Quote:
Originally Posted by markbot
actually, in my calculation I forgot to include the cost of the ebook device itself for the consumer. assuming they factor in the total cost of ebooks and they resell their device for a $100 discount to the new retail price after 50 books read....that comes to $2 per book.
So....this means the ebook would have to be an additional $2 cheaper for the consumer.
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That's a very good point. In terms of the medium for reading the material, the cost of paper, glue, ink and transport has been replaced by a higher initial cost to the consumer. We pay for the technology that allows publishers to make their product using a much much cheaper method.
If anything we are baring the vast majority of the cost, and yet we still get publisher fretting about e-readers and their possible rammifications. I shelled out hundreds of dollars so you can see me an ephemeral product consisting of binary data which you can duplicate at no cost and send across the internet for about $0.00001. They don't have to pay much carbon tax on an ebook, compared to fuel/paper/ink/pollution/glue involved with making a paperbook and which might incur up and coming environmental taxation.
They should be rejoicing but instead make the consumer's life harder with restrictive DRM, poor selection, poor pricing and poorly converted electronic versions which slow consumer adoption of the devices. Publishers should be helping people transition to the new medium, not dragging their feet..
Sorry, rant over!