Absolutely agree - manufacturer dictated end-point pricing seems almost anti-competitive and prone to price-fixing and other monopolistic practices. It seems t

Absolutely agree - manufacturer dictated end-point pricing seems almost anti-competitive and prone to price-fixing and other monopolistic practices. It seems that Amazon is selling these ebooks as a loss-leader in order to get people more on-board with the concept of an e-reader. I know a couple people who have one, but I only see them maybe once every couple of months on the train (I spend about an hour and fifteen minutes daily on the train, usually in full cars). I still think the iPad is going to be successful, but for very different reasons - eBooks are not going to be the driving factor for that product, therefore Apple is allowing publishers to charge whatever they want. Amazon didn't have something as big as the app store available, and the differentiating feature they chose was a mid-line pricepoint for ebooks (more expensive than a $6 paperback, but less than a $30 hardcover).