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I think all of this shows that all previous business models for information (Whether it be for books, music, video, etc.) are essentially broken by the internet.
In the end, ebooks might be the salvation of the publishing industry, but not unless the publishing industry adapts itself to the realities of the new world as opposed to trying to adapt the new world to its old business model.
Ebooks, pretty much by definition, can't be legally resold, but when their costs rival paper books, they don't give many readers a compelling reason to switch to e-books. Likewise, they give incentive to those who feel justified in pirating the books.
My personal belief is that publishers and authors should develop a model that makes e-books inexpensive. I would be willing to bet that if most e-book readers could get legitimate books for $2-$3 a copy, that they would be happy to buy them. Publishers need to stop worrying so much about intellectual property lawyers (who probably collectively make up the largest part of the salaries at most publishing houses), look at the cost savings that come from not having printing or distribution costs (not to mention those pesky costs of unsold books).
Another thought is developing a subscription model; get users to pay a fee of say $10-20 a month. That fee would then allow the user to download say 3-6 books a month (maybe you could charge 2 books for new books?). This, I think would have tremendous advantages for the publishers since they would have a steady revenue stream.
Another thought is that perhaps the traditional publisher is no longer needed. The one aspect of the publisher that is still truly essential (imho) is the editing of the book. Perhaps editors should work on contract (agreeing to a fee to edit a book, or even working for a share of the profits. Meanwhile the books themselves will be sold by the retailer who has no reason not to carry every book they can.
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Bill
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