Quote:
Originally Posted by Deskisamess
Books are just much a commodity as a car.
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Commodities are usually defined as something where each unit is so similar that competition is only based on price. So, traditionally, field (as opposed to sweet) corn is a commodity. Now, some newer brands of field corn may have distinctive features important to some people, such as being grown from non-GMO seed, or certified as organic. In as much as such brands exist, field corn is no longer a commodity.
As the sentence of yours which I quoted implies, being a commodity can be a matter of degree. I'd say that books are much less of a commodity than cars because, in part due to government standards, the cheapest new cars (excluding two seaters, which anyway are not the absolute cheapest) can do most of what luxury models can. I know that most people consider a Mercedes far more desireable, but most is not all. I'd feel no annoyance driving the cheapest new car sold in the US (assuming air conditioning is standard, which I think it is). But reading the typical 99 cent book would be, for me, a real bummer.