Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeB1972
It's not obsolete if it's still in use 
Also the same business model is used for many items, DVD, BluRay, CD, Electronics. When the item first comes out it costs more, then, over time, the price decreases. Why would publishers drop a business model that not only works, but is generally understood by (most) consumers to be a perfectly valid model. |
Haven't you heard of the walking dead?
Actually, I think there are a number of differences with Windowing in Publishing. The main purpose seems to be to protect sales of very expensive hardcover print books. The period of windowing seems to be longer in many cases, and Agency Pricing means no competition at the retail level for the particular title.
I don't believe that windowing to protect hard cover sales or in fact other print sales can last, given that an increasing number of publishers will likely not be producing print books (except perhaps for some print on demand jobs). Books from the large publishers are increasingly competing for sales with these books, and cannot do so effectively at prices set relative to hard cover prices. The practice of charging a little more for a new release will likely remain with us. Just not, IMHO, the extended and excessive version designed to preserve sales of priint books.