Just like private repositories are a service that brings value that people are willing to pay for, so is having an entire book in a small and portable format.
Ignore the costs related to making and distributing the physical objects when it comes to pricing them; if that's accepted wisdom for start-ups, why wouldn't it be for established companies?
So the Agency pricing scheme is only changing the pocket where money goes.
And keep in mind that in countries like China, the same books cost usually $3, after translating rights, printing, distribution and publishers costs. And publishers still live on this, in a country where people buy much less books.
So what is fucked up is that someone is making money, and it doesn't even benefit the authors.
It's more or less the same problem as in music.
Irrelevant. Pricing is based on value provided, not cost to create.
>and it doesn't even benefit the authors.
This is indeed an issue, but it is then up to authors to find better representation the way that athletes have so they can get a larger share in the value they create.