Topic: Kindle books dishonesty?

[Desert Fox]

I have noticed several cases where old books, beyond copyright, are available for free at Google Books and other places but Amazon also has Kindle versions of the books available for sale. I believe one was $8.00 at Amazon

Thoughts, is this dishonesty?

[Skeptress]

Dishonest, yes. But I see this sort of thing in the sewing world all the time.  It may be that the kindle version is a better copy, has fewer errors for example or better formatting.  It is a free market and if individuals wish to pay the money rather taking a few minutes to google and get it for free then good on Amazon I suppose.  I know Barnes and Noble has groups of books like this, for example the works of Jane Austin.  Usually they are around $3.  To me this is a worthwhile price to pay for a clean copy of several books that I can download all at once rather than searching for the books individually and risking that there will be formatting errors etc. 

So in the end I don't think Amazon should have to warn their customers that the books can be found free.  Buyer beware.

[Tai Fung]

I think from their perspective, you're paying for the service of accessing them in an easy-to-use format, and for those tech challenged enough who don't know how to download/convert/upload to Kindle.  Perhaps almost like buying bottled water?

I'm with Heather -- I'd pay a few dollars if I wanted to just get a book easily and quickly, but not as much as $8 for something that was free.  For that, I'd go to the trouble to learn to download/convert/upload.  But if it was a couple of bucks to buy it, I might do that, just for the convenience of it.

[Desert Fox]

I have a roommate with a Kindle, regularly gets books from Project Gutenberg

[Johnny Slick]

Yeah, IME the difference between the books that are freely available and the ones that cost a small amount is that the latter have had actual time taken to format them correctly and, in the case of older books, have explanatory footnotes. I mean, this isn't a whole lot different than buying a Penguin copy of Jane Eyre new at your local bookstore vs. buying an older, smaller-type, harder-to-read version at Half Price Books for a dollar. It's not so much about the text itself as it is the way the text is delivered.

[Ah.hell]

Yeah, IME the difference between the books that are freely available and the ones that cost a small amount is that the latter have had actual time taken to format them correctly and, in the case of older books, have explanatory footnotes. I mean, this isn't a whole lot different than buying a Penguin copy of Jane Eyre new at your local bookstore vs. buying an older, smaller-type, harder-to-read version at Half Price Books for a dollar. It's not so much about the text itself as it is the way the text is delivered.

This, I'd pay a few books bucks for a book that was formatted well over the free scanned pdf version that might be missing pages. 

[superdave]

hmm, typically books on project gutenberg can be had for free on the kindle, but if you see a paid version it is probably a different edition.

[arthwollipot]

I examined the possibility of trying to remove the DRM on my iBooks copies of Game of Thrones, but I decided that it was a lot easier (and less illegal) just to pay ten bucks for them again.

[pandamonium]

So, are Barnes & Noble Classic Edition reprints in paperbacks dishonest? I paid $20 for Edgar Allen Poe's collected works in a nicely bound edition--was i lied to, because they're all public domain?

[Desert Fox]

So, are Barnes & Noble Classic Edition reprints in paperbacks dishonest? I paid $20 for Edgar Allen Poe's collected works in a nicely bound edition--was i lied to, because they're all public domain?

You know, it was just a question. . . .Don't need to be quite so hard on me 
I would look to add that I do think it is the nice bindings is a nice thing and being able to hold the actual book in your hand is nice as well.
I have a couple of real old books taht the whole book can be found online

[David E.]

So, are Barnes & Noble Classic Edition reprints in paperbacks dishonest? I paid $20 for Edgar Allen Poe's collected works in a nicely bound edition--was i lied to, because they're all public domain?

I love those editions. 

[pandamonium]

So, are Barnes & Noble Classic Edition reprints in paperbacks dishonest? I paid $20 for Edgar Allen Poe's collected works in a nicely bound edition--was i lied to, because they're all public domain?

You know, it was just a question. . . .Don't need to be quite so hard on me 
I would look to add that I do think it is the nice bindings is a nice thing and being able to hold the actual book in your hand is nice as well.
I have a couple of real old books taht the whole book can be found online

THE BEATING WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES.

I need to stop venturing outside of Explicit when I'm feeling grumpy and/or drunk. Sorry.

[Dionysus]

So in the end I don't think Amazon should have to warn their customers that the books can be found free.  Buyer beware.

Eh? Even if the Kindle version does have some advantages, why in the world should they not have to note that the books can be acquired for free elsewhere? Is lie by omission no longer frowned upon?

Another reason not to get a Kindle.

[Miisanthrope]

Something I only came to realize after buying a Kindle (which I otherwise love, BTW) is that quite frequently the Kindle edition is more expensive than the paperback one. This I just have a hard time understanding. No printing fees, just use the same text they likely have on a computer file somewhere anyway, so what justifies the higher price?

[Johnny Slick]

"Kindle products are $10. That is how things are."