I know many people who own e-readers and almost all of them download their books from torrent websites. I frown upon this in the same way I frown upon those who illegally download music. Those artists, and those writers, worked hard to create their products, and they deserve to make an income off of it. However, we all know that the economy is not at its greatest height and that penny pinchers are everywhere! When you are looking at spending $15 to download a book that you could just as easily get for free, there is really nothing holding you back other than your own conscience. And, the law of course, but reprimands are pretty low for this kind of stuff. Paper book purchases have already drastically decreased since e-readers started to become so popular. And why wouldn't they? You can read a book for free, whereas buying that new hardcover could run you $30 or more. I, for one, miss the days when you had to crack a cover in order to read a book. I do own an e-reader but I haven't used it more than a few times. It seems like it is just becoming too easy, and too tempting for people to just steal copies of the online books, rather than dish out the money for them.
I think with the advent of Amazon I don't really see people complaining about the price of books. For example, the other day I purchased "Camp Z," which is $40 at a bookstore here, but I got it for $4.50 plus tax at Amazon. Amazing price! Just like music or movies, it doesn't justify downloading anything illegally.
I think so, I believe that the companies are over charging for the data that is almost free. People download stuff because they are smart and If you insult their intelligence it only makes natters worst.
Some people see it like if the book cost about $300 or more, they would be interested what information it could give that it makes it prices that high.
I suppose it is indeed the prohibitive cost of some books that makes people look for cheaper or free versions. If the same book were available for a small price, or for free reading at a local library, I don't see why anyone might want to read an electronic version of it. I've come across books that run into hundreds of dollars, but unfortunately, because of this high price tag, you are very unlikely to even come across free (or paid) downloads of the same.
I really don't buy books since ebooks have came along. I love the convience of them. Not to mention loving the fact I don't have tons of books on the shelf to dust. Cost was never a factor for me in buying books. Although they were costly, if I wanted to read it I bought it.
You don't even have to resort to illegal downloading with things like Project Gutenberg and Google Books. Those sites have enough material to keep you occupied your entire reading life.
Agreed - illegal downloading is theft, however you look at it, and there is no justification for it. I believe that people download books illegaly for the same reason they download movies - they don't want to pay for a new book or movie, but they're not prepared to wait until the price comes down to read it or see it. It's a combination of impatience and greed.
People borrow books from libraries read them and return them without paying a cent. Nobody complains about how libraries hurt authors or how libraries need to be shut down for affecting book sales. A lot of people who borrow books from libraries would not have bought them if they weren't free. Authors have no problems with libraries, in fact some authors have book signings at libraries. So why do we have a problem with people downloading them and reading them. Both seem the same to me.
Good point. Borrowing books from libraries have the same concept as downloading media online right? And most people, even the rich people won't say no to free stuff. So naturally, people would gladly download stuff online for free, since it's very convenient. So to prevent this from happening, the government should do everything in their power to prevent the pirates from releasing the latest book, movies, etc. online. However, if the movie is already 3 years old, it legally becomes public property already.
I think that the cost doesn't influence people to download illegally. People will still try to steal a $.99 e-book if they can. I think it's just too easy to find pdfs online and if companies want to control their content they need to make it in formats that are harder to share.
People who download ebooks from torrent sites would download load them regardless of the price. I still prefer to buy a physical book. I love the way a book feels in my hands. I haven't bought an e-reader yet, but I have the Kindle app on my laptop.
I prefer physical books to e-books. In addition, e-books are often terrible quality, so unless I've read that author before, I would never purchase an e-book without first reading a little bit of their other stuff. I think most people who download e-books are just jaded by the poor quality that a lot of people put out.
I remember downloading the Web Bible (covering all about Web Design) for free yet it was being sold for about $50. The cost is a factor promoting FREE downloads but the ease of cracking these books motivates me more.
I tend to think that people who are really determined to get something for free (whether they're really hurting for money or not) will do it no matter what the alternative is. You could provide a fantastic price for them but it will still not beat getting it for free if that's what they're after. I have a kindle and there is plenty of legitamately free material to read through...on top of the fact that many e-books are already very low prices. I think the topic is just another example of people wanting whatever they can get for free.
I know many people who download e-books illegally from the internet. I understand that books aren't cheap but in my opinion downloading texts for free shows no respect to the authors. I guess that most think that if something is available for free there's no need to pay for it and get a particular book legally.
I would say that it depends on the person. Some people will not illegally download, no matter how broke they are, they will wait until they have the cash. Other people may have the money but figure why should they pay anything if they can get it for free. I agree that a writer should get paid for their work, but the Internet has made it easy for people to get things without paying for them, so some find it too tempting to pass up something for nothing.
I think so, yes. I hate that books are so expensive. There's one I really really want, but as a nook book it's $10. I will never pay that. No idea what it is in paperback. Proably more.
I think that whatever price you offer there are always going to be people who refuse to pay a Cent and still illegally obtain them, not just books must music, films and software.
