Could the Recession Stifle Digital Books?

Is the one dollar ebook coming? So far, the print market has suffered the worst of the recession. But some experts are already debating how to price digital books in these difficult times.

Over at TeleRead, David Rothman reports that iPhone production may have been reduced–which could be gloomy news for readers and writers hoping that the mobile phone could change the digital book market. Nevertheless, Rothman also speculates that “multi-use” iPhone could actually flourish in a world where consumers grow more “thrifty.”

What do you think? Will the recession stifle or super-size the digital book market? Over at 26th Story, author Seth Godin has some dramatic ebook pricing advice for publishers, tapping that thrifty mentality:

“[Y]ou can decide to hassle your readers (oh, I mean your customers) and you can decide that a book on a Kindle SHOULD cost $15 because it replaces a $15 book, and if you do, we (the readers) will just walk away. Or, you could say, ‘if books on the Kindle were $1, perhaps we could create a vast audience of people who buy books like candy, all the time, and read more and don’t pirate stuff cause it’s convenient and cheap…”

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