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@ Breck:
When you bring the issue of oil into the equation, are you positing on its (possible--not starting a political debate) scarcity, or its fluctuating market value as it relates to the price of processed fuels? Remember, all our fancy e-book devices are made out of oil and sand, and would argue that very fuel people are re-powering their batteries for said devices on rainbows & sunshine (some, but not many).
As for relative cost savings vis-a-vis Target versus Amazon, at some point all these things are getting shipped across the country. Fuel is still being burned, and a company is still incurring costs for that. At a Target store, as well as any other, part of the cost is overhead, and a convenience issue in the fact that you can go right there & get the darned thing without waiting two days.
Am happy to see an executive in the publishing industry embracing a new technology, even if he does have an unsurprisingly skewed view on pricing. Any press coverage is good press coverage.
As far as the cost of e-texts goes, here is my two cents:
$0.01 Write as many publishing companies are you can to voice your displeasure, and
$0.02 Purchase as many e-texts from independent authors as possible.
The second tactic is the closest thing to a "Napster-like Tipping Point" that I can envision. If the folks at the top realise that they are losing business, then they might make a change.
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