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Scumbag Apple guilty of PRICE FIXING e-books
Ever wonder why an e-books costs almost as much as a printed book, ... I've always wondered why people buy e-books in the first place. For a bit more one can actually own the real book rather than leasing access to a transcript. (And that's not counting the initial, steep investment to buy a reader.) I imagine the market is probably mostly women who buy cheap emotional drama novels to read in the space of a few days on the way to work. Junk books used as pacifiers, which are probably cheap and there's no reason to keep a copy of them, anyway. Jobs had a winning strategy of going to the suppliers and offering to fleece the customers together and split the profits. ($1 for a song is also overpriced.) But don't forget about Amazon. Apple's loss is Amazon's gain, and that may be even worse. The NYT ran a piece last week about how Amazon is starting to charge higher prices for books now that they've nearly killed off bookstores. It's the same way that CVS/Walgreens have driven out drugstores, Home Depot has killed off lumber yards, and Walmart is killing off much of merchandise retailing. People can't resist the bargain prices, but it's not long before only one store remains, with limited selection, and the prices go up. Amazon now threatens to own both kinds of book market -- printed and "e". If you shop at Amazon (or at Walmart) you're helping them to pull off their strategy and will have no basis for complaint when they succeed. |
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Scumbag Apple guilty of PRICE FIXING e-books
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Scumbag Apple guilty of PRICE FIXING e-books
On 2013-07-12 06:20:10 -0700, "J. Clarke" said:
In article , am says... Ever wonder why an e-books costs almost as much as a printed book, ... I've always wondered why people buy e-books in the first place. For a bit more one can actually own the real book rather than leasing access to a transcript. (And that's not counting the initial, steep investment to buy a reader.) The reader can pay for itself quickly--there's a lot of good stuff out there that is public-domain--Caesar and Plato and Aristotle and the rest for example, and Shakespeare, and Verne, Dickens, Austen, Dumas, etc. Once one has the reader, one quickly discovers the convenience aspect--I have the whole of the Harvard Classics in my pocket for example. I have found that having a single repository, easily accessed for my manuals, saved as PDFs to the iBooks app, to be quite convenient. Add to that a few interesting books such as "Ansel Adams in Color", and "Ansel Adams in the National Parks". I also have the Kindle app on my iPad and I have picked up a few e-books from Amazon as a way to get something I wanted to read immediately, and not to have to pay shipping. Many times the Amazon "Kindle" edition is far less costly than a physical copy. Then there are the many public domain issues available from several sources. -- Regards, Savageduck |
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Scumbag Apple guilty of PRICE FIXING e-books
In article , Mayayana
wrote: Ever wonder why an e-books costs almost as much as a printed book, ... I've always wondered why people buy e-books in the first place. because ebooks are significantly better, that's why. they weigh nothing, they are searchable, they can have audio and video to enhance the book and more. someone can easily have a large library of books in their pocket and also buy more books at any time, anywhere, whether it's 2 in the afternoon or 2 in the morning. try that with paper books. ebooks *should* cost more, because they do more. For a bit more one can actually own the real book rather than leasing access to a transcript. ebooks are real books, but in a newer and much more capable format. and one does not 'lease access to a transcript' either. ebooks are sold and owned. some are free. (And that's not counting the initial, steep investment to buy a reader.) kindles start at $70 new, less for a used one. that's hardly a steep price especially for someone who buys a lot of books. some books cost that much just for one book, such as technical books, reference books, textbooks, etc. plus there are a lot of free books that can only be had in ebook form, which would cost money for the paper copy. also, readers can usually do more than just display books, such as email, web browsing, games, etc., making it a very worthwhile purchase for many people. I imagine the market is probably mostly women who buy cheap emotional drama novels to read in the space of a few days on the way to work. Junk books used as pacifiers, which are probably cheap and there's no reason to keep a copy of them, anyway. what you imagine and what is reality is as usual, two entirely different things. and even if all someone buys are junk books, what difference does that make? it's their money and their choice. not yours. Jobs had a winning strategy of going to the suppliers and offering to fleece the customers together and split the profits. ($1 for a song is also overpriced.) really? how much should a song cost? $1 is cheap enough that it's not worth pirating anymore, where someone might get questionable quality and possible even malware. it's comparable in price to a cd, and people can buy only the songs they want rather than the whole cd and be stuck with crap they don't want. that makes it *cheaper* than what came before. so much for being overpriced. But don't forget about Amazon. Apple's loss is Amazon's gain, and that may be even worse. The NYT ran a piece last week about how Amazon is starting to charge higher prices for books now that they've nearly killed off bookstores. It's the same way that CVS/Walgreens have driven out drugstores, Home Depot has killed off lumber yards, and Walmart is killing off much of merchandise retailing. People can't resist the bargain prices, but it's not long before only one store remains, with limited selection, and the prices go up. Amazon now threatens to own both kinds of book market -- printed and "e". If you shop at Amazon (or at Walmart) you're helping them to pull off their strategy and will have no basis for complaint when they succeed. that's exactly what apple wanted to prevent. |
