Yes -- the pricing of e-books shouldn't (in my opinion) be compared all the time directly with mass-market paperback books.
My criteria when I buy an ebook at connect.com are this:
1) do I really like the author or am I merely curious? If I really like the author I'm more likely to buy without waiting for the mass-market paperback price.
2) would I like to encourage the author to work to get more titles at connect.com? If so I will not only buy the book but also will send the author an e-mail thanking them for making the book available (none of the authors has been aware their books were even offered in ebook format!)
3) does the publisher publish authors I would love to see in ebook format? If so, I'm likely to buy one or two at full price so that the publisher can see that there's a market out here and that it's growing.
In the paper book world, I never buy hardbacks. Not because of the price, but because I find reading hardback books unwieldy and uncomfortable while lying in bed, which is when I do most of my reading. So I always wait for the mass-market paperback edition before I buy books even from my favorite authors. The price isn't the issue for me -- I'm in the creative arts and like to support others in similar endeavors, but the dealbreaker for me is the format of the hardbacks.
I'm happy to pay similar prices to hardbacks for new releases by my favorite authors.
But when the book is published in mass-market paperback format, though, the ebook price should drop immediately as well. Ebooks which are several years old and which I know are available in bookstores for mass-market paperback prices bother me when the connect.com price stays at the hardback price. I may like to support the authors, but I'm also pragmatic and don't like to pay more than I have to.
