This is an interesting thread. I went back and re-read it, and then re-read the original article/blog where the author described things.
From that original article:
Quote:
|
Then the pdfs hit the forums and e-sales sagged and it was business as usual, but it didn’t matter: I’d proven the point. Piracy has consequences.
|
OK. So next I looked at Amazon for these books (I've never heard of the author or the series). Here's what I found ... they friggin' DOUBLED THE PRICE of the fourth book, the one they were blaming piracy for tanking sales! No wonder eBook sales tanked. Sure, there could be a piracy component. But they DOUBLED THE PRICE OF THE BOOK!
What kind of scientific method did these clowns use to come to the conclusion "eBook sales sagged DUE TO PIRACY". No. I'd say the more obvious conclusion is "eBook sales sagged BECAUSE YOU DOUBLED THE PRICE OF THE BOOK!"
However, even this more obvious conclusion is not proven here, because they changed two factors at the same time in their experiment (double price AND put out bogus PDF's).
The fact that they put out bogus PDF copies of the book at the same time they doubled the price does not prove that piracy was the cause of anything. Nor does it prove that doubling the price did anything. When you're designing experiments, you only change one factor at a time. Change multiple factors together, and you have no idea which one might have caused a given result.
Try the experiment again on book five. But get someone with an education to help you design the experiment. Piracy may indeed have a bad effect on eBook sales. But this laughable experiment doesn't prove it.
