eBook Gold Rush

[astrodad]

We live in a society where much of what we have is not necessary to live or even to be happy. Giggleton is making the mistake of assuming that he has a right to these books as though they were necessary for his survival. So, if the problem is the price of ebooks, I don't think that there's much that can be done except to let the market drive out of business those who price their books and their devices into obscurity.

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Why do you think it is always your right to have what you want (especially for free)?

And seriously, didn't you say you would pay the authors through donations after you have read their books? Apparently that isn't quite true, according to your above statements you couldn't afford to donate the money after you have read the books and found them worthy, either. Or were you planning to donate 50 cents for a book that now costs $10?

Why do you think it is always right to not have what you want? (especially for free) These are just opinions, one is as good as another.

I read one book every two days, these are usually non-fiction with price tags from 20-100 dollars. That kind of money is just not in my budget, are you saying I should not read these books? This sounds like censorship.

Originally Posted by jplumey

We live in a society where much of what we have is not necessary to live or even to be happy. Giggleton is making the mistake of assuming that he has a right to these books as though they were necessary for his survival. So, if the problem is the price of ebooks, I don't think that there's much that can be done except to let the market drive out of business those who price their books and their devices into obscurity.

Reading books makes me happy, I do agree that the price of all digital content is heading rapidly towards zero, as has been stated repeatedly for years.

[ProfCrash]

No, we are saying that you should pay to read the books that you want or borrow them from the library. The authors who wrote those books deserve to be paid for their efforts.

If the library does not have the e-book you want, check out the paper version.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by Giggleton

I read one book every two days, these are usually non-fiction with price tags from 20-100 dollars. That kind of money is just not in my budget, are you saying I should not read these books? This sounds like censorship.

I think that what you need is a dictionary, but you don't have to worry, you can find the definition of any word, including censorship, on the internet for free.

[astrodad]

Originally Posted by Giggleton

Reading books makes me happy, I do agree that the price of all digital content is heading rapidly towards zero, as has been stated repeatedly for years.

Reading books should bring you pleasure and contribute to your happiness. If you need to read books to be happy, I suggest you find a spiritual counselor or at least a big bottle of rum.

[jersysman]

Originally Posted by jplumey

Reading books should bring you pleasure and contribute to your happiness. If you need to read books to be happy, I suggest you find a spiritual counselor or at least a big bottle of rum.

In other words, don't depend on books to be happy. They should definitely be a contributor to that happiness, however.

[ardeegee]

Originally Posted by jplumey

Reading books should bring you pleasure and contribute to your happiness. If you need to read books to be happy, I suggest you find a spiritual counselor or at least a big bottle of rum.

Rum and counselors should bring pleasure and contribute to your happiness. If you need rum and counselors to be happy, I suggest that you pick up a good book.

[zespectre]

If you need rum and counselors to be happy, I suggest that you pick up a good book.

+1 on that!

[wodin]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

No, we are saying that you should pay to read the books that you want or borrow them from the library. The authors who wrote those books deserve to be paid for their efforts.

If the library does not have the e-book you want, check out the paper version.

[rant]
I agree completely that authors deserve to be paid for their efforts. And in the case of pbooks, publishers deserve to be paid for their efforts. But the world is changing, and publishers no longer have to edit, typeset, print, warehouse, ship, distribute, promote, etc. etc. an ebook. All they have to do is edit, format and promote it; formatting is largely automated and promotion is mostly handled by the online seller.

Yet the publishing houses expect to be paid as if the tasks were still difficult; so we have various schemes, the latest being agency pricing, designed to provide them with undeserved profits. The publishers aren’t stupid, they can see the handwriting on the wall, and they are desperate to preserve their cash cow. The end result is inevitable; sell your Bantam, Random House, and HarperCollins stock. It’s only a matter of how long they can hold out.
[/rant]

[ProfCrash]

I am guessing here but I think that the editing and promotion are the most expensive part of that process. They probably get massive discounts on the printing, shipping, and distribution because of the volume of books that they produce and ship. Warehouses are probably located in areas that are not all that expensive to rent or buy and build.

Editors, proof readers, and the PR machine are going to be more expensive.

So I agree that ebooks should be less expensive then print books but I don't think that the Publishers save enough money to justify all books being sold for some set price.

[astrodad]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

Rum and counselors should bring pleasure and contribute to your happiness. If you need rum and counselors to be happy, I suggest that you pick up a good book.

How can rum be happy? JK!

[CWatkinsNash]

How about rum and books? Is that a good combo? Counselors are expensive.

I agree with parts of Wodin's rant, but "automatic formatting" is part of the reason so many ebooks look like crap. The best formatting is usually the result of human beings carefully crafting the ebook.

As for promoting... well, anything that puts out promotion as awful as James Patterson's TV ad for his latest release NEEDS a change. It's a wonder they were able to fit his head in frame while shooting it.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by kjk

Sounds like the app store developers

Or authors in general.

Lee

[leebase]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Except they're leaving 2.5 little greedy people behind as presents. Any system that relies on greed disappearing from the human race is doomed to failure. What part of this do you not understand?

That's why we need to institute a strict breeding program. Keep those undesirables from having children. Mating together the desirables to improve the race.

Lee

[leebase]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

I guess I'll have to come to Giggleton's aid. The issue at hand is how do you economically deal with the situation where the total cost of a product is the inital design, with no cost for production. Capitalism is based on the method of amortizing the design costs over a long production run causing them to become a very small portion of the product's cost. This is an inherent problem of the digital world. The cost of production is zero. There is no way to amortize the design costs with production. It is the Model T of the Star Trek "replicators"...

That is not the definition of capitalism. And there IS a way to amortize the "design cost". You charge for the product. We've had medicine for over 100 years. There's no problem understanding there's more to the cost of a pill than the cost to manufacture it.

Communism too is an old and discredited idea. Wouldn't it be nice of folks just work for the good of others. From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs. Doesn't work.



Lee