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Originally Posted by greencat
I'm not saying it's fair - but all of the reasons that make digital great for publishers (virtually free storage and distribution) means its perceived value is virtually nil too. Especially when there's lots of free and excellent quality competition. And unlike music and the movies - there is plenty of superb out-of-copyright material available digitally which you could spend a lifetime reading.
Fair or not - the average price of ebooks is close to zero and getting closer all of the time. Hardly surprising when the average second hand book price is probably under a dollar. Raising prices and making it harder to pass favourite books around friends is hardly going to endear me to any publisher. I don't need to read your latest bestseller - there are plenty of other calls on my time.
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I don't know where you're buying second hand books - but most used bookstores I go to charge at least $4 or so for a used paperback.
As for savings, publishers don't pay distribution costs, distributors do. Distributors also do most of the warehousing. So why should publishers be the ones who take the cut when it's the people downstream of them who see the savings?