Quote:
Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom
That is great. The software (book) is the same on both the kindle and the ipad. Apple couldn't improve the software, so they had to compete with Amazon on price. But this time, they are RAISING prices to try and corner the market. I come back to why Jobs but not Bezos - if the tables had been turned, Apple would have screamed bloody murder and NEVER agreed to raise the price of their product.
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There is a difference between the software (the reader) and the content (the book). Although Apple isn't really doing much to improve the reader above the Kindle or other devices either.
I'm not sure we can blame Apple for being the one raising prices. Apple seems to be a fan of the agency model though, which probably lead to the increase in prices. The wholesale model is what let Amazon sell so cheap in the first place, without it, Amazon can't sell for 10$ either. If Amazon was using the 10$ books as loss leaders as some people hint, then odds are the 15$ pricing isn't actually helping or hurting the publishers in terms of revenue per book for them. It does give more pricing control to the publishers though, which can be both good and bad for exactly the same reason: the price is more fluid with regards to publisher input. Price increases *and* drops become easier from the perspective of the publisher.
How it will turn out is a big, big question mark.