[MTsett]

I have tried to publish my comments about ebooks and electronic published content in reviews of magazine and books apps at the Apple site only to have my views not posted. Especially in review of the new Popular Science and Time magazine apps. So I decided to publish my comments here.
I am a relative newcomer to electronic book and magazine reading and bought an iPad for this purpose as this device makes the most ideal book, magazine and periodical reader.
After looking through Apple's iBook site and Amazon's ebooks and inluding my recent purchases of the Time and Popular Science magazines apps, I feel the prices for individual issues and many books is just ridiculous and very unfair for consumers.
I am a designer and I read a lot of computer design mags, various types of design books and I am finding the prices for the electronic, digital versions to be priced to high!
The publishers are not passing on the savings, that traditional publishing involves, to the consumers. Plain and simple.
I was looking at many Kindle versions of design and how-to books and find the pricing is very close to that of the printed version.
Given that many of the traditional publishing attributes disappear when going digital, pricing should be
significantly lower than the prices I have been seeing.
There are no paper and printing costs. There are no traditional shipping/transportation/distribution/fuel costs. There are no traditional, physical marketing cost and/or materials.
These are the main substantial costs that are usually reflected in the final purchase price for many published materials. These no longer exist in a digital, downloaded medium.
So why are publishers still charging the same or nearly the same prices for digital content?
More profit for them! They would still make money at a lower price for the digital version, but they choose not to do so.
There is something really wrong that a digital version of a magazine or book costs the same or nearly the same as it's printed brother.
And Amazon used to keep there Kindle books at $9.99 and lower, but Apple ruined that by allowing publishers to charge what they like at Apple's iBook store!
This is the exact opposite of what Apple did with the iTunes store by enforcing a $.99 per song model.
I think Apple should be doing something similar with the iBooks store and not encouraging publishers to charge a ridiculous price for digital content.
I feel like, as a reader and consumer, that I am getting gouged and getting a raw deal!
I do not mind paying for a real, tangible book or magazine as it's a physical medium versus a less, more intangible medium that is digital content.
Unless the publishing industry wakes up and starts coming up with a working and reasonable digital publishing model, it's beginning to look like I will not be getting any books or magazines to store and read on my iPad.
I am sure I am not the only one who feels this way.

[residentEvil]

i hope you don't write and publish in the same style you wrote that.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by MTsett 

The publishers are not passing on the savings, that traditional publishing involves, to the consumers. Plain and simple.

Could you explain again exactly why they're compelled to do so?

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by MTsett 

Given that many of the traditional publishing attributes disappear when going digital, pricing should be significantly lower than the prices I have been seeing.
There are no paper and printing costs. There are no traditional shipping/transportation/distribution/fuel costs. There are no traditional, physical marketing cost and/or materials.

There's servers. And server security. And server geeks. And Internet pipes. And CC chargebacks. And CC merchant account fees. And backhanders to whatever division of Adobe has a patent on the publishing technology.

[phantomdragonz]

Originally Posted by residentEvil 

i hope you don't write and publish in the same style you wrote that.

The reason you have been unsuccessful in getting published... I think we found it...

[MTsett]

OK
I'll spar with everyone on this.
Everybody had problems with the record industry overcharging for digital music whether on physical CDs or downloaded music and not paying the artist what they deserve.
Why should this be any different for publishing and publishers?
I believe that the costs of digital publishing are cheaper than the traditional methods and that the writers and the publishers can still make money with a more reasonable pricing model.
Are you really going to tell me you really believe that paying an equal price for a digital publication should be the same as the printed version?
Is that really acceptable to all who responded?
Instead of attacking me about this, why don't you tell me why you all think this is an acceptable practice and why you all have no issues with this?
Obviously, the iTunes model works. Why don't you think a similar model for digital books and magazines would not work with establishing a fair, but across the board consistent pricing structure/ model.
Is Amazon and the publishers selling the same amount of ebooks since Amazon has implemented variable pricing by the publishers?

[Doofy]

I give up.
Someone else want to explain everything?

[residentEvil]

Originally Posted by phantomdragonz 

The reason you have been unsuccessful in getting published... I think we found it...

i'm not a writer trying to be published; nor am i spouting drivel in an unreadable format.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by MTsett 

OK
I'll spar with everyone on this.
Everybody had problems with the record industry overcharging for digital music whether on physical CDs or downloaded music and not paying the artist what they deserve.
Why should this be any different for publishing and publishers?
I believe that the costs of digital publishing are cheaper than the traditional methods and that the writers and the publishers can still make money with a more reasonable pricing model.
Are you really going to tell me you really believe that paying an equal price for a digital publication should be the same as the printed version?
Is that really acceptable to all who responded?
Instead of attacking me about this, why don't you tell me why you all think this is an acceptable practice and why you all have no issues with this?
Obviously, the iTunes model works. Why don't you think a similar model for digital books and magazines would not work with establishing a fair, but across the board consistent pricing structure/ model.
Is Amazon and the publishers selling the same amount of ebooks since Amazon has implemented variable pricing by the publishers?

I think they're allowed to set any price they want to set, and market response dictates whether that price is adjusted.

