IntenseDebate - Brent Logan

13 years ago @ Shaun in the City - More about My "Negativ... · 0 replies · +1 points

You aren't the first to ask tough questions. David asks in Psalm 1:1:

"Why, LORD, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?"

And Jesus asks in Matt 27:46: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

We don't have a lot of choices. We can act like nothing bad happens. We can recognize bad happens but not question why God allows it, or we can recognize bad happens and that God allows it. I think intellectual honesty makes option 3 the only viable choice.

Why does God allow it? I don't know. But I don't think it's wrong to question.

13 years ago @ blogan - Our Little Chatterboxe... · 0 replies · +1 points

I just think we prefer to throw technology at problems.

13 years ago @ blogan - Our Little Chatterboxe... · 0 replies · +1 points

Much of what Israel does to secure their airport and flights is no secret. Here's one description.

13 years ago @ blogan - Our Little Chatterboxe... · 0 replies · +1 points

You may think you're joking, but there's precedent.

13 years ago @ Michael Hyatt Blog - Unboxing the New Amazo... · 0 replies · +2 points

I plan on getting an eReader for Christmas or before (or maybe slightly after, if my hints aren't obvious enough...). I really like the Kindle 3, I just wish it supported ePub like the Nook. That way I could borrow books from the library once in a while. I guess if I'm just borrowing, it doesn't matter whether it's bits or atoms.

13 years ago @ Michael Hyatt Blog - Results of My 2010 Rea... · 0 replies · +2 points

Yes to the separate publishing blog! Although I never aspire to publish a book, I enjoy reading about the issues surrounding publishing. I'd also be interested in knowing how the religious book publishing business differs.

14 years ago @ Michael Hyatt Blog - Some Thoughts on eBook... · 2 replies · +2 points

Thanks for the reply!

I guess I should have been more clear. I understand why retailers would do loss leaders. What I don't understand is how Amazon doing loss leaders affects a publisher's income. Doesn't the publisher set the price to the distributor or distributor/retailer (whoever's next in line)?

And good luck to Amazon with Kindle. I think the iPad will eat the Kindle's eReader lunch, and leave Amazon with losing money on each eBook sale.

As a parent of multiple college students, I think (hope) there's a real market for eTextbooks. Right now, we play the game buying online and used and then reselling it back to the same site. In effect, we're renting the textbooks and the publisher and author only makes money on the initial sale. I guess that's why there are so many new editions... ;-) I think an iPad type device with electronic delivery, DRM so the book can't be resold, and a reasonable first price (closer to the "rental" price we're already paying) could be a winner. The publisher makes money from each student, the student gets to keep the book but not resell it, all the student's textbooks fit in a relatively small, light device. I would have loved it in college!
My recent post Virtual Touring

14 years ago @ Michael Hyatt Blog - Some Thoughts on eBook... · 2 replies · +2 points

I don't understand a pricing structure where you lose money with each sale. Wouldn't that be a business to leave?

And I'd agree that the physical cost of manufacturing could be trivial. It doesn't make sense to me that all the other costs associated with selling through a brick and mortar bookstore would be. Just like authors, booksellers don't want to work for free. Isn't there substantial costs associated with a building, employees, and carrying all that inventory (or is inventory a cost carried by someone else?).

I think as a publisher (to try to answer your question), book prices should be structured so sales result in income, not just volume.

I'd love to hear your perspective on this whole Amazon kerfuffle. The relationship between publishers, distributors, and sellers is one I don't understand.
My recent post Virtual Touring

14 years ago @ Michael Hyatt Blog - Some Thoughts on eBook... · 2 replies · +2 points

It's not the eBook sellers that have set my expectations as to what a book should cost; it's the brick and mortar stores selling physical books. I can buy pulpy paperbacks for $6-7 and the higher quality (nicer paper and print quality) paperbacks for $10. Certainly, an eBook that doesn't have the per-unit costs associated with printing, inventory, shipping, stocking, etc., should sell for less.

Talking in terms of value pricing instead of cost-plus is a mixed bag. Sure, an eBook might be more easily carried, but it's less easily read, carried (much more $$ at risk), and impossible to share.

I admit I'm not an eBook reader. The cost of entry is too rich for my blood. The iPad might change this, though, being a viable eReader that's comes virtually free with a portable tablet computer.
My recent post Virtual Touring

14 years ago @ blogan - Year in Review: Favori... · 0 replies · +1 points

Ha! Thanks, Steph. I won't tell a soul. ;-)

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