One of the stupidest auctions on Ebay for reader stuff

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by irishjew

I find it funny that a lot of people on MobileRead forums are attacking this guy, but at the same time they defend Sony's practice of charging more for ebooks than the hardcovers cost. I mean, both groups are ripping off the customers.

It's not just Sony. I've seen these sorts of prices at other ebook shops online.

[Leaping Gnome]

Well seeing as this guy sets his price, while Sony doesn't set the price on the books, it's not really an applicable analogy.

[LaughingVulcan]

An interesting point, but the primary difference is that all the "information" that this person proposes to sell is available here for free. With the addition of all the help a person could want in both free tools and free advice in using them.

You can't say the same about the copyrighted works that Sony sells. At least, not legally so.

Also, I suppose that the "convenience" of having such a book is worth something. But I doubt that the person selling that item is willing to point out that there's completely free web resources available which can achieve the same goal.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by LaughingVulcan

An interesting point, but the primary difference is that all the "information" that this person proposes to sell is available here for free. With the addition of all the help a person could want in both free tools and free advice in using them.

You can't say the same about the copyrighted works that Sony sells. At least, not legally so.

Also, I suppose that the "convenience" of having such a book is worth something. But I doubt that the person selling that item is willing to point out that there's completely free web resources available which can achieve the same goal.

But if you notice in the auction, it's said you need Word and Acrobat. So my guess is how to create Reader sized PDF from Word files.

[irishjew]

Originally Posted by LaughingVulcan

Also, I suppose that the "convenience" of having such a book is worth something. But I doubt that the person selling that item is willing to point out that there's completely free web resources available which can achieve the same goal.

I also doubt that Sony would point out that all the "Classics" it sells for $2 apiece on Connect are available for free at Project Gutenberg.

I was hasty in pointing to Sony as the main culprit in charging too much for ebooks. My point is just that what this guy on eBay is doing isn't all that much more sketchy or immoral than what eBook sellers are doing. I mean, he or she took the time to write out a guide and convert it to pdf, and people elsewhere on this forum used that as an argument that it makes sense for ebooks to be as expensive or more than hardcover books.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by irishjew

I also doubt that Sony would point out that all the "Classics" it sells for $2 apiece on Connect are available for free at Project Gutenberg.

I was hasty in pointing to Sony as the main culprit in charging too much for ebooks. My point is just that what this guy on eBay is doing isn't all that much more sketchy or immoral than what eBook sellers are doing. I mean, he or she took the time to write out a guide and convert it to pdf, and people elsewhere on this forum used that as an argument that it makes sense for ebooks to be as expensive or more than hardcover books.

In another thread, I pointed out that a book found in MobiPocket format was found at the Connect store for about $2 cheaper. granted however that the price is a hardcover price when the dead tree edition has already gone to mass-market paperback. So that does make the ebook edition's price way too high.