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Buyers evaluate a books price by it's length. That is they're more willing to pay $50 for a 500 page book than a 50 page book. It's completely irrational, neve
by ig1 13y ago
Buyers evaluate a books price by it's length. That is they're more willing to pay $50 for a 500 page book than a 50 page book.
It's completely irrational, nevertheless it a behaviour that even completely rational people display.
- quietthrow 13y agoYes its the 'more is better' mentality. but its a crude one at best. When applied to text media its stupid because I would pay somebody to summarize things for me, instead we are paying people for long unsummarized content that will take more time to digest. Also why are book prices so high considering I have read so many times on HN that the authors seldom make any money from royalties and publishers have a fixed cost (for the most part).
- ig1 13y agoNevertheless it's what practically everyone does. Typically the biggest part of an individual books cost are the retailer margin and publisher profit. It's also important to note that while the publisher profit margin on an individual book might be high, the publishers overall profit margin tends to be lower because the profits of successful books have to cover the costs of all the books that fail to break even.
- quietthrow 13y agoI think its an interesting point. Its a volume rather than quality driven approach. Its a shame but I understand it has to be this way considering that quality in this case of a book and its content is a very subjective thing.
- brudgers 13y agoIt is not irrational. Books, before all else, are primarily entertainment. Programming books don't so much compete with the web on content as on medium: Reading a book, for people who buy books, is more pleasurable than sitting at the keyboard.
- hackinthebochs 13y agoYou're absolutely right about this. I vastly prefer reading a technical book rather than piecing together information from online sources. I like just sitting back and being immersed in a subject. I enjoy that I get a complete and logical tour of a subject from a book. The length of a book is signal with regards to this (on any technical subject worth reading a book about at least).
- ig1 13y agoWhat has that got to do with length ? - entertainment value isn't a function of length.