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There is utility, and then there is liquidity. Believe it or not, digital copies are less liquid than hardcopies because they cannot be resold. I own many spec
by bluekeybox 16y ago
There is utility, and then there is liquidity. Believe it or not, digital copies are less liquid than hardcopies because they cannot be resold.
I own many specialist technical books in the $70-90 price range as well as art books in the $100-150 range which I would never even thought about purchasing if I knew they could not be resold. I suppose many consumers think this way as well.
- jaysonelliot 16y agoLiquidity is a very good point. I'd also include another issue which I don't have a word for, because economics is not my field. That's the issue of permanence and authenticity, the value of knowing that the object you are looking at is in fact the same as it was when originally created, and not a reproduction or altered version. I collect first editions and other vintage copies of magazines I admire. Among my collection is a Vanity Fair from 1935 containing the obituary of Lawrence of Arabia, a story on the new Bay Bridge in SF, the "Brown Bomber" Joe Louis, and pleas for peace in Europe. I would not pay anything for a PDF of this magazine. As a physical artifact, it was worth the $30 I paid for it. There is utility and value in physicality that cannot be found in digital ephemera.