5 ms·

I don't disagree, but it seems weird to treat physical media and digital media of a similar type exactly the same when they are simply aren't the same. The trut

I don't disagree, but it seems weird to treat physical media and digital media of a similar type exactly the same when they are simply aren't the same. The truth is you can make infinite copies of an e-book.

infinite8s 12y ago
You can also make near 0-cost copies of physical books. Only thing stopping you is copyright law.
- bjelkeman-again 12y ago
  Ok, i'll bite. How do yo do that? Let's say I have an 800 page Neal Stephenson hardback. I don't want to destroy the book, but I want to copy it. How do I copy that at 0-cost? Even with a borrowed laser printer/copier with free toner and paper I imagine I have to open the book 400 times and push it onto the copier glass and make a copy. That will take me 5 sec per spread, so say 10 spreads per minute. If I am done just under an hour, then I will have lost $100 of invoicable time. So, that wasn't 0-cost. You must have another way?
  - teddyh 12y ago
    The marginal cost is 0. Since, once you have made your digital copy, you can make infinite copies, your amortized cost per copy approaches 0.
    - seanflyon 12y ago
      And what would the marginal cost be if paper and ink were not free? Not the full price of a new book, but I'm guessing a significant portion.
      - teddyh 12y ago
        The marginal cost of a physical copy does not approach 0, true.
  - miahi 12y ago
    That's just because your opportunity cost is high. Compare it to a person who makes $100 in a month (there are countries where $100 is close to the median income) and you will understand why there are people who do actually copy or scan books instead of buying them.
    - bjelkeman-again 12y ago
      Yeah, I am quite familiar with people who make less than we do. But, I just think it is a bit much to say that copying books is nearly free. It isn't.
laumars 12y ago
You can make infinite copies of a physical book. It just costs more to do so - both in terms of currency and time to copy. But that's where copyright law steps in. You can sell your copy, but you cannot duplicate the content (bar some caveats).
- dghf 12y ago
  How do you re-sell an e-book without duplicating it, unless you sell your e-reader device with the e-book on it?
  - arg01 12y ago
    When you read it your also copying it into cache. We could argue the technicalities but really it's about copyright law not the colour of bits. Or if you prefer we can just say it's legal to copy the ebook to a new owner if you remove your own copies (which is one process the above poster refereed to by writing "bar some caveats").
  - skywhopper 12y ago
    Well, e-book vendors ought to either use a shared format or provide a mechanism for transferring ownership. They are unlikely to do so unless a right to resell is established. I am pessimistic about the likelihood, but it would be a very good thing for the world.

infinite8s 12y ago

You can also make near 0-cost copies of physical books. Only thing stopping you is copyright law.

bjelkeman-again 12y ago
Ok, i'll bite. How do yo do that? Let's say I have an 800 page Neal Stephenson hardback. I don't want to destroy the book, but I want to copy it. How do I copy that at 0-cost? Even with a borrowed laser printer/copier with free toner and paper I imagine I have to open the book 400 times and push it onto the copier glass and make a copy. That will take me 5 sec per spread, so say 10 spreads per minute. If I am done just under an hour, then I will have lost $100 of invoicable time. So, that wasn't 0-cost. You must have another way?
- teddyh 12y ago
  The marginal cost is 0. Since, once you have made your digital copy, you can make infinite copies, your amortized cost per copy approaches 0.
  - seanflyon 12y ago
    And what would the marginal cost be if paper and ink were not free? Not the full price of a new book, but I'm guessing a significant portion.
    - teddyh 12y ago
      The marginal cost of a physical copy does not approach 0, true.
- miahi 12y ago
  That's just because your opportunity cost is high. Compare it to a person who makes $100 in a month (there are countries where $100 is close to the median income) and you will understand why there are people who do actually copy or scan books instead of buying them.
  - bjelkeman-again 12y ago
    Yeah, I am quite familiar with people who make less than we do. But, I just think it is a bit much to say that copying books is nearly free. It isn't.

laumars 12y ago

You can make infinite copies of a physical book. It just costs more to do so - both in terms of currency and time to copy. But that's where copyright law steps in. You can sell your copy, but you cannot duplicate the content (bar some caveats).

dghf 12y ago
How do you re-sell an e-book without duplicating it, unless you sell your e-reader device with the e-book on it?
- arg01 12y ago
  When you read it your also copying it into cache. We could argue the technicalities but really it's about copyright law not the colour of bits. Or if you prefer we can just say it's legal to copy the ebook to a new owner if you remove your own copies (which is one process the above poster refereed to by writing "bar some caveats").
- skywhopper 12y ago
  Well, e-book vendors ought to either use a shared format or provide a mechanism for transferring ownership. They are unlikely to do so unless a right to resell is established. I am pessimistic about the likelihood, but it would be a very good thing for the world.