I think the publishers are probably factoring in the effects of piracy. In the past they couldn't stop people from lending/sharing printed books but they could

I think the publishers are probably factoring in the effects of piracy. In the past they couldn't stop people from lending/sharing printed books but they could stop mass produced counterfeit printings. Now it's the exact opposite. They can't control the digital counterfeits in the form of piracy but they can stop digital lending/sharing. Maybe they hope to break even in the end. I can see from their perspective that having both sources of lost revenue combined is a nightmare scenario. I think as readers we probably need to accept that $10 or $15 for a book that is going to bring you many hours of enjoyment isn't a bad deal. We have the Internet to research books, fairly generous samples to read, social networking to spread the word.