|
A way to get a rigorous answer to this question is to consider the marginal cost of delivering one extra (e)book assuming all the infrastructure for delivery is allready present. In the case of ebooks this means the internet and ebook servers. In the case of pbooks this means the internet and printing presses and road networks and trucks and fuel.
Now the marginal cost for delivering an extra pbook is the few extra miles some truck hast to drive + an extra copy at the printing press. Assume the extra work at the printing press has a marginal cost of 0. So the cost is simply the fuel cost say about $5.
The marginal cost for an extra delivery of an ebook is approximately zero.
So the remaining costs are the cost of maintenance of the infrastructure. Since the infrastructure needed to distribute ebooks is a subset of the infrastructure needed to distribute pbooks, ebooks are the clear winners.
|