Quote:
Originally Posted by Timber
I think like most new technologies, the publishers really don't get it. Until they get the e-book prices down to the paperback prices you'd pay at a bookstore, they're not really going to have mass appeal.
That was the genius of the whole I Tunes thing, make music available at an attractive price and people will buy it. Same thing here with books. Make them available at a fair price and people will rush to buy them. Charge a high price for em and the market goes away.
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Personally, I feel that the publishers need to get their heads out of the 18th century.
Most of us who have bough a Ebook reader have already paid a premium for the device, and while we are willing to pay a reasonable price, what we may be willing to pay is no where near what the general public will pay if they have to shell out for the device as well.
And for E-books to go mass market, you have to convince the Joe on the street that it makes sense to buy a Reader as opposed to just picking up a book at the corner bookstore. And keep in mind that the newer generation is reading less and less books, spending more time online. E-Books could be a way to reignite some of that interest, but only if they provide a tangiable benefit.
Currently the publishers just appear to focus on the portability and convenience aspect of it, but if they got price into the equation, it would be a killer 1 - 2 punch.
Asking for a premium above and beyond that I feel is very short sighted. Unfortunately the predominance of the bean counters (I should know, I'm training to be one
) has meant that everything has come down to dollar and cent figures and the next quarterly profit figures
.