Quote:
Originally Posted by sirbruce
Just to be clear, I wasn't posting facts to argue that ebook piracy is hurting publishing. I believe it's a very small portion NOW, but only because ebooks are a very small portion of the industry in total. My point was simply that indeed, the publishing industry has been in decline for a while and needs to embrace ebooks in order to survive. I also believe those ebooks need to be cheaply priced and easily available, with or without DRM, or ebook piracy will become a major problem. (Though the industry is probably better off with lots of ebooks and lots of ebook piracy than little of both.)
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Sure, but looking at the current Amazon etc. prices, this isn't going to happen. It might for scifi, and shorts, and whatnot, but the rest seem to be believing the exact same thing the music industry is: "Prices are Reasonable" (and we
really couldn't go any lower).
So now all we can do is wait a few years, and note that the situation has indeed escalated. It's not my fault existing industries refuse to adapt (or refuse to reassess actual costs, and adjust prices accordingly).
That is, I don't think this article will make a difference. The biggest-growing player for a while will likely be Amazon, and especially with the consumer lockin Topaz offers, they will not be forced to drop their prices. Baen etc. mostly offer niche products (LotR being the exception).