Quote:
Originally Posted by latepaul
I guess the reason "it should be priced less because it costs less" always strikes me as odd is because it's so often flouted elsewhere.
|
If eBooks had the same functionality as pBooks, I don't think it would be an argument. The reality is that the eBook cannot be loaned as many times as you wish, resold, or given away after you've read it. Thus, I think people perceive the value as lower for a pBook. "I might really love this and want to share it with others," is a factor that holds me back from buying many eBooks. Oddly, then, the ebooks I'm most likely to buy are the ones I expect to like the least.
In exchange for that lower value, we expect a lower price. And the justification for the expected lower price is the fact that printing and shipping and storing and disposing of unsold copies are all costs that don't exist with eBooks. So we expect that because costs *and* functionality are lower, the price should reflect that reality.
There are people who value an eBook higher than a pBook, for portability and storability reasons. But I think they're the exception, not the rule.