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Amazon and the publishers both won. Amazon had already established the kindle as the 800lb gorilla in ebooks. By the time this all shook out....Amazon had no NEED to subsidize the Kindle by selling NYT's best sellers at a loss.
The publishers won because nobody can use their product as a loss leader to sell other things. Sure they had to pay fines....but nothing like the devastation to their revenue that setting the permanent price of new books to $9.99 from $25-$30 (then with sales...$18-$20).
The consumer has won as ebooks are AWESOME....such a big improvement over paper books and worth MORE than the paper reading experience. Those consumers who can't afford $14.99 for a new ebook are in the same position as they were when they couldn't afford a $25 hardback. No harm, no foul.
Apple lost. But the iPad went on to be a huge success anyway. It's the best way to read ebooks if you have the money.....and you aren't among the tiny fraction of the population who really can't read a screen.
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