Amazon Tumbles As E-Book Pricing Model Unravels

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Amazon Tumbles As E-Book Pricing Model Unravels
Amazon.com (AMZN) shares are taking a serious hit this morning as pricing for electronic books suddenly appears to be changing in a way which is likely to lead to higher prices - and lower sales.

To review: Amazon had established $9.99 as the standard price for best sellers on the Kindle. Under the old Amazon model, the retailer would buy books from the publishers, then sell them at a loss in an effort to spur consumers to buy more Kindle e-book readers. But Apple (AAPL) has shaken up the market, offering a new model to publishers: publishers set end-market pricing, with revenue split 70% for the publisher, 30% for Apple, and with prices generally in the $13-$15 range.

Over the weekend, Amazon.com stopped selling books from the publisher Macmillan, which wanted a shift to the Apple pricing model. Amazon cried uncle, and said it would allow Macmillan to set prices for e-books it sells on the site.

Several analysts have weighed in on the situation, and all agree that a shift of the entire market to higher pricing would have several ramification:

Amazon will get more revenue - and higher margins - from e-book sales…
…publishers will actually make less money per unit sale..
…but pricing control will shift from Amazon to the publishers…
…and Amazon could see slower adoption of the Kindle, and reduced e-book sales volumes.
One of the most amazing things about this situation is that Apple has once again shaken up a huge media market - this time before it sells even a single unit. The Apple online bookstore won’t go live until the iPad starts shipping at the end of March

Meanwhile, the new scenario clearly has the Street worried about what it means for Kindle sales; AMZN today is down $10.94, or 8.7%, to $114.47.
 
I have a question about e-book technology. I've seen other people reading in this fashion, and frankly, was pretty underimpressed. Is it possible to change the appearance of the text and background? I hate large type and double or 1-1/2 line spacing between text. I hate gray backgrounds and tiny screens. I now look at the text inside a book before even considering buying one and most recently I've put far more back on the shelf than in my basket. It seems that the type style currently in vogue is targeted toward mouthbreathers, not people who can actually read more than one word at a time.

If those flaws are correctable with ebook technology, I'm certainly willing to consider going in that direction.
 
the ipad will allow font changes, don't know about the other issues.

Also Apple started the war with actually higher prices.
 
The e-ink screen is easier on the eyes.

Not worth 300 bucks though. Just read the E-Book on your IPhone, rather than buying a goofy extra-large IPhone.
 
Thorn said:
I have a question about e-book technology. I've seen other people reading in this fashion, and frankly, was pretty underimpressed. Is it possible to change the appearance of the text and background? I hate large type and double or 1-1/2 line spacing between text. I hate gray backgrounds and tiny screens. I now look at the text inside a book before even considering buying one and most recently I've put far more back on the shelf than in my basket. It seems that the type style currently in vogue is targeted toward mouthbreathers, not people who can actually read more than one word at a time.

If those flaws are correctable with ebook technology, I'm certainly willing to consider going in that direction.
Click to expand...
Thorn I have some ideas I'd like to drop into your PM box when I have time. You see many of the same problems that I do with this current technology.
 
Thorn said:
I have a question about e-book technology. I've seen other people reading in this fashion, and frankly, was pretty underimpressed. Is it possible to change the appearance of the text and background? I hate large type and double or 1-1/2 line spacing between text. I hate gray backgrounds and tiny screens. I now look at the text inside a book before even considering buying one and most recently I've put far more back on the shelf than in my basket. It seems that the type style currently in vogue is targeted toward mouthbreathers, not people who can actually read more than one word at a time.

If those flaws are correctable with ebook technology, I'm certainly willing to consider going in that direction.
Click to expand...

My kendle allows font and spacing changes but you cant change the background color.
 
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