Do you think ebooks should be available for free and paper bound books should on

1. 61

   RajeshKumarPadhyposted 12 years ago

   Do you think ebooks should be available for free and paper bound books should only be charged?
   
   As the ebooks don't impose any loss to the manufacturing companies thus giving them away would be great for people. The paper bound books should be charged to meet their production and manufacturing costs

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2. 80

   Nesbyteposted 12 years ago

   It would make sense for ebooks to be cheaper on account of the fact that they don't need to be printed etc. However, they shouldn't be free. When you buy a book you're not just paying for the raw materials; you're paying for the author's work. You still get that with an ebook, so they can't be free.

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3. 58

   Faihaposted 12 years ago

   E-books certainly cannot be available for free. The author is putting in his hard work into it after all, so what if there is no manufacturing costs!

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4. 60

   Paul Maplesdenposted 12 years ago

   The issues is though that an ebook still costs time, resources and expertise to produce, and a creator will want to be paid for that time. As everything becomes digital and downloadable, this issue is only going to increase, but content creators (writers, artists, musicians etc) still need to make money, even if their products are purely digital.

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5. 85

   M. T. Dremerposted 12 years ago

   I think the current ebook system is already more cost effective than physical books. Public domain books are free, libraries are incorporating free ebooks for check out and services like amazon prime offer free ebooks. But I certainly don't think all ebooks should be free. As a writer, I'd still like to earn money off my books in the future, whatever the format might be. I would be interested, however, to see a system where we can buy a physical copy of a book, and get a free e-version with it. Similar to how they give you a digital copy of a movie when you buy the dvd. I'm not sure how this would work, but I think it's a possibility going forward.

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6. 87

   Everyday Miraclesposted 12 years ago

   As a writer, my answer is an emphatic "absolutely NOT." Why should you get something for free that another person put their time and energy into creating for your use? Like any other job, writers get paid for what they produce. If I write a novel, readers need to pay me for the privilege of reading my novel. I may choose to give it away promotionally or to those offering to review my book, but no, it shouldn't be free regardless of the format.
   
   Publishers aren't the only ones who get paid from book sales. Authors receive their royalties too.

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