From: JamesBritt <james@...>
Date: 2002-08-11T03:03:53+09:00
Subject: Economics of E-books? ( was re: Dr. Dobbs Ruby Article)

Re: USD $5 for a single Dr. Dobbs article

> It does seem a lot.  I think I would fork out 1USD for the article without
> thinking about it.  That is not indicitive of the value of that article
> itself, just my perceived value within the space of a $6USD magazine.
>
> The problem arises though in that DDJ generally has a whole bunch of
> articles using different languages centered around a single theme.  Most
> people would only be interested in a single article.  If they
> started making
> it reasonable for purchasing only what you wanted, they might start losing
> money.  Its much like getting 100 channels of cable vs. just the programs
> you watch.  Also remember that they get a lot of money from advertising.
>
> You may also consider that in 6 months the magazine will be hard to get.
> For something you really need, 5USD may then seem reasonable.
>
> I don't necessarily agree with it, although I do like the
> magazine.  I would
> prefer a model like the IEEE where you pay for a digital subscription and
> get every article ever written while you pay for it.
>
> John.


Recently I was shopping online, looking on bn.com for a particular book.  I
found three versions: paperback, hardcover, and Adobe e-book.  Both the
hardcover and the electronic version cost the same, USD $18.50.  The
paperback was half that.  I was stunned, and decided that, a year from now,
publishers will decry the failure of E-books to take off, and claim the
public just isn't ready for them.

I'm curious, though, what people would consider a reasonable price for
electronic articles/books, and how the availability of the free, electronic
version of Andy & Dave's book effected sales of the hardcopy version.

James Britt