Macmillan, Penguin Finally Respond to DoJ eBook Lawsuit

[exfileme]

Two publishers accused of eBook price fixing has responded, seemingly throwing Apple under the bus.

Macmillan, Penguin Finally Respond to DoJ eBook Lawsuit : Read more

 

[SmileyTPB1]

It's very sad that Steve Jobs died so young and that we lost such a visionary in the tech world. But now in hindsight we really get a feel for his controlling, destructive, evil side. He really had a "One Ring to Rule Them All" mentality. Maybe Apple is better off without him.

 

[g00fysmiley]

so again they are assuring us that paying more for ebooks than a actual physical paperback that they have to print and ship makes the product better... how dumb do they think we are. I hope the DoJ crucifies them and apple while they are at it

 

[xerroz]

Here's hoping the DoJ doesn't back down. Apple and these publishes need to be smacked down...especially Apple. Price fixing - which is clearly what they've done no matter what they say- is illegal and these companies need to be punished with the FULL extent of the LAW.

 

[Guest]

Eh? Clearly what they have done? They simply too what they did with the app store and expanded it to the ibooks store. Are you saying I can't sell what I write for what I want? That's what Apple let's them do. Fact is Amazon had the one ring rules them all until Apple stepped in.now we have competition and you want to crush it.

and show me what books have cost you more! everyone screams this but has no hard numbers to back it up!

With the release of the iBooks publishing kit they have made it easy and cost effective for writers to publish and now you want to kill it? How stupid are you?

 

[v3nom777]

[citation][nom]Solamar[/nom]Eh? Clearly what they have done? They simply too what they did with the app store and expanded it to the ibooks store. Are you saying I can't sell what I write for what I want? That's what Apple let's them do. Fact is Amazon had the one ring rules them all until Apple stepped in.now we have competition and you want to crush it.and show me what books have cost you more! everyone screams this but has no hard numbers to back it up!With the release of the iBooks publishing kit they have made it easy and cost effective for writers to publish and now you want to kill it? How stupid are you?[/citation]


I can get "A Game of Thrones" ebook for $12.99 on itunes, or I can get the paperback for $7 bucks, brand new on Amazon.

But Thats not more expensive?

 

[ericburnby]

[citation][nom]v3nom777[/nom]I can get "A Game of Thrones" ebook for $12.99 on itunes, or I can get the paperback for $7 bucks, brand new on Amazon.But Thats not more expensive?[/citation]
I checked out amazon. A Game Of Thrones is $7.19 paperback and $10.36 for Kindle.

So let me get this straight: Amazon is selling a title you want for LESS than iTunes, and you say Apple is being anti-competitive by forcing prices higher? Seems to me you have a choice to buy Amazon and get a lower price.

Amazon is also selling an e-book (your example, Game of Thrones) for MORE than a paper version, and people say Apple is being ridiculous for doing the same thing?

 

[v3nom777]

[citation][nom]ericburnby[/nom]I checked out amazon. A Game Of Thrones is $7.19 paperback and $10.36 for Kindle.So let me get this straight: Amazon is selling a title you want for LESS than iTunes, and you say Apple is being anti-competitive by forcing prices higher? Seems to me you have a choice to buy Amazon and get a lower price.Amazon is also selling an e-book (your example, Game of Thrones) for MORE than a paper version, and people say Apple is being ridiculous for doing the same thing?[/citation]

I'm saying that the price for ebooks should be lower sir. I don't care about Apple or Amazon. There is little to no overhead for ebooks, so they should be cheaper. I used examples that I could find.

 

[alidan]

[citation][nom]xerroz[/nom]Here's hoping the DoJ doesn't back down. Apple and these publishes need to be smacked down...especially Apple. Price fixing - which is clearly what they've done no matter what they say- is illegal and these companies need to be punished with the FULL extent of the LAW.[/citation]

i can argue for price fixing, just not in the case of books.

lets go tvs, where they have been accused of it.
it would cut so far into the margins that making a tv wouldn't be viable anymore, and at some point would result in a monopoly.

i agree that 1080P+ monitors cost to much, but look at the 1080p line up now... look how cheap they are.

 

[Vladislaus]

[citation][nom]ericburnby[/nom]I checked out amazon. A Game Of Thrones is $7.19 paperback and $10.36 for Kindle.So let me get this straight: Amazon is selling a title you want for LESS than iTunes, and you say Apple is being anti-competitive by forcing prices higher? Seems to me you have a choice to buy Amazon and get a lower price.Amazon is also selling an e-book (your example, Game of Thrones) for MORE than a paper version, and people say Apple is being ridiculous for doing the same thing?[/citation]
This is the point of DoJ lawsuit. The DoJ is saying Apple and book publishers conspired to bring the ebook prices up. Not just in iTunes but to every etailer. This is why the ebook costs more than the paperback on amazon. Before the launch of the iPad ebooks were cheaper.

