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Let's face it: the ebook market is FUBAR, thanks to pure greed

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zridling:


No matter their few compatibilities here and there, Apple, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble have quickly succeeded in making the ebook market horked beyond recognition with their proprietary formats and [proprietary] hardware. This device can't download that format, that one can't read it even if you do manage to download it, the fonts are skewed on your smartphone, and everywhere everyone's out to drive book prices through the roof. With no delivery costs, built-in DRM (no sharing boys & girls!), there's NO WAY an ebook should cost as much as a physical book in your hand. I at least give Amazon credit for the ability to share books (if only for 14 days). As an experiment, I bought a new hardcover book and it arrived with cheap, newspaper-quality recyclable paper that will fade soon and if you make a note in the margin, the ink bleeds through. The same ebook format only cost $2 less than the $36 hardcover!

Point is, right now is a terrible time to be buying ebooks. Each is trying to make their format dominant, or at the least they are ensuring that the customer can only reliably buy books using their exclusive device from their stores. And if you're looking for books in the public domain, those lists are well-hidden, and finding the books themselves in readable formats is equally difficult. Most publishers don't seem to believe that books actually existed before 1850 (or after 1920). Before you fall asleep, yes, I know this has been argued to death here and throughout the web. But fighting the same fight every year gets old just because a few multi-billionaires need to push the stock price a few more points every quarter. Customers feel like suckers, and it's hard to enjoy your [entertainment] purchase if you know you're getting ripped off. It's the same feeling of eating cold fries -- have you noticed what fries cost! I get the feeling that if any one of these corporations could create their own internet and seal it off from outsiders, they would in a minute if they had enough suckers, yea Apple, I'm talking to you.

Signed,
Tired of being ripped off, picking up the pitchfork
(PS: Sorry for the numerous rants lately, but these proprietary/copyright/trademark/patent things really drive me crazy.)

Renegade:
+1 all the way.

You might enjoy this film:



That's the shareware version. I got half way through and had to buy the DVD it was so good.

It's sad, but I think greed is here to stay. I'm not against profit, but come on... Selling something that would be profitable for $1 for $5? Or $20? Or... Whatever it is, it's not going away. Thank the lawyers for that. They're the ones that have really pushed the insane degree of legalism that has provided the shit for greed to grow in.

nudone:
Not wanting to sidetrack things, but talking of greed, here's a little story in my family at the moment...

my mother requires a specific type of medication (she has a muscle and nerve wasting desease, so it's kind of essential). this medication has been available for the past twenty years at a cost of about £1000 per year to the NHS.

This drug has now been bought and relicensed by a "big" company. Their new price for the drug is set to be between £40,000 and £70,000 per year. In other words, this medication is not going to be available anymore, the company has obviously decided that they'd rather people suffer and die a slow death. Like, erm, wow that's kind of odd.

And you thought Satan was a fictional biblical character? No, he appears to be advising the world how to do business.

But, yeah, there is something definitely not right about ebooks. I hope they don't destroy the real book market - eventually.

Sorry for going off topic. I just wanted to say, there's nothing that would surprise me about getting ripped-off now. It almost appears to be rule No.1 for some companies.

Renegade:
not wanting to sidetrack things, but talking of greed, here's a little story in my family at the moment...

my mother requires a specific type of medication (she has a muscle and nerve wasting desease, so it's kind of essential). this medication has been available for the past twenty years at a cost of about £1000 per year to the NHS.

This drug has now been bought and relicensed by a "big" company. Their new price for the drug is set to be between £40,000 and £70,000 per year.

And you thought Satan was a fictional biblical character? No, he appears to be advising the world how to do business.

But, yeah, there is something definitely not right about ebooks. I hope they don't destroy the real book market - eventually.
-nudone (February 04, 2011, 02:49 AM)
--- End quote ---

I'm sorry to hear that. :(

What's the name of *this* avatar of Satan? (He has many incarnations on Earth...)

At the core, it's the exact same issue.

nudone:
Sorry, I ought to know, but I don't - just burying my head in the sand as usual. There are a group of doctors trying to petition the UK government about the problem - honestly can't see what they can do to be honest. It's all to do with "unlicensed" drugs and how large companies buy them, license them, and add a few noughts onto the price for good measure.

Anyway, let's get back to ebooks...

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