Mass market paperbacks will all but vanish from the publishing scene in a few weeks

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by nabsltd

This just points out one of the largest issues with poverty...being forced to pay too much per "unit" because you don't have enough money to buy larger quantities or amortize the larger up-front cost of something that will save you money in the long run.

This is the Captain Samuel Vimes “Boots” theory of socioeconomic unfairness (from Men at Arms):

The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. [...]

But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while a poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

[nabsltd]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

This is the Captain Samuel Vimes “Boots” theory of socioeconomic unfairness (from Men at Arms):

I never read that, but it is exactly correct, with one exception:

Today, there are companies who are actively marketing the cheaper boots to those with less money so that the company gets a continuous steam of income over time.

[Quoth]

No, they sell a subscription that works out more expensive than buying the boots you want, and it needs an internet connection for the boots to function. DRM too. You never own any boots, nor may you repair them. Only the laces they rent work.

[Cactus Chef]

The boots will also track your location while worn and report back to the company so that your walking history can be sold to advertisers, data brokers, and law enforcement. The added tracking will drastically increase the wear-and-tear on the boot, forcing the consumer to refresh their boots more frequently. Despite these "smart" features increasing the profit for the manufacturer and providing absolutely no value to the consumer, the company will paradoxically increase the price of the boot after rollout, arguing that the price increase is necessary due to the added cost of implementing the tracking features no one asked for.

[ownedbycats]

Designing the boots to fall apart fast.

[DrNefario]

Declaring that they are obsolete and need replacing while they still actually function fine.

[astrangerhere]

This seems like a great opportunity to praise Judy-Lynn del-Rey (of Del-Rey books) who was responsible for the explosion of MMPB in the 70s.

The Woman Who Revolutionized the Fantasy Genre Is Finally Getting Her Due

Thanks to these efforts, Del Rey Books dominated genre publishing, producing more bestselling titles through 1990 than every other science fiction and fantasy publisher combined. Yet despite complaints that the imprint prioritized commercial success over literary merit, Del Rey authors earned their fair share of literary accolades.

The prestigious Locus Poll Award for best science fiction novel went to Del Rey authors Julian May and Isaac Asimov in 1982 and 1983. Other Locus awardees include Patricia A. McKillip, Robert A. Heinlein, Larry Niven, Marion Zimmer Bradley and Barbara Hambly.

[Courant]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

I'm not sure I agree either. I'm a poverty lawyer, so all my clients are below the poverty line. A great deal of them would never read a book on their phones and most don't own computers. But they might buy something super cheap in the grocery or big box store. Most of their kids don't have their own phones, so MMPB would have been one of the only options they could have afforded. 12.5% of the population in my state lives at or below the poverty line and I am more sad for them than anyone in the loss of the MMPB.

I agree making books more available would help, but when I was a kid the books in the supermarket were mainly romance novels and the rest were thrillers not suitable or interesting for kids.

[Courant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

This is the Captain Samuel Vimes “Boots” theory of socioeconomic unfairness (from Men at Arms):

I don't think boots are the best example for this principle, in fact with many products, the versions that cost twice as much don't last twice as long. Especially with clothes quality means "looks good" more than "durable"

[Sirtel]

A while back I bought boots that cost 100€ or so. They lasted for a year. Then I bought boots that cost 50€. Again, wore them out in a year or two. Then I spotted cheap boots that cost 10€ and thought that they wouldn't be a big loss even if they lasted only one winter. That was 5 years ago. I still wear those boots. 5 winters and continuing.