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Before mid 2009 I got all my English language literature from Amazon (US and sometimes UK). Freight was usually 70 - 80 % of what books cost, so compared to all of you with free shipping from Amazon I paid a hefty premium for my reading, but still it was less than buying them here and in most cases it would have required a trip to three different book stores and I would still only obtain half of what I wanted to buy. Hence, I have a fairly low threshold regarding price for books.
Enter Kindle 2. Something of Nirvana, able to buy at will, whenever I felt like it with only a premium of $2 for sending them to my device in Sweden. At substantially lower prices I could get five books that would have taken me at least five hours in less than five minutes. Ohh joy of joys.
Upgrade to Kindle 3 WiFi only. Hmm, I still have to pay a $2 premium, but wasn't that surcharge for using 3G? Hmmm. Say what? Agency pricing? What the hell is that? Hey, I was promised NYT best sellers for $9.99! You ungodly bastards, lure me in with sweet talking for a regular gang bang.
Added Sony Reader. Hey, whats with all these free library books? Naajs! Apprentice Alf? Such a kind and helpful fella, wonder what an old broad can do for him (shut the lights and I'll show you)?
So yes, strangely enough my expectations have gradually shifted towards persimmons, sweet and ripe for the taking. Uhh, I meant to say parsimonious. Yes, I expect more for less. On the other hand when less does appear (think; Ed McBain offer on Amazon) I will strike fast and furiously.
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