 

[ubercake]

[citation][nom]Vladislaus[/nom]This is the point of DoJ lawsuit. The DoJ is saying Apple and book publishers conspired to bring the ebook prices up. Not just in iTunes but to every etailer. This is why the ebook costs more than the paperback on amazon. Before the launch of the iPad ebooks were cheaper.[/citation]
Totally true. This is the problem.

Hopefully they'll come down on these beyotches like they did with the RAM companies when they were keeping prices artificially high. Since then, RAM has become cheaper than books on iTunes!

 

[zaznet]

[citation][nom]Vladislaus[/nom]This is why the ebook costs more than the paperback on amazon. Before the launch of the iPad ebooks were cheaper.[/citation]

Some people refuse to believe this and want to think this is just the DOJ going after Big Bad Apple because they have a lot of money.

It is very telling that Apple was prepared to deny publishers access to it's store if they did not accept the agency model. That offer included preferred status for Apple which ensured Apple would always have the lowest price under the agency model. This puts a lot of the blame towards Apple even if there was no conspiracy between all parties.

Also the price fixing which increased prices across all retailers allowed Apple to level the playing field and not have to compete on price. What Apple really wanted to do was turn the ebook business into the same model as their app store. This allows them considerable profit margin for their investment.

 

[ubercake]

It was funny the first time I went to buy a kindle book on Amazon and saw the Kindle price higher than the paperback. I actually sent Amazon customer service a message because I though someone had mistakenly entered the wrong price. Why on earth would a book cost more that involves nothing but a transfer of data? There is no longer a manufacturing cost and distribution cost is almost nil yet the price is higher?

This was just after the Apple news stories regarding their dealings with the publishing houses. This seriously pisses me off. Publishing houses have almost no reason to exist other than offering editing services if needed. It's hard to feel sorry for any industry that adapts to their increased lack of necessity through price fixing rather than finding a new method of effectively serving its customers.

I would suggest any author should just self-publish if possible. It's easy enough. There's a free publishing guide on Amazon.

 

[markheber]

Who cares what the price of e-books are!

Buy the paper books if price is the only thing that brings value. I like e-books and think they are worth a little more money for the convenience they bring to my life. The price of anything has very little to do with the cost of manufacturing. Paper books could be sold at one third of the current cost. It is the fact that companies are in business to make money. "What ever the market can bare" is they phrase that should explain the price of e-books. It is what the product is worth, not how much is costs to make.

 

[blazorthon]

[citation][nom]markheber[/nom]Who cares what the price of e-books are!Buy the paper books if price is the only thing that brings value. I like e-books and think they are worth a little more money for the convenience they bring to my life. The price of anything has very little to do with the cost of manufacturing. Paper books could be sold at one third of the current cost. It is the fact that companies are in business to make money. "What ever the market can bare" is they phrase that should explain the price of e-books. It is what the product is worth, not how much is costs to make.[/citation]

My Windows laptop can do more than a Macbook of several times the price in the same generation of technology, so it's more convenient. Being more convenient doesn't mean I would want to spend even more money than the already overpriced Macbook to get that extra convenience, especially since the OEM Windows laptops tend to be overpriced (just not nearly as badly as Macbooks).

I would rather pay around what something is worth with a good enough markup to get the companies involved in getting it to me a decent profit. When profit margins are in the upper 90s of percent, well, I don't care how convenient it is, a product should not have that much markup because it is then more of a scam than a proper business venture. eBook's costing more than physical books is a scam and nothing more, especially with the cost of physical books.

 

[hetneo]

[citation][nom]v3nom777[/nom]I'm saying that the price for ebooks should be lower sir. I don't care about Apple or Amazon. There is little to no overhead for ebooks, so they should be cheaper. I used examples that I could find.[/citation]
Is that listed or discounted price for paperback? Is that Amazon or some other retailer selling through amazon? http/www.amazon.com/Game-Thrones-Song-Fire-Book/dp/0553386794/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338596067&sr=8-1 just saying. Amazon has it listed at $17, but discounted at $10.36, some guy Jackster27 sells it for $7.19+$3.99 shipping, there are some listed at $7.22 but are editions from 2002. You think you can sell for $17 book that was collecting dust for 10 years in some warehouse? Kindle version is $10.54, no discount. Prices at Amazon are much diff than what you think. Don't mix amazon and retailers that sell through amazon.