Quote:
Originally Posted by bookwerm
*snip*
Waiting 4 months for eBooks is the equivalent to waiting for a movie to be released on DVD (or netflix) instead of seeing it in a movie theatre. On an individual basis, yes, it's disheartening, and I'd rather have my $9.99 ebook the same day my neighbor gets his hardback book. But, I can also see the big picture, I'm all in favor of capitalism and free markets, so I'm okay with publishers implementing this strategy to make more money (as long as they use it to go and find new talented writers and publish more great books).
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no, I completely disagree. this is moving into the new reality. while there will be some people who will stay in the hardback venue forever, having the ebooks helps with emerging different lifestyles. we are living longer and differently than we ever did before and have a lot of different options. people are traveling, doing the RV thing, living aboard various ships. having to be tied to libraries, book stores, and even to some extent computers isn't going to work with a lot of these different lifestyles.
even without that, it is a reality we are going to become accustomed to just as we no longer expect to see stacks of CDs or shelves of LPs in living rooms. to a large extent we are becoming (and will be) the new hardback market. we will have to be catered to. we already know what the option is if we aren't!
Quote:
Originally Posted by wallcraft
I agree that Amazon isn't planning on loosing money in the long term, and may not be loosing money overall today on ebooks (or on ebook-buying customers). The issue, though, is whether an ebook issued 4 months after a hardcover is a "leader", and therefore worth Amazon's time to deeply discount it. If not, how many $25-30 ebooks are these publishers going to sell.
I am also ok with the 4 month lag, if this implies a lower cost (lower list price). With the possible exception of audio books, this is the way it typically works in book publishing. Paperbacks cost less than trade paperbacks which cost less than hardcovers, and this is partially an indication of the reader's impression of quality but much more an indication of release date.
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