The more I think about this, I wonder this is really about stopping widespread e-book adoption than it is about pricing.
I know that for years I drooled over getting an ebook reader but couldn't justify the addition cost (over what I was currently spending) of books via the Sony store. It was the Amazon $9.99 pricing that convinced me to jump on board.
Sadly, I had a co-worker who had finally decided to jump on. I discussed some of the pros/cons of the various readers as I knew them and said "Why don't you borrow my Kindle for a couple of weeks?". She loved it's convenience.
Today she gave it back and said that she's decided to hold off because of the book pricing dilemma.
