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Hey you guys, as much as I agree with all of the above comments, I must play devil's advocate here. Us epurchasers are a tiny fraction of the book buying population. Until there are more ebooks being purchased than pbooks, it would be an added (although minimal) expense to offer new titles in eformats, and from the publishers' points of view, they might feel it is reasonable to sell ebooks at the same or slightly higher price as pbooks, as if they were considered "special" such as large print or something.
We are a tiny fraction of the book buying population, but we are a very vocal sub-population. Until there are many many more ebook buyers clamoring for significantly reduced prices for ebooks, it will be a slow struggle to convince mainstream publishers to get on board.
One thing that could help our cause would be a standard universal format. Mobi, eReader, LRF, whatever, as long as it is one unified format. At that point, publishers would have to acknowledge the growing demand for ebooks and the ease of supplying content at reduced prices. Instead of several formats, only one format would have to be handcrafted, which seems to be the point they are using to justify higher costs.
Meanwhile, I just wanna read, and I'll shop around for the best price on every book I purchase. Eventually, I hope those booksellers who are able to provide content at the best prices and easiest downloads will rise to the top.
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