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Originally Posted by Strange Brew
I’m not sure I follow. When you buy a book, it’s not the cost of the paper that drives the value.
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This is my business. It's also Amazon's business, and Amazon never prices an ebook at $20-plus unless an old-line publisher sets that price. Their sweet spot for ebook pricing is $9.99 US or a little under – in other words, the same pricing niche that used to be occupied by mass-market paperbacks.
Ebooks are today's cheap editions. You can't resell them, you can't lend them to friends or even give them away. They are, in objective terms, worth less than printed copies – but traditional publishers still charge full price for them, because they do not
want them to sell. They are still trying to drive business to bookshops, because that is where they have the advantage of controlling the distribution system. They fail miserably at this, but it's the only strategy they know, because frankly, most large publishing companies are run by morons.
Just one thing used to drive the value of hardcover books: you couldn't get a cheaper edition for a year or more after publication, and had to pay the inflated price or do without. Nothing drives the value of an ebook in the same way. Amazon, once again, has vast amounts of data on this. They know exactly how many millions of readers will click on the page for a $20 ebook, see the price, and then click away and buy something cheaper instead. They count on it, and optimize their pricing to maximize profit. That's what new media do, and it's what old media aren't equipped to understand.
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The NHL just signed a rather massive rights deal in the US on multiple platforms. US viewers don’t seem to have the same issues but if you want to stream, you have to pay for the service.
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‘Rather massive’ is still, in per capita terms, a fraction of the value of the Canadian deal.
All media in Canada, in effect, is old media; in that industry, we have a tight oligopoly with no entrepreneurial tradition. When there are only four significant players in the industry, and they all have old-media properties and income streams that they are determined to defend at all costs, you don't get innovation and you don't get any concern for what customers want.
must show all Flames games nationally when they play on Saturdays, Mondays, and Wednesdays !!!
