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Amazon to Launch Kindle for Textbooks
- krschultz 18y agoSimply using Amazon.com for my college books rather than the local textbook store (not even the official bookstore) saved me over $400 this year. Not sure if the Kindle e-books would have the same advantage though, because there would be no such thing as a used book anymore. Right now I buy books used through Amazon but never sell them. Usually the used books are about 20-60% of list price on Amazon and 60-80% at a local book store. I don't imagine that publishers would be willing to drop the price of an ebook 20+% to make them competitive. Though some of the initial markup on textbooks is due to reselling in the first place (which the publishers combat with useless new editions), maybe eliminating resale would allow some publishers to lower their price and for people who never sell the books again like myself it would be a great win.
- moe 18y agoNot sure if the Kindle e-books would have the same advantage though, because there would be no such thing as a used book anymore. But there will be something better: The copied book. Amazon will ofcourse lock the kindle down in every imaginable way to prevent the precious goods from escaping. And given the obscure hardware plus the proprietary encryption/DRM machinery they might very well succeed - for a few weeks. Eventually eBooks will become a common good to pass around among friends just like music and movies are today. A small but thriving ebook "warez" community already exists. It will grow proportionally to the mainstream penetration of e-ink devices. It's just another step towards making the knowledge of the world available to everybody. Even to the 3rd world kid who may not be able to afford it today.