Joel sums up this article at pocketnow with this comment- “Here I was thinking competition would decrease ebook prices…”
“Apple had gone on for years defending its singular price model for the iTunes Music Store (which now utilizes a three-tiered strategy) as being in the best interest of consumers–that consumers want songs priced at $0.99. With books in its iBooks Store, set to launch on its iPad tablet, Apple is going a different strategy with publishers than the company had done with record labels. The Cupertino, California software company is encouraging book publishers to price books as they see fit. This time, though, Apple’s deal with book publisher Macmillan has led to the rising prices of digital books, set between $13-$15, on the competing Amazon Kindle. Macmillan wanted pricing flexibility on the Kindle as it has with the iBooks Store. Amazon often sets bestsellers at $9.99…”
I wasn’t aware that the iPad was out now and is already selling eBooks with confirmed prices higher than Amazon. Well, thank goodness for unbiased sites like pocketnow letting us, the consumers, know the REAL facts and for not indulging in any unfounded speculation. Pocketnow, I salute you and doff my cap.
Amazon is in a complete panic about the iPad. It needs to calm down and decide how it deals with Apple entering the ebook retailing space, instead of throwing hissy fits and pulling authors’ books of the shelves. Perhaps, then, we will see some real competition on price.
I guess letting the publishers choose the price is in fact fairer than any other way. The problem is that they are currently FAR too expensive so someone big bringing the average price down would be good for us as consumers.
What I got from the article was that Amazon was forcing the publishers to bring the price down to a reasonable level, with alternative markets the publishers won’t play that game.. Time will tell, ebook prices really are silly, most of the time if I shop around on new releaseses I can get a hardcover for the same price as the ebook (sometimes less). I would much prefer the hard cover in that situation, no DRM so I can lend it to friends/family after I read it..
Just had a look on ereader.com and most new books there are upwards of $20.00 and some are considerably more than that, so prices are, in fact, moving in the right direction. As someone once put it, “nobody wins unless everybody wins” – that means publishers, authors, retailers (both physical and digital) AND consumers. This is, in effect, a brand new business model which will develop over time.
Personally, I currently see no objection to paying the same for a digital book as I would for a hardcover since I am paying for instant availability, convenience and portability. Of the thousands of physical books I have bought over the years, I have rarely loaned any books out to friends, though a few have been shared with family members – not many, though. Meanwhile, I have had to buy bookshelf after bookshelf to accomodate my library, and have a basement stuffed full of boxes containing old books. If I can kiss goodbye to all that, I’ll be grateful.
“Personally, I currently see no objection to paying the same for a digital book as I would for a hardcover since I am paying for instant availability, convenience and portability.”
Instant availability, convenience and portability cost little compared to paper and the production process of real books. Strangely I am happy to pay 79p for an MP3 track though- weird…
“Instant availability, convenience and portability cost little compared to paper and the production process of real books. Strangely I am happy to pay 79p for an MP3 track though- weird…”
True, but unlike music, the vast majority of books are still sold as physical copies and I can’t see any reason for publishers to cut their own noses off by undercutting their primary busines. I’m a realist – things won’t change until more people start buying books digitally – and they’ll only start doing that when devices like the iPad really take off.
Personally I wish the digital ink (e-ink whatever) readers had dropped in price more, I read late at night normally and maybe I am just getting old (well older anyway) but one of the reasons I went back to hard covers is I find it much easier on my eyes at that time.. Of course as a programmer I stare at backlit screens all day long, so some time away from that is welcome, other people may not mind so much.
I actually caught my wife finally reading an ebook this last month. We have the book in paperback, and as an ebook, and I was surprised to see her in bed looking at her phone screen. “Are you reading a book?” I asked her “Yeah, it’s just so much easier. I don’t have to find the page, turn on the light and I can just read bits and pieces whenever.” She finally gets it after all these years. She still prefers I real book, but just to read a few pages here and there an ebook is fine.
I do expect to pay a little less for an ebook since there seem to be less overheads to cover. But I am more than happy to pay for the books I enjoy. BUT I CAN’T DO THAT IF THEY WON’T LET ME BUY THEM!!!
I hope they sort it all out sooner than later. Because the move from digital film, to digital music to digital books seems like a natural transition for people. But let them do it without any fuss!
I’m not willing to pay the same for an ebook as I have no guarantees of how long I’ll be able to use it. Technology moves on, ereaders don’t get updated for the new platform you want, international agreements suddenly cut off access, and codes get lost. It’s even worse with Kindle as they can delete your content remotely if they feel a need to. The publishers really need to get their heads around how to appeal to the customers, there’s a decent profit to be made if they make it attractive enough.