US Justice Department Confirms E-Book Probe

[teh603]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

There's also the restriction that the digital goods offered inside the iOS app has to be priced the same or lower than can be found elsewhere. That's why a lot of apps were updated to remove links to ebookstores, etc.

Isn't that what Wal-Mart does, though? And they're the big "champion of capitalism" that nobody dares touch even though one of their megastores can put an entire town's small business out of business.

[Croptop]

This:

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

No; I'm saying they just don't care. They like the book, so they'll pay the price. They might grumble if the price is higher than normal; but in the end, they'll pay it anyway.

Does not equal this:

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

The bottom line is that consumers love the agency model.

Just because someone wants to read a book and thus grudgingly pays the higher price does not mean that they "love" the agency model. It simply means that it has been forced upon them and they have no other legal alternatives for acquiring copies of ebooks.

It would be interesting to compare the circulation of library copies of ebooks pre- and post-agency pricing model. I know that I, for one, have purchased far fewer books this year than in previous years and have checked out and read far more library ebooks. But that's just me.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Croptop

This:


Does not equal this:


Just because someone wants to read a book and thus grudgingly pays the higher price does not mean that they "love" the agency model. It simply means that it has been forced upon them and they have no other legal alternatives for acquiring copies of ebooks.

Sure it does.

They haven't been forced into anything. They have a choice. Buying the book just enables the publisher to continue the practice.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

I am amused:

I would love to hear how agency pricing "better serves customers" and "increases consumer choice."

I can't say it better serves customers, but it does increase consumer choice. It does so because agency eBooks are priced the same at all stores and in all available formats. So you can get the same agency books in ePub at the same price as in AZW. So what you are choosing is what device you want instead of what store do you want and then what devices are supported there.

[djulian]

Originally Posted by teh603

Isn't that what Wal-Mart does, though? And they're the big "champion of capitalism" that nobody dares touch even though one of their megastores can put an entire town's small business out of business.

And at the same time, employ twice as many people as those small businesses and offer health insurance to boot. Try getting low cost health insurance at the local three-employee shoe shop. Then again, try getting a quality shoe at Walmart. Some benefits, some trade-offs.

And unless I'm misunderstanding the article, the investigation is not into Apple--it's into the practices of the publishers that sell books through Apple & Amazon & Sony & B&N's platforms.

[MovieBird]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

They haven't been forced into anything. They have a choice. Buying the book just enables the publisher to continue the practice.

This is a point that seems to be lost on many. If you don't like high prices, DON'T BUY IT!

This works wonders in pushing prices down; except in the case of textbooks.

[luqmaninbmore]

Originally Posted by djulian

And at the same time, employ twice as many people as those small businesses and offer health insurance to boot. Try getting low cost health insurance at the local three-employee shoe shop. Then again, try getting a quality shoe at Walmart. Some benefits, some trade-offs.

And unless I'm misunderstanding the article, the investigation is not into Apple--it's into the practices of the publishers that sell books through Apple & Amazon & Sony & B&N's platforms.

As far as the health care is concerned, don't be too quick to sing Wallymart's praises: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/bu...pagewanted=all

As for the claim that they employ twice as many people as the businesses in a small town (i.e. there is a net gain in employment when Walmart comes to town and after those businesses are forced out), do you have evidence for this? Also, not all jobs are created equal. Replacing jobs that pay a living wage with jobs that pay at or slightly above minimum wage creates an objectively worse situation for the workers.

[HarryT]

Moderator Notice
Please stick to the topic under discussion. Take discussions of Walmart to the P&R forum.

Thanks.

[ScalyFreak]

Originally Posted by MovieBird

This is a point that seems to be lost on many. If you don't like high prices, DON'T BUY IT!

This works wonders in pushing prices down; except in the case of textbooks.

I may be overly cynical, but to me it seems a lot more likely to give publishers an excuse to increase DRM and other restrictions, since they still labor under the delusion that piracy is the only reason someone would decide not to buy from them...

[MovieBird]

Originally Posted by ScalyFreak

I may be overly cynical, but to me it seems a lot more likely to give publishers an excuse to increase DRM and other restrictions, since they still labor under the delusion that piracy is the only reason someone would decide not to buy from them...

In the short term, yes. But they can't pay for that DRM without an adequate income stream.

Be willing to win the game of chicken and you'll come out on top. You don't need that book to stay alive. The author/publisher/bookstore needs your money to stay in business.

[JSWolf]

Actually, one major issue is quality. They charge prices like it was the pBook edition and give us (a lot of times) an eBook that has errors in it that the pBook versions do not have. This is unacceptable. If the publishers are going to do shoddy crap work on eBooks, then charge a lot less since you do a lot less to make sure they are error free.

[ScalyFreak]

Originally Posted by MovieBird

You don't need that book to stay alive

Yes I do!

But that's why I have a library card.

[markbot]

Originally Posted by MovieBird

This is a point that seems to be lost on many. If you don't like high prices, DON'T BUY IT!

This works wonders in pushing prices down; except in the case of textbooks.

what about with electricity, gas, bread, water, transportation, education...

If you don't like high prices, DON'T BUY IT!

[teh603]

Originally Posted by markbot

what about with electricity, gas, bread, water, transportation, education...

If you don't like high prices, DON'T BUY IT!

That implies a system without corporate price fixing and market manipulation.

[carld]

Originally Posted by MovieBird

This is a point that seems to be lost on many. If you don't like high prices, DON'T BUY IT!

This works wonders in pushing prices down; except in the case of textbooks.

With the ebook market growing so fast it's going to be years before "just don't buy it" will have any effect on prices.