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Scumbag Apple guilty of PRICE FIXING e-books
On 2013-07-12 13:20:10 +0000, J. Clarke said:
The reader can pay for itself quickly--there's a lot of good stuff out there that is public-domain--Caesar and Plato and Aristotle and the rest for example, and Shakespeare, and Verne, Dickens, Austen, Dumas, etc. Once one has the reader, one quickly discovers the convenience aspect--I have the whole of the Harvard Classics in my pocket for example. I do a lot of personal research and appreciate very much the fact that public domain litterature is now available for free through the Internet. I have use Amazon's Kindle for that, albeit I have to convert from epub to mobi. It was not always that easy. I now use http://ebook.online-convert.com/convert-to-mobi Other onlive converters did not work well at all with accented characters such as Jules Verne French copy. The issue of pay-for ebooks, apart from the recent sentencing of Apple, is one of what does the publisher and distributor do for the reader, as well as the author. If a publisher no longer provides paper and ink, he should still provide visibility to the author, and advice to the reader. After all, pubishing houses have for quite a while seved a scouts in discovering new talents and let the readers experience them, whithout undue hassle. Now, what if an excellent author sefl-publishes a very good litterature on his personal page ? Would it be so easy to find the needle in the haystack without the help of Amazon, Crown Books, Penguin or -- Apple -- ? Granted, prices have to fall. But free everywhere would kill certains aspects of service that are useful. Mitch http://www.FontMenu.com --- Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... It's about learning to dance in the rain. - Vivian Greene |
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Scumbag Apple guilty of PRICE FIXING e-books
On 2013-07-12 15:16:22 +0000, nospam said:
In article , Mayayana wrote: For a bit more one can actually own the real book rather than leasing access to a transcript. ebooks are real books, but in a newer and much more capable format. and one does not 'lease access to a transcript' either. ebooks are sold and owned. some are free. I am an adept of ebooks, and yet, there are occasion when I rather take a paperback and not a reader. That is when I go read sitting on a bench at the park. A bum will never bother me to still the paperback, when he could bother me for the reader. Same thing when I go camping : a paperback will not require batteries, or run out of power. That said, I recently installed Aldiko reader on my phone, and now often enjoy a good book while waiting in line. I would not have done so with the paperback I left at home Mitch http://www.FontMenu.com --- Be resolute in your goals, but flexible in your tactics. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie |
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Scumbag Apple guilty of PRICE FIXING e-books
nospam wrote:
In article , Mayayana For a bit more one can actually own the real book rather than leasing access to a transcript. ebooks are real books, but in a newer and much more capable format. and one does not 'lease access to a transcript' either. ebooks are sold and owned. some are free. Sometimes. But most purchased ebooks are licensed, not sold. You can loan, rent, or sell a book without restriction. To do so with an ebook requires the licensor to approve. Amazon, for example, can even take away your ability to read an ebook. See http://www.forbes.com/sites/suwcharm...ed-not-bought/ or http://tinyurl.com/kumym6b That is a bit of an extreme case, but it's real. -- Doug |
#9
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Scumbag Apple guilty of PRICE FIXING e-books
In article , Douglas
Johnson wrote: For a bit more one can actually own the real book rather than leasing access to a transcript. ebooks are real books, but in a newer and much more capable format. and one does not 'lease access to a transcript' either. ebooks are sold and owned. some are free. Sometimes. But most purchased ebooks are licensed, not sold. some are, some aren't. keep in mind that apple's plan was for owning, not 'leasing', which is yet another detail for those who cheer apple losing the lawsuit are conveniently forgetting. You can loan, rent, or sell a book without restriction. To do so with an ebook requires the licensor to approve. nope. ebooks can be loaned whenever the user wants, and it blocks the loaner from reading it until the loanee returns it, just like a paper book. libraries loan ebooks and you don't even have to leave your house to borrow one. this is the future, but as usual, people hate change. Amazon, for example, can even take away your ability to read an ebook. See http://www.forbes.com/sites/suwcharm...-ebooks-are-bo rrowed-not-bought/ or http://tinyurl.com/kumym6b That is a bit of an extreme case, but it's real. very extreme and not how things are normally. amazon saw what looked like fraud, with a kindle bought in the uk and using a norwegian credit card. they made mistakes in how they handled it and ultimately resolved the issue. to claim that's how things are always going to be is just fear mongering. |
#10
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Scumbag Apple guilty of PRICE FIXING e-books
In article , Mitch Bujard
wrote: I am an adept of ebooks, and yet, there are occasion when I rather take a paperback and not a reader. That is when I go read sitting on a bench at the park. A bum will never bother me to still the paperback, when he could bother me for the reader. Same thing when I go camping : a paperback will not require batteries, or run out of power. kindles last for weeks on a charge. battery life is not a concern. worst case, charge it in the car that you drove to the campsite. That said, I recently installed Aldiko reader on my phone, and now often enjoy a good book while waiting in line. I would not have done so with the paperback I left at home yep. |
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