Quote:
Originally Posted by Tricorp
There are so many posts on this thread that compare books to music, but I really don't think that is an apt comparison. They are different in every way and just because many people stole music, does not mean they will steal ebooks. I honestly believe that the vast majority of ebook users will never pirate a book and it really is not a problem.
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The similarities are very striking. Both industries initially refused to supply customers with what they want, so individual enthusiasts stepped in to fill the gap, and everyone got used to getting their digital products for free. That free content created a demand for, and justified the purchase of, products for using that digital content away from the computer. Which brought the prices of the hardware down dramatically, and made them affordable to anyone.
Which is when the traditional publishers decided it was worth entering the market. Unfortuantely their first attempt at winning back the customers they had lost was to price the nonexistant virtual product at a higher price than the real physical product. That is the stage we are at now with ebooks.