5 ms·

For me (and I don't claim this calculus works for anyone else) an ebook is overpriced if I can get a discounted or used copy of a print version for the same amo

For me (and I don't claim this calculus works for anyone else) an ebook is overpriced if I can get a discounted or used copy of a print version for the same amount or less. The print copy has intrinsic value; I can resell it, lend it out, donate it to a "books for prisoners" program or leave it to my grandkids; it requires no additional hardware, and I'll be able to read it anywhere, anytime for the rest of my life. If I drop it down a sewer grate or forget it in a cab, I'm out no more than the replacement cost of the book (which is probably out in paperback now). If I throw it in a box in the attic and leave it there, barring the Rise of the Silverfish I'll be able to pull the box back down again in ten years and pick right back up reading it again. But the electronic copy has no intrinsic value; I can't resell it, lend it out, or donate it; it requires additional hardware to use, and I can only read it on the platform(s) the vendor allows me to read it on for as long as the vendor allows me to read it. If I'm reading on my PC, I can't change platforms or upgrade my OS unless the proprietary reader software is available for the platform/OS I'm moving to. If the vendor decides to adopt another format or leave the business entirely, my books suddenly have a drop-dead date: once my hardware breaks, I lose the titles I've bought forever. A lot of these issues go away with non-DRMed titles, but in all but a few cases (bulky tech reference titles for example) a DRM-free eBook is still unlikely to be worth as much to me as the print version. And you really don't want to get into the "dollars per hour" argument here. The iPhone game I just finished up cost me a dollar and I got a good 20+ hours of play time out of it. But I can get through an average-sized book in four or five hours, so if I went by price per enjoyment-hour, it'd make that book worth about twenty-five cents. (I'm cheap, but not that cheap...)

mmt 17y ago
I can't upvote you enough :) The calculus works for me, as well, with a twist. I place very little intrinsic value on the paper book, myself, other than as a delivery mechanism. As you point out, however, since I can resell it, the market places non-zero value on some instances of paper books[1]. Since the value, for me, is entirely in the convenience of delivery, hardback books, by their bulkier, heavier nature, have less value than mass market paperbacks. I even wrinkle my nose at "trade" paperbacks[2]. The size of the current crop of e-readers fail to be no larger than a mass market paperback, even the silly extra-tall ones. An electronic copy, to me, does have some intrinsic value in that it's searchable, but that's primarily interesting for the bulky tech reference titles you allude to. Everything else is delivery. I'm only willing to pay the full $8 price when I'm desperate, having nothing with me to read, but a local bookstore having something I know I'd buy eventually anyway. It's something I try to avoid by thinking ahead. Otherwise, for a brand new book, the Costco $6ish is my limit, and that's typically only for the more popular releases. Otherwise, it's $2-$5 at the used bookstore or online. In contrast, perhaps since I'm not an avid game-player, or, perhaps because I read for pleasure 2-3 slower than I could, I find the price per enjoyment-hour to be one that makes some sense. This leads to a desire for a subscription model, since, after all, I can only read one book at a time. It would allow me to try out a writer without forking over my time and the cost of a whole book. Moreover, I'd be happy to pay several times as much for a 1k+ page Pynchon tome as for a pulpy novella or something in between[3]. If such a system were to pay royalties based on usage, I would expect it to encourage writing that's a balance between being so light as to be skimmable and so involved as to be inaccessible. I believe this to be a desirable consequence, though I recognize the danger in, if I may abuse the term, engineering regression toward the mean. [1] This is on the order of $1 per item, in trade, at my local used bookstore. It's often $0. [2] though some can mostly fit in a pant pocket, especially the Canadian Costco cargo pants I favor [3] all of which I enjoy, but I can't fathom paying full price for 150 pages consumable in one sitting.

mmt 17y ago

I can't upvote you enough :) The calculus works for me, as well, with a twist. I place very little intrinsic value on the paper book, myself, other than as a delivery mechanism. As you point out, however, since I can resell it, the market places non-zero value on some instances of paper books[1]. Since the value, for me, is entirely in the convenience of delivery, hardback books, by their bulkier, heavier nature, have less value than mass market paperbacks. I even wrinkle my nose at "trade" paperbacks[2]. The size of the current crop of e-readers fail to be no larger than a mass market paperback, even the silly extra-tall ones. An electronic copy, to me, does have some intrinsic value in that it's searchable, but that's primarily interesting for the bulky tech reference titles you allude to. Everything else is delivery. I'm only willing to pay the full $8 price when I'm desperate, having nothing with me to read, but a local bookstore having something I know I'd buy eventually anyway. It's something I try to avoid by thinking ahead. Otherwise, for a brand new book, the Costco $6ish is my limit, and that's typically only for the more popular releases. Otherwise, it's $2-$5 at the used bookstore or online. In contrast, perhaps since I'm not an avid game-player, or, perhaps because I read for pleasure 2-3 slower than I could, I find the price per enjoyment-hour to be one that makes some sense. This leads to a desire for a subscription model, since, after all, I can only read one book at a time. It would allow me to try out a writer without forking over my time and the cost of a whole book. Moreover, I'd be happy to pay several times as much for a 1k+ page Pynchon tome as for a pulpy novella or something in between[3]. If such a system were to pay royalties based on usage, I would expect it to encourage writing that's a balance between being so light as to be skimmable and so involved as to be inaccessible. I believe this to be a desirable consequence, though I recognize the danger in, if I may abuse the term, engineering regression toward the mean. [1] This is on the order of $1 per item, in trade, at my local used bookstore. It's often $0. [2] though some can mostly fit in a pant pocket, especially the Canadian Costco cargo pants I favor [3] all of which I enjoy, but I can't fathom paying full price for 150 pages consumable in one sitting.