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Amazon launched the Kindle in 2007, which was the first commercially successful e-reader. However, the price of e-books, which is almost the same as for their printed counterparts, is left as a critical downside for the customers. This caused numerous heated debates among the e-book readership because it is not justifiable. Hence, the price of e-books should be reduced.

Firstly, after the pre-production, there is a difference evident in the expenses for logistics, which includes printing, packing, storing and shipping. Every single point in this procedure becomes redundant for e-books. For this process, distributors of paper books need to have either machines or a certain amount of manpower, whereas you do not even need much bandwidth to distribute e-books. Accordingly, making books accessible in an online store is cheaper and also wastes no trees.

Once the book is on the e-reader it becomes apparent that e-books are not physical goods. This leads to the consequence that holders of e-books can neither resell nor lend them out. The copy is also not stored on the e-reader, but online. The consequence is that you only buy the rights to read and you do not really own the book physically. These elements limit the usability, its convenience and the value for the customers drastically.

All the limitations are solely due to the copy protection. The decision to use Digital Rights Management, a way of protecting e-books in this case, already indicates the publisher's attempt at keeping control over the new market. By making e-books so unattractive the demand is kept low and they can justify the price with the insignificant revenue. Moreover, the price policy is influenced by the fear of piracy, though this also can be countered with lower prices. If it is not worth investing time and money to get e-books from illegal sources, the people will just buy them in the online shop because they are generally keen to start reading at once. It all boils down that publishers lack will to expand into this new market with all its chances and possibilities.

In conclusion, e-books involve fewer costs compared with paper books, as well as features because the digital copies are restricted to one user. Not only would fair priced e-books lead to more sales in the long term, but also to a business model where publishers do not have to fear piracy anymore. Thus, the only logical consequence is to reduce the price and help creating an even more literate society.


Side note: I wrote this essay for SEP (Supplementary English Practice). I'd love to hear your comments.