Amazon is a poor example since there are no actual numbers for comparison; we only have Amazon’s word on what they have done. Even then, the price of ebooks is such that when it is roughly the price of two ebooks equaling the price of one hardback, I can imagine selling more ebooks than hardbacks.

For myself, music started with DRM. Then it went away, for the most part. I think books will follow the same cycle.

So, a quick follow up: why do you think they keep offering library editions for books?

And I don’t think film companies get tons of slack either–we got pretty irritated when Fox was trying to sell us films without all the extras because they wanted those to be personal purchase copies only.

I believe this prospect scares the hell out of publishers, and they’re reacting in the methods they see are the best for protecting their business interests (and the interests of their authors too). The problem is these methods they’re using (restrictive DRM, shifted releases, accessibility, etc.) are changing the traditional ways that libraries have associated with publishers and have purchased books. We see challenges to Fair Use and to the Doctrine of First Sale; rights which libraries have traditionally relied upon to be able to best support their patrons. We’re seeing the same shift that’s happened to periodicals (from ownership to licensing) occurring with books – libraries no longer have as much control over their collections.

So, I think a lot of the ire comes from the fact that librarians feel betrayed by publishers, who we’ve always believed to have close ties with. Instead of working together as technological changes challenge both of us, publishers are seeing this as a way to break from libraries and the concessions librarians have fought for (Fair Use and First Sale for example) in order to preserve their self-interest.