TrueJournals

Kindle Pricing Makes No Sense

by on Jun.08, 2010, under Uncategorized

I was just browsing the web, when I found out that “Shit My Dad Says” has a book.  I don’t follow him on twitter, but I’ve heard of it before, and read it whenever I’m linked to it.  Wondering how much this book cost, I went to Amazon, and here’s what I found:

Kindle is more expensiveWait… WHAT?  The hardcover is actually CHEAPER than the Kindle version?  I’m going to ignore shipping for argument’s sake.  This means that it costs less to cut down a tree, turn that tree into paper, print words on the paper, and glue the pieces of paper together than it does to send you a bunch of ones and zeroes.

Can anyone explain this to me?  I mean, really.  I’m pretty sure writers type on computers in today’s world, and I’m sure Amazon has some software to automatically take whatever and turn it into a Kindle book.  Of course you’re in part paying for the development of such software, but there’s a LOT more to a hardcover book than there is to a digital copy of the same thing.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the Kindle is an awesome platform, and I hope we see more and more e-readers.  But, until the pricing scheme gets fixed… they’re not going to take off.

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4 Comments for this entry

  • Neal Heatherly

    You think it’s weird that S**t My Dad Says has a book, listen to this: It’s been picked up as a new series by CBS starring William Shatner as the Dad. As for the whole e-reader thing, I still love actual books. But to each their own.

  • TrueJournals

    I saw that! I actually saw the commercial preview for that… Hooray William Shatner! The only problem is… it’s network TV, so they had to cut out all the swearing. I give it one season 😛

  • ???

    Remember, there’s supply, demand, and a “modest” profit margin that all must be taken into account. So long as individuals are ready and willing to pay more the Kindle version over the hardcover, the price will stay higher. Should demand fall drastically, then your Kindle price will reflect the change. Or go under; take your pick.

    Plus, in this case the Kindle is new technology, so the high price will still reflect the costs to design it.

  • TrueJournals

    I understand, but after all of this, I would think the Kindle price should still be lower. Also, I really don’t think supply and demand factor into this because no matter what the demand is, the supply of Kindle books is unlimited — it’s just transferring digital data. On top of that, since the Kindle IS still (relatively) new technology, I would expect the price to be lower in order to gain adaptation. Even if I had a Kindle, I think I’d still buy the hardcover with this pricing scheme.

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