Originally Posted by residentEvil 

i'm not a writer trying to be published; nor am i spouting drivel in an unreadable format.

I think he was agreeing with you.

[residentEvil]

Originally Posted by Laminar 

I think he was agreeing with you.

oh, i see. okay.

[MTsett]

I am not a writer!!!
My post never said I was a writer
I am someone who bought an iPad who would've preferred purchasing and reading electronic books and/or magazines and I am finding the prices to be too expensive for the digital versions!
What am I purchasing?
What is the value of what I would be purchasing in an electronic book?
I am asking for personal opinions and not what the market will or will not bear for this type of content.
Do you think a digital copy of a book or magazine should be the same price as its more expensive printed version?
If you decided to by a digital copy of a book or magazine, do you think you're receiving a product that has equal value for what you paid?
You all seem to be saying yes!
Well, I disagree with this.
I will, without hesitation, get into my car, expend fuel, and drive to my local B & N to purchase a tangible, physical printed copy of my favorite books or magazines before paying the same price for a digital version!
At the very least I am receiving something that has a physical value to it!
I think it's the feeling of paying physical money for a physical object.
This is how I feel
Books, music and art have a different value in the digital realm.
I don't feel this way when I purchase computer software as that adds value and functionality to my digital lifestyle.
I think it's a different paradigm for creative endeavors in the digital age. IMO.
Any digital data or information by it's very definition is very ephemeral.
Some people will argue that printed materials are ephemeral, too!
But this is even more so with digital information and data.
I want to know how people feel about this.
Obviously, all of you who posted do not feel this way.
I respect that, but there must be others who more or less feel the same way as I do about what publishers are charging for digital content.

[residentEvil]

ignored

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by MTsett 

Any digital data or information by it's very definition is very ephemeral..

The 8-16 hours per day that the content creators put in to create that digital information isn't ephemeral.

Sorry mate but you sound like just another commie malechicken who wants something for nothing.

[MTsett]

Maybe I am just not phrasing my views on this correctly.
I am, definitely, not looking for something for nothing!
I am designer, myself!
I am not talking about the creative and artistic parts of publishing, at all.
I am referring to all of the physical materials and physical distribution methods that are normal part of the publishing and print industry.
That and the physical materials and products to promote books in bookstores.
Those are the principal reasons books and magazines cost as much as they do.
The prices set to more than cover these activities.
I really do not know the true costs of publishing through servers and downloading product over the web. Is it really more expensive or the same as publishing through traditional means?
I would think it would cheaper. Not more expensive, but I admit I maybe in error.
My point is that selling digital books and magazines, barring the creative processes, should not be as expensive to purchase as a physical version. But maybe all of the other factors of doing business of digital content online makes the savings of traditional print publishing and distribution a wash?
I guess I am just not reaching or addressing the right people on this subject

[Doofy]

Well, there's those expenses I listed above...
...and then you have to factor in the fact that at some point some malechicken somewhere will crack whatever DRM is in the file and put it up on a torrent. Which is a form of "waste" that needs to be built into the price.
If it was impossible to pirate digital work, then I'm sure it'd actually be cheaper. But since it's possible, the honest people must pay more in order to balance the losses and waste from the dishonest. Thus, there's a price rise...

If your target readership is, say, 10,000 people.
You need $10,000 from a publication to make it worthwhile.
If everyone buys a copy, it's $1 each.
If 9,000 people pirate, it's $10 each for the 1,000 people who don't.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by MTsett 

I am referring to all of the physical materials and physical distribution methods that are normal part of the publishing and print industry.
That and the physical materials and products to promote books in bookstores.
Those are the principal reasons books and magazines cost as much as they do.

Ummm... no. Actual publishing and in-store promotion is pennies. The principal reasons books cost what they do is because people are willing to pay those prices. Supply and demand.

Also, as people have pointed out, your writing style is difficult to read. People might be more prone to communicate with you if you went to the extra effort to format your posts in an easier to digest fashion.

[-Q-]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

Also, as people have pointed out, your writing style is difficult to read. People might be more prone to communicate with you if you went to the extra effort to format your posts in an easier to digest fashion.

Quoted for emphasis.

I'd be much more interested in debating this point if I didn't get a headache trying to read your opinion on the matter.

[Phileas]

The value of information has little, if anything, to do with the medium used for its delivery.

When you're buying a book you don't buy the paper, the cardboard and the glue, you're buying the information or entertainment it contains*. That information is what you pay for, not the medium. The value of that doesn't fluctuate just because you downloaded it.


*Sure, sometimes the medium becomes part of the message (through look and feel) but those kinds of books would not be published electronically in the first place.

[shiff]

I am quite happy paying the same price for a digital copy/audio version of a book. I do not buy digital copies because they are cheaper. I buy them because they are more convenient for me. I work in DC and take the metro to work every day. The fact that I can carry all of my content in my pocket is invaluable to me. In fact, I would pay more for a digital copy. I just wish more content was offered digitally.

Kind of off on a tangent, but I do not even mind DRM as long as it is done in a way that does not impede my ability to use the content in the way it was intended.