But don't forget that with most e-books the author and publisher has already gotten a very nice reward with the publication of the hardback and paperback, which offsets the production costs. And then some.
Actually, ebooks are being released at the same time as their physical versions these days, so each ebook sale is one less hardback or original paperback sale. I think Amazon is beginning at these prices because the idea is that Kindle books will eventually replace physical books, so that will be where publishers
have to make their money. And that money pays for editors, layout people, cover artists, etc., not just the physical cost of producing the book. I know that in post-secondary ed, we're looking toward entirely ebooks in place of textbooks within the next 10 years. That's what high school librarians in my area are anticipating, too.
And as someone who is responsible for providing books-on-tape for students who have visual or reading problems, I'm looking forward to the day when all textbooks are ebooks, available to be read by a text reader.
P.S. I ordered my Kindle 2 yesterday.
