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Comment by res0nat0r | Hacker News Reader

> It's also why I buy my books hardcover now: more cash for the author.

Isn't this true, Amazon or not? Hardcovers cost the customer more than paperbacks or ebooks, so the author should be getting hopefully a larger cut of the sale.

I think this program (if it has enough titles that I've bought in the past) is going to be awesome. I've never bought a Kindle because paying almost the same price for the Kindle version of a book vs. the paperback cost is ridiculous. Now with this program I will buy a Kindle so I can read my past purchases via that when I'm traveling, and my paperback versions when I'm sitting around at home.

Does anyone know if you can actually use this program with used book purchases? I've bought many books used (many times for only a few bucks including shipping), so I don't know if they would be eligible for this program or not.

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Hmm, I always bought the Kindle editions because physical books are a pain in the ass to read. Before the Kindle, I even resorted to a WinCE device (built-in backlight, easy rotation for any position). Kindle Paperwhite is simply the best reading experience I've ever had in my life.

The fact I could get a paper version doesn't even factor into my decision. Actually, the price rarely factors into the decision, as the difference is usually only a few bucks anyways.

One of the things I hate the most about reading books is holding them up while reading. eReaders have solved this problem for me, and now I am a happy camper!

You... don't have to hold an eReader up? One of the worst things about reading ebooks on my iPad 2 is the weight.

Well the iPad weighs 1.3 lbs, and the Kindle weighs less than half a pound. Only the smallest paperback books are lighter than a small ereader.

Like those old serials, The Executioner and The Destroyer. Gotta love those old, < 100 page bubble gum books.

Which is why I have a Kindle eReader and an iPad.

I agree that the eInk Kindles are one of the best bits of tech I've ever owned and the best reading experience I've had.

War and Peace, Anna Karenina, any recent book by Neal Stephenson - those are all much more pleasant on a kindle than in paper form.

My biggest problem was always trying to hold a book open with one hand. This was a problem because my hands are large and trying to read a paperback with both hands was sub-optimal, not to mention reading in the bath or whilst lounging.

I can lean a Kindle against the pillow, which is much harder to do with a book.

Not really. Print books don't get the author hardly anything at all. My wife is an author, exclusive on Amazon so she makes ~70% on ebook sales. The profit from a print book is next to nothing. Of course, this can vary a lot on the type and price of the book.

>I've never bought a Kindle because paying almost the same price for the Kindle version of a book vs. the paperback cost is ridiculous.

You don't understand the economics of publishing. The paperback, and the hardcover for that matter cost almost nothing to produce. You are paying for the information. Perhaps the ebook should be a dollar cheaper.

For anyone interested in the average profit margins of books publishers and some what the percentage of the paper, print, and binding for a book is of the total cost, the Art & Science of Book Publishing by Herbert S. Jr Bailey (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0821409700/ref=wms_ohs_prod...) is a good book. Print on Demand and ebooks have changed some aspects, but it is still largely true that, for most books, marketing, overhead, sales, etc. are a lot of the cost of producing a book. Even with ebooks, this is still the case. Illuminating stuff.

I have no idea who downvoted this comment, but it is very true. The cost of a book is the cost of making and marketing it. Paper is really cheap. Obviously it is more expensive than bits, but not significantly.

It's not just the direct priniting costs there is also the risk discount as publishers often destroy a significant number of unsold books.

In Economics, nobody cares about facts. The ebook is "less" than a physical book, therefore it should cost less.

> I will buy a Kindle so I can read my past purchases via that

It says it works with the Kindle app too, so you can use any of your existing devices for this as well.

Copied from the other topic on this:

That would be way too easy to game. I.e. set up an Amazon Marketplace account, "sell" yourself and/or accomplices lots of books for "reasonable" prices, with the money minus some vig including Amazon's charges going back to the "buyers", then they buy el-cheapo Kindle copies for real.

If you're going to do that, why not just pirate the books? For the same amount of effort, you'd probably manage it - and it'd be cheaper.

A hint as thinking doesn't appear to be your strong point. If something seems to be "way too easy", even to you, perhaps they thought of it first. That might explain why this applies to purchases from Amazon only.

From my reading of the deal, it applies to new books only.

What? It says directly that all purchases will count.

"Available for thousands of great print books purchased new from Amazon, going all the way back to 1995 when Amazon first opened its online bookstore."

WalterBright is talking about purchases of new books (vs. used/resold), not new purchases.

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