Arhh...
Curse you, RWoodman! You've discovered the flaw in my fiendish...
uh... logic.
Funny, I recall cassettes being cheaper than albums, but I could be wrong. (Prices were also influenced by the popularity of the genre, and I guess we could get waaay deep into that, but... naw.)
And the discrepancy between albums and CDs was solved by... the music industry not producing albums anymore.
Hardbacks, paperbacks, and e-books all exist together. Hardbacks cost more, because they are best editions, on quality paper, perfect-bound, and in color where applicable. Pbacks are on smaller, cheaper paper and a lesser binding, usually no color other than a cover, so they cost less.
By that reasoning, then, e-books should cost less simply because they are effectively ephemeral! NO paper, NO binding, NO color cover, NOthing to show off on your bookshelf! They're the size of a bunch of electrons... try displaying those babies!
Aha! I have you
now, RWoodman! My logic is still...
completely immaterial if the publishing industry does not deign to follow it...
(Can you tell I'm taking a break from working on my novel today?
)