I don’t have a dog in this hunt, other than essentially agreeing with Mr. Blodgett that the marginal cost of an ebook (and the fact that I can’t really loan it out) makes pricing tricky. So my kneejerk is to say – go amazon!
But yesterday I read this story in the NYT on the cost of a beef bowl in Japan. The article notes:
The battle has also come to epitomize a destructive pattern repeated across Japan’s economy. By cutting prices hastily and aggressively to attract consumers, critics say, restaurants decimate profits, squeeze workers’ pay and drive the weak out of business — a deflationary cycle that threatens the nation’s economy.
And then:
“These cutthroat price wars could usher in another recessionary hell,” the influential economist Noriko Hama wrote in a magazine article that has won much attention. “If we all got used to spending just 250 yen for every meal, then meals priced respectably will soon become too expensive,” she said. “When you buy something cheap, you lower the value of your own life.”
At least, this made me think. What is the value of a book? And if books just get cheaper, do we value them less?
Discuss. 