Something to keep in mind is that Amazon takes 65% of the retail price of each Kindle book. If a book is $9.99, Amazon gets $6.50 (less any discount they offer) and the publisher gets $3.50. The publisher still has to pay the author royalties out of that. Also, some publishers are still fearful that a low-priced ebook may "steal" some of their paperback sales, so they want to make at least as much on the ebook as on a paperback.
My guess is that Amazon is trying to make back what they invested in producing the Kindle, setting up the Kindle store, providing whispernet, and all the associated costs involved in launching a new device.
I agree that an e-book you can't sell, share, or give away has less value to the consumer than a paper copy. Maybe when Amazon has made up some of their costs, they'll give the publishers a better deal, so that the publishers can give the consumer a better deal.
An an author/publisher, I can afford to offer my books for $9.99 (and the first book of a trilogy for 99 cents--or free from my website), which helps level the playing field a bit between the big fish and the small fry.
Catherine M. Wilson
http://www.whenwomenwerewarriors.com/
http://www.catherine-m-wilson.com/