Last Updated on May 24, 2015 by Dave Farquhar
Amazon just fired off another salvo in the e-book war, one that’s going to be very difficult to return: Selected e-books are available for free or at a substantial discount if you bought the print book new from Amazon at any time, dating back to 1995.
Of course, being an e-commerce site, Amazon has the data to do that. Barnes & Noble doesn’t, necessarily. Their records of in-store purchases will be spotty, at the very least.
It’s a fair and reasonable deal for consumers, and I think it’s a good deal for authors and publishers too.
Being able to read the book electronically after buying it in print form is a convenience. Some people format-shift their books, a practice that hasn’t yet been declared legal, but given a choice between buying digital copies of the books I own for $3 apiece (or less) or sitting down to scan my books, I’d rather just pony up the dollars. After all, the scanner costs $475, then I’d have to assemble the scanner, then sit down and use it. It’s cheaper and easier to just buy the books.
I think it’s a good deal for the other side too. They get to make a little more money, and by getting a spot both on the shelf and in the e-reader, the author gets two chances to stay in the reader’s mind. The enemy of the author is obscurity. Trust me–every other author I know agrees with me on that. So the author and publisher make a few more nickels for no additional work. Everyone should be happy.
It launches in October. My pre-2003 Amazon purchases were from defunct e-mail addresses, but I’ve made plenty of purchases since then, so it will be interesting to see what turns up.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.