Quote:
Originally Posted by Lazer
"When you purchase a paper book, you have the right to sell, resell or lend your copy as you see fit. So why is it not the same for a digital version of the same book?"
My answer: Ebooks are different than print books. They should be priced with this in mind. That's why my books are double-priced between the ebook and print book (btw, my royalty is about the same). The print book may be worth more since you can sell it. And yes, you can loan an Amazon ebook.
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I think that the reason that it is not the same for ebooks as for print books probably has more to do with logistical issues than pricing issues. The resale value of print books has plummeted in the last ten years. Selling my once read pbook to a used book store is hardly worth the effort anymore.
The problem with ebook resale seems to me to relate to the inability of anyone to figure out how to transfer the book without the original owner retaining a copy, and how to prevent the used ebook seller from reselling more than one copy of an ebook he has bought for resale.
Quote:
"When you purchase a paper book, you have the right to sell, resell or lend your copy as you see fit. So why is it not the same for a digital version of the same book?"
My answer: It's no different than buying music from iTunes. Its yours and only yours and it's cheaper than buying the CD and paying the mailing and manufacturing costs. Wanna listen for a while and then sell it? Buy the CD. Same with a paper book these days.
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See my answer above. It's even easier to copy an mp3 than it is to strip DRM. The reason you can't resell the mp3 is the same as I said above - there's no way to control the copies.
Personally, I buy CDs for three reasons:
In the case of classical music, the sound quality is better, whether I listen to the CD on my player or rip it at a higher bit rate than generally offered by downloads.
In the case of other music, I buy the CDs to support the artist, & generally buy from the artist's web site.
And I buy them as gifts. In part, it's the sheer physicality. But it's also that a CD is more than just a storage system for single tunes. It's a presentation by the artist, framed in terms of an artistic esthetic which the artist has brought to bear at the album level. That's something you don't get a the single tune download level.
Resale has nothing to do with it.