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Why's that? Aemon Send a noteboard - 01/02/2010 06:55:35 PM
It sounds to me like just a typical business fight. Amazon wants to make money by selling ebooks for cheap, so that it can popularize ebooks, sell its reader hardware, etc. Macmillan wants to profit by keeping ebooks expensive, in a "status quo" type move.

Neither company seems to be doing anything particularly underhanded or slimy, as far as I can tell. If anything, Macmillan seems to be the one in the wrong. Amazon already pays them wholesale prices per-copy, so why shouldn't Amazon be able to set their own prices and lose money if they want?

Anyway, my subject line was an honest question: why is Amazon losing you as a customer over this? I realize you know a lot more about the subject than I do. I'm curious what's so bad about this move. :)
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Amazon Accepts Macmillan’s Demand for Higher E-Book Prices - 01/02/2010 04:21:35 PM 1645 Views
Amazon lost me as a customer over all this *NM* - 01/02/2010 05:52:53 PM 515 Views
Why's that? - 01/02/2010 06:55:35 PM 1162 Views
I sum it up here - 01/02/2010 08:42:02 PM 1481 Views
That's an interesting point. And I have an opposite reaction. - 01/02/2010 08:56:16 PM 981 Views
I like that they are public - I dislike that they affect the public so directly - 01/02/2010 08:59:41 PM 1200 Views
To each his own. I come away with the opposite reaction and like Amazon even more. - 01/02/2010 09:35:10 PM 927 Views
I agree with you. I like what Amazon did. - 02/02/2010 12:45:10 AM 1047 Views
I think his complaint is that he feels Amazon is using public opinion to pressure suppliers. - 01/02/2010 09:04:16 PM 915 Views
thats a big part of it - 01/02/2010 09:09:15 PM 1308 Views
It's a good tactic. I would have done the same thing. *NM* - 01/02/2010 09:36:31 PM 479 Views
Is it though - Amazon's stock is way down today. Seems the tactic failed *NM* - 01/02/2010 09:53:06 PM 485 Views
Apple stocks have gone down on days after major announcements too. - 01/02/2010 10:04:04 PM 894 Views
agreed - short term doesn't mean much *NM* - 01/02/2010 10:08:01 PM 479 Views
Still, your overall point stands. - 01/02/2010 11:10:25 PM 911 Views
Macmillan will lose out when people like myself choose to find the book elsewhere. - 01/02/2010 06:46:10 PM 897 Views
How easy is it to find books now? - 01/02/2010 06:53:43 PM 834 Views
Pretty easily, actually. - 01/02/2010 07:07:11 PM 1317 Views
That's excellent. - 01/02/2010 08:19:55 PM 1096 Views
Screens are good. - 01/02/2010 08:50:08 PM 1115 Views
Two words: Leather cover. - 01/02/2010 08:54:37 PM 979 Views
Unless you like a lot of old books, or have fairly eclectic tastes, you should be all set. - 01/02/2010 07:11:30 PM 1305 Views
If you do like a lot of old books - 01/02/2010 07:16:20 PM 972 Views
Yep, definitely true. I wasn't thinking quite that old, though. - 01/02/2010 07:24:49 PM 1051 Views
$12.99 to $14.99 for a fiction ebook is ridiculous. *NM* - 01/02/2010 07:44:20 PM 525 Views
Agreed. *NM* - 01/02/2010 07:46:33 PM 455 Views
Then again, it's half the price of a print version, for essentially the same product / experience. - 01/02/2010 07:50:29 PM 889 Views
That's the thing, it's not. - 01/02/2010 08:24:08 PM 917 Views
Re: That's the thing, it's not. - 01/02/2010 08:55:35 PM 1115 Views
Because, as Aemon says, that's how price discrimination works. - 01/02/2010 11:31:14 PM 881 Views
Not really. I buy new hardcover releases at Borders for around 18 to 20. - 02/02/2010 12:34:08 AM 1082 Views
I don't know about that. - 01/02/2010 08:21:05 PM 990 Views
not really, i buy brand new paperbacks for 6.99 *NM* - 02/02/2010 12:21:16 AM 417 Views
Mass markets, yeah. - 02/02/2010 12:19:25 PM 904 Views
That is bananas. - 01/02/2010 07:46:28 PM 915 Views
"Most newly released..." - 01/02/2010 07:55:19 PM 1156 Views
People pay that sort of money for DVd and more for Blue Ray - 01/02/2010 08:00:47 PM 959 Views
Physical copy is rather important in that case, you know... at least to me. - 01/02/2010 08:54:05 PM 1069 Views
I was with you till that last sentence. - 01/02/2010 08:58:58 PM 1127 Views
I really don't think it is that different - 01/02/2010 10:01:20 PM 931 Views
If you have issues with eBook pricing, read this link - 01/02/2010 08:46:47 PM 1292 Views
He makes good points... - 01/02/2010 11:37:22 PM 941 Views
I am unimpressed by his arguments. - 02/02/2010 01:06:03 AM 961 Views
Good for MacMillan. I'll cheer on anyone who takes a stab against e-books. - 02/02/2010 04:00:05 AM 1002 Views
Whaaa? - 02/02/2010 04:08:50 AM 969 Views
Yes, of course. - 02/02/2010 04:33:13 AM 1045 Views
In ten years you'll have an ebook reader. - 02/02/2010 05:34:57 AM 1057 Views
I know. That's the problem. *NM* - 02/02/2010 12:56:32 PM 463 Views
The lower prices, the increased profit, or the ecological benefit? *NM* - 02/02/2010 05:17:13 PM 402 Views
The gradual loss of physical books. *NM* - 02/02/2010 05:32:39 PM 424 Views
Mmm. I detect an illogical argument. - 02/02/2010 05:35:14 PM 876 Views
Obviously they won't disappear completely, or even that fast. - 02/02/2010 11:04:47 PM 907 Views
Why not? It'll spur the growth of used book stores. *NM* - 03/02/2010 01:29:56 AM 399 Views
It will increase the number of books available - 02/02/2010 01:55:05 PM 4208 Views
One apt analogy is the widespread use of recording tools like Pro Tools. - 02/02/2010 08:07:22 PM 1054 Views
There are already comapnies offering editng services - 02/02/2010 10:30:28 PM 905 Views
Uh, so what you want to dictate is the medium by which people read? You have no right. - 02/02/2010 08:01:09 PM 1006 Views
And again let me add that it's not necessarily one or the other. - 02/02/2010 10:09:20 PM 850 Views
That would be awesome. - 02/02/2010 11:02:42 PM 853 Views
Obviously I'm not dictating anything. I'm stating my view. - 02/02/2010 11:01:41 PM 1123 Views
Good Lord! *NM* - 02/02/2010 07:58:03 PM 409 Views

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