for readers to download their authors’ work on different platforms and share and copy it

It is already easy for readers to download their authors' work on different platforms; I'm not sure what they would do to make it easier. And consumers, by and large, would prefer to just go to *one* platform because it's more convenient. There has to be a compelling reason to go to multiple platforms, and I don't see one here. (In fact, agency pricing has probably done the most to make competing platforms viable since Amazon can no longer compete on price).

As for sharing and copying (by which I assume he means removing DRM) - I don't think that would harm Amazon. Amazon isn't a proponent of DRM; it comes from publishers and I'm sure they'd be happy if it were gone since it would probably encourage people to buy more. Removing DRM didn't hurt the iTunes store, and I can't see how it would harm Amazon. If anything, it would help Amazon by making it easier for non-Kindle owners to shop there.

>As some authors have pointed out, even if you take advantage of Amazon’s self-publishing options to avoid having to get a traditional publishing deal, you’ve really just exchanged one corporate overlord for another.

Yeah, Amazon does give authors a lot of freedom. And of course authors can self-publish as far as that goes. But, at some level, if you want all of the benefits that a large corporation can provide you, you'll end up owing something to that corporation.

>For most writers, the ideal would be an industry with multiple players

It's still an industry of multiple players. Amazon may be the largest for now, but they are far and away from being the only major player in the game.

This, basically. Amazon is where they are because they are very good at what they do, not because of any mistake made by the publishers that gave them some sort of advantage. The only thing the publishers can really do is give other providers the opportunity to do what Amazon does, and hope that they are able to execute well.

And the publishers's most effective tool has been agency pricing, which guarantees retailers a certain profit that they might not get if they were competing with Amazon. I don't really like it, as it basically supports retailers at the expense of the consumer. But I think it is working.