Apple in court for price fixing

It wasn't just Apple to blame but the other publishers settled out of court. Only news again because Apple are in court today. If it was another publisher in court then it would not be headline grabbing news.
 
They must believe the US courts 'evidence' won't hold up, or they'd have settled out of court like everyone else.

It seems a tad harsh to pin all of the blame for this on Apple, but I suspect that won't stop some people anyway.
 
I think Apple and the publishing houses were equally to blame as it takes two to tango, one side was hardly an innocent party.

I just think cases like this give us the glimpse into the fact that most everything is price fixed higher than it should be for profit and we are routinely ripped off, it's only that the odd folk are caught out as there seems to be no political will to put people over profit.
 
If everyone else settled out of court, then why have ebooks not become cheaper, they are virtually always listed as the same price as their physical counterparts, even now?
 
Both to blame but it was Apples idea. As everyone else settled out of court it suggests that they knew what they were doing was wrong. Evidence is from Steve Jobs own words as well.

I'm all for cheaper stuff so if they've artificially put the price up (which SJ is quoted as actually saying) then they deserve to get a kicking.



M.
 
P.S. I remember reading ages ago regarding the price of ebooks vs physical and it was something along the lines of physical books get a tax discount where as ebooks don't so the price evens out.

I'll try and find the link later.



M.
 
I think Apple and the publishing houses were equally to blame as it takes two to tango, one side was hardly an innocent party.

I just think cases like this give us the glimpse into the fact that most everything is price fixed higher than it should be for profit and we are routinely ripped off, it's only that the odd folk are caught out as there seems to be no political will to put people over profit.

Coming at this having worked in publishing for a few years recently, I know that most large publishers are bricking it about Amazon. If publishers want to keep being profitable, these prices are more or less what they need to price books at.

I'm not saying it's right, obviously - the larger publishers need to get their acts together and look at different business models rather than telling us that ebooks are a fad - but this was about the only way they could maintain profitability short term.

Also, as mentioned above, ebooks aren't taxed, whereas print books are.

Finally, I think it's a little unfair on publishing companies to expect their ebooks to be cheaper than their print copies. Due to the business infrastructure the larger companies have in place, their costs for print books aren't significantly higher, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if they used the slight bump in ebook prices to offset other deficiencies of theirs. This is no different to a pub selling Coke at £3 a pint to offset the price of alcohol, and nobody complains about that.
 
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It wasn't just Apple to blame but the other publishers settled out of court. Only news again because Apple are in court today. If it was another publisher in court then it would not be headline grabbing news.

This. Got to get those page clicks and nothing drives page views like a 'scandalous' Apple story...
 
This. Got to get those page clicks and nothing drives page views like a 'scandalous' Apple story...

Do you feel that Apple shouldn't be in the news for this? Or rather, what outcome would you prefer to see?

Brand loyalty earns you nothing different than anyone else. Maybe a gob of spit to make the process of screwing you less painful, but you're still getting screwed by the corporation :).
 
sounds like CD vs MP3 online sales all over again. Only people that get to be guaranteed screwed about are customers.
 
I find the whole Apple thing amusing.

1/3 of people loathe everything Apple.
1/3 want to make love to everything Apple.
Sensible 1/3 lol at the rest and make use of good Apple products.

I don't get the decisiveness the company causes.
 
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