Why do e-books cost so much?

[RoJoHen]

I think what Sakrysta is saying, if I am understanding correctly, is that she doesn't see why there isn't a larger difference.

As an amateur writer who hope to get published one day, I fully understand everyone wants to get paid. But with an E-Book, you don't actually have to print the book. And as far as I know (which I admit probably isn't very far at all) the actual printing of the book on paper is a large chunk of the cost that isn't there with an electronic copy.

EDIT: And I see others have already replied before me saying otherwise, so never mind

It still costs money for someone to download that text into the system. The behind the scene process isn't as advanced or cut & dry as some might think.

Everytime you download a book, a poor little elf has to scan each individual page into the system, one at a time. It takes DAYS! The little guy has a family to support!

 

[exodus]

I think what Sakrysta is saying, if I am understanding correctly, is that she doesn't see why there isn't a larger difference.

As an amateur writer who hope to get published one day, I fully understand everyone wants to get paid. But with an E-Book, you don't actually have to print the book. And as far as I know (which I admit probably isn't very far at all) the actual printing of the book on paper is a large chunk of the cost that isn't there with an electronic copy.

EDIT: And I see others have already replied before me saying otherwise, so never mind

It still costs money for someone to download that text into the system. The behind the scene process isn't as advanced or cut & dry as some might think.

Everytime you download a book, a poor little elf has to scan each individual page into the system, one at a time. It takes DAYS! The little guy has a family to support!

Everybody knows elves only make shoes and toys.

 

[Mike Farley]

It still costs money for someone to download that text into the system. The behind the scene process isn't as advanced or cut & dry as some might think.

Everytime you download a book, a poor little elf has to scan each individual page into the system, one at a time. It takes DAYS! The little guy has a family to support!

Everybody knows elves only make shoes and toys.

Untrue. Some elves make cookies.

 

[exodus]

Everytime you download a book, a poor little elf has to scan each individual page into the system, one at a time. It takes DAYS! The little guy has a family to support!

Everybody knows elves only make shoes and toys.

Untrue. Some elves make cookies.

I heard they were disgrunted due to poor labor laws and they spit in them. Rat bastards!!!

 

[Venardhi]

As someone who gets an employee discount at the same store I got my ereader from, it is mighty annoying to find that unless I'm buying something that isn't in paperback, I actually spend considerably more(2-5 dollars) on the ebook more often than not.

 

[cardinal biggles]

Not to sound like some wack-job conspiracy nut, but the biggest thing that's been holding me back from getting an eReader is the licensing issue Mr. Adventure mentioned. Hopefully people haven't forgotten the Amazon debacle last year when they remotely deleted copies of George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm. If I pay money for a paper book, it's mine forever. eBooks, though, can at any point in time be taken from me by The Man™.

 

[Professor Zoom]

Not to sound like some wack-job conspiracy nut, but the biggest thing that's been holding me back from getting an eReader is the licensing issue Mr. Adventure mentioned. Hopefully people haven't forgotten the Amazon debacle last year when they remotely deleted copies of George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm. If I pay money for a paper book, it's mine forever. eBooks, though, can at any point in time be taken from me by The Man™.

Not if you back it up.

Now, Amazon screwed up big time. They did it without telling their customers, as I recall, when they did it. And just refunded the money. They should have sent out notification that it was going to happen.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I hate that I can't even really buy an e-book, it's more like you buy a license to watch it on a given device. I know that's just how it is but I wish it was more permanent and open.

Come again?

I get all my ebooks from Apple's iBooks, and they let you watch them on as many devices as you have. Only thing I wish they'd do is make an app for viewing them on the computer itself.

 

[cultcross]

Not to sound like some wack-job conspiracy nut, but the biggest thing that's been holding me back from getting an eReader is the licensing issue Mr. Adventure mentioned. Hopefully people haven't forgotten the Amazon debacle last year when they remotely deleted copies of George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm. If I pay money for a paper book, it's mine forever. eBooks, though, can at any point in time be taken from me by The Man™.

Not if you back it up.

Now, Amazon screwed up big time. They did it without telling their customers, as I recall, when they did it. And just refunded the money. They should have sent out notification that it was going to happen.

I'm in no danger just because I don't use the wifi feature, I just use my Kindle like a portable hard drive, and put stuff on and off it via the USB cable. I don't have wifi in the house, and rarely have my Kindle anywhere that does, so I pretty much just ignore that feature.

 

[Professor Zoom]

I hate that I can't even really buy an e-book, it's more like you buy a license to watch it on a given device. I know that's just how it is but I wish it was more permanent and open.

Come again?

I get all my ebooks from Apple's iBooks, and they let you watch them on as many devices as you have. Only thing I wish they'd do is make an app for viewing them on the computer itself.

I'm really surprised they DON'T. I would've figured that would be the first thing they thought of.

I know you can with the Barnes and Noble e-books.

 

[Nerdius Maximus]

I'd also be curious to see if someone ever comes up with a way to 'rent' e-books for a $1 or so and then after a month they disappear from your device.

Guess what I noticed on the iTunes Music Store the other day? Two buttons: $.99 Buy $.39 Rent

I can't imagine ever wanting to rent music. I suppose that's cool for people who think of music as disposable, but that's a foreign concept to me.