iPad forces eBook prices to rise?

[shigzeo]

Not really sure whose side I can take in this fight. On one hand, the store, who likes to sell Kindles or volume in order to make large profits over volume, wants to sell books at 9.99$. On the other hand, some publishers would like to sell at 15.99$ and a more flexible tier system. Then there are the writers, who if anything, have no control over what happens - and it is they who make the content.

Consumers also get thrown around. eBooks are waaaaaaaaaay too expensive - no one should have to pay 15.99$ for a book they don't own; no one should have to pay that much for an effectively perennial lease. The system is quite the horrid reminder that at the heart of it all is greed and no regard for humanity.

Funny, Apple who have pushed for static prices in the iTunes Store are pushing for this tiered system.

Expect book at prices up to 14.99$ in the USA and let's hope in countries where books are cheap, that those numbers are much less.

More at AppleInsider

[mrholder]

There's no printing and binding of an e-book, so I don't know why they're so expensive. That's why albums on itunes are $9.99 generally- no case and insert to be printed and no shipping costs invovled. I'm warming up to the thought of the ipad for online reading and such, and I really hope that Adobe will put out some simplified versions of their software for professional use.

[iPhonephreak]

Like anything else, the market will decide the cost of e-books. I think you will see sales to be quite weak in the $12-$15 range. Don't think enough will be willing to pay that much. As a result in time I think you will see the books back in the $10 range.

[Nullroar]

Lack of ownership became devastatingly (and ironically) apparent with the pulling of 1984 / Animal Farm from Kindles. Subtracting all the ink, paper, binding, labor and administrative costs that comes with books, and expect to see the price drop further.
What's more, factor in the ever-increasing (soon mainstream) availability of ebooks as a pirated medium (one that is compatible on the same machines that would otherwise download the same file, for money) and, hopefully, the market will dictate a much lower equilibrium price. We shall have to see.

[shigzeo]

Shameless plug - you wouldn't happen to be talking about this sort of eBook piracy would you? On another note, I know the 'market' does hold the decision reigns on some things, but I am unconvinced that it has enough power. The market has been losing power ever since it has been looked down upon as a group who disobey. The problem is that the media has changed in the meantime, presenting vastly newer, in some ways easier, methods of dissemination of digital information.

Now, corporations are holding even tighter onto the reigns because, unfortunately, they are getting more and more constitutional protection versus users. I do agree that maybe if we are lucky, we may see prices go down, but there is too much protection of corporations especially as the economy has been sour - they are viewed as the gold which must be hoarded.

[Nullroar]

Shigzeo:

Haha, not SPECIFICALLY that type of piracy, but it is certainly included. Also, hello to you in Seoul! I'm heading down to Asan soon for an extended stay, hopefully I can find some travel time to get my mouse pad autographed by 이제동 himself (Jaedong FIGHTING!).

Big fan of the tyrant

While it's true that media corporations have become jealously protective of their product, this is a double-edged sword. It can be cost-prohibitive in that it dramatically limits exposure, as well as serving as a foil to rally public sentiment against them.

Take, for example, WMG and Youtube. [Yes, btw, I do know that it was google who initiated the content purge, but let's examine WMG, who chose to continue it]

By trying to pull all their music off of youtube, WMG has not only played the role of a "villian" silencing the little guy (and giving more ammunition for pirates to defend their actions as well as more public support), but they also lose a lot of advertising potential which could have been gained had they allowed their songs to be used and instituted targeted advertising on those videos (if you play Metallica, a little ad shows up that would link you to a metallica store).

The beautiful thing about piracy and file sharing is that there will always be a way to distribute. As soon as youtube was looking as mp3 names, people changed the names. As soon as they looked for large portions of file coding that was similar to prohibited files, people went into audacity and changed minor parts of the coding so it would not be recognized and purged.

My thoughts are that the "jailbreaking" -or any method of bypassing DRM- will only become more mainstream as the perceived injustice of these companies becomes more cemented in the social consciousness.

[shigzeo]

Well, it looks like a said and done thing. Jobs prophesied that iBooks' and Amazon's offerings will be the same price. Amazon acquiesced to Macmillian and other publishers are following suite. Evidently, pricing won't affect publisher's bottom line (can you believe that?), but allow more for the small guy: writers and agents. Obviously, I hope eBooks take off as an entire industry is poised either for destruction, or for revolution. I hope it is the latter. More at the Wall Street Journal.

[Aeaea]

I think we're on the verge of some really exciting things with e-books, active content and the ability to interact with stories, media. etc. in ways that may be hard to imagine today. In a few years we may look back at e-books and marvel at how primitive they were.

Pricing needs to change to spur that evolution -- either that or volume has to grow dramatically. Most people I know can't stand e-books, so bookreaders and content need to grow into something more compelling to gain widespread interest.

[aidan_ree]

Unless ebooks are priced reasonably, widespread use of ebook reader will be slow. Another thing about piracy is that the higher the price is the higher the piracy rate is going to be.