schmunk
No different to an MP3 or video distributed online.
That's true, and as a writer, I certainly endorse the notion of creative types getting rewarded for their work, so creating the work in the first place (be it book, music, whatever) has a cost.
But I take Miniyazz's point too …. if they can sell a work for £x when it involves the cost of production, distribution etc of, say, a book, how come you can't at least discount the final retail price to reflect the lower costs because, after all, you're not paying for paper or printing, let alone the considerable costs of physically shipping printed books over over the country/planet, or the costs of several extra layers of middlemen and service providers to do it?
I think that's one thing that gets up people's noses about digital distribution - common sense says the cost has to have gone down, but the price rarely seems to reflect that …. and indeed, sometimes goes
up.
Personally, I
will not pay a premium for what, after all, seems like physically less because I'll feel like a muppet if I do. Sure, a digital copy gives you some utility a physical one does not (like loads of books on a small, light e-reader, but then, a physical copy gives you utility a digital one doesn't, like not needing expensive hardware to use it and, in some cases at least, DRM or format hassles.
Not reflecting reduced costs in price seems like exploitation, and people don't understand it, and IMHO ….
don't like it.