Justice Dept. Sues Apple and Publishers Over E-Book Pricing

[RugbyMuffin]

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.c...-apple-and-publishers-over-e-book-pricing/?hp

Interesting.

How many here use E-Books ?

I just, like a month ago, got an electronic device that lets me use E-Books. Funny thing is when I looked at the price of an E-Book, I laughed, and then bought the book for significantly less in paper.

Yet, I then went back, and bought a book "just to have" on my phone in case I am stuck some where. Having a book on your phone is great and all, but in most cases I prefer reading from a paper book.

Don't know. The change from tapes/cd's to MP3's made more sense then E-books to me. Recorded music always needs a battery, but books made of paper never need a re-charge.

 

[Hollywood]

That is very interesting. I have a nook and my daughter has a kindle. Just reciently I found out (and to my surprise) that books were a few dollars cheaper on the kindle. This helps to explain why.

In the end I don't think it matters much. I have found that I prefer to read on my Nook rather then an actual book. (I was shocked) I don't comparison shop for the books as I never really considered it an option.

I don't for a second doubt that the publishers were working together to fix the prices of ebooks.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Stupid Justice Dept. Please focus on finishing the Full Tilt Poker case before starting this one. Argh!

 

[MadCardDisease]

I was shocked to find out that the Game of Thrones 4 book set could be purchased for $19.99 on paperback, but cost $29.99 to buy the E-Reader version.

That just doesn't make sense. I purchased the paperback copy but didn't have an E-Reader back then.

Now that I do have a Kindle Fire I love it! However I think it is wrong that they charge less for a paper back that requires a) paper, printing, and packaging, b) shipping and c)shelf space. Then compare that to a Kindle copy that can be instantly downloaded over the internet for less than a penny.

I guess it's no different that what they do with printers. Give you the printer for practically free and then charge you $50 for a refill cartridge.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I was shocked to find out that the Game of Thrones 4 book set could be purchased for $19.99 on paperback, but cost $29.99 to buy the E-Reader version.

That just doesn't make sense. I purchased the paperback copy but didn't have an E-Reader back then.

Now that I do have a Kindle Fire I love it! However I think it is wrong that they charge less for a paper back that requires a) paper, printing, and packaging, b) shipping and c)shelf space. Then compare that to a Kindle copy that can be instantly downloaded over the internet for less than a penny.

I guess it's no different that what they do with printers. Give you the printer for practically free and then charge you $50 for a refill cartridge.

Read about the lawsuit. It's the publishers that are setting these absurd prices for e-books not Amazon or any of the other companies that sell the e-readers (other than Apple). Amazon, for example, had much lower prices on their books until Jobs got together with some of the publishers and they established a pricing scheme designed to limit Amazon's position in the book marketplace.

Steve

 

[MadCardDisease]

Read about the lawsuit. It's the publishers that are setting these absurd prices for e-books not Amazon or any of the other companies that sell the e-readers (other than Apple). Amazon, for example, had much lower prices on their books until Jobs got together with some of the publishers and they established a pricing scheme designed to limit Amazon's position in the book marketplace.

Steve

Wow I just read the article. Now I fully understand my hatred for Apple.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Wow I just read the article. Now I fully understand my hatred for Apple.

Yeah, I'm still steamed about it and I've known about it (in general, not the specifics) since well before I bought my Kindle. I'm an avid reader (at least 10 books per week) and because of the unjustifiably high costs I've been mostly restricting my reading to self-published books at the behest of my personal financial advisor (my wife - she advises me when I deplete our finances).

Steve