Quote:
Originally Posted by murraypaul
It is a rational choice to pay less to aquire something of lesser value, and says nothing about the value ascribed to an eBook and a pBook at the same price.
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That would seem to be the case for new
hardcovers on the best seller list, but that doesn't speak much to the comparative value of ebooks particularly, because paperbacks have always been better sellers than hardcovers, and it's not hard to see how the differences between hardcovers and paperbacks would lead a majority of people to wait for the cheaper option. Other than quality of binding and paper (which is a perfectly valid enough reason to spend more if one is so inclined, though not too many seem to, relatively speaking), the main value-add of hard covers is that they come out first, and some people are willing to pay for that. Since ebooks now come out at the same time, that's also reasonable to see why people choose the cheaper option.
But how then do you explain the success of eBooks for ALL the other books on the bestseller list (and, presumably the vast catalog way down off the list, too) for almost all of which VASTLY CHEAPER USED copies are available with the click of a button right on the same Amazon page? If price was the only driving factor, used books sales would be eclipsing ebooks sales into oblivion.
No, it does not take too much imagination to see that people must be liking other things about ebooks, and if imagination fails, read these forums. People like glowing screens, one handed-page turns, selectable fonts, built in-dictionaries, instant delivery, etc etc etc. Nope, the evidence is pretty overwhelming. People choose ebooks because the like feature and function ebooks offer, not
just because of price.
And even used, refurbished ereaders sell out quickly when the deal is good, so it can't be just that people prefer new stuff over used, either.
Poll time, I think.