The DOJ has put together an absolutely fascinating timeline for the price collusion efforts between Apple and major publishers. (Read the entire thing here. Really. Read it. It’s the most thrilling narrative to come out of the Big 6 this year).
What’s amazing about this string of evidence is seeing how everyone involved felt like it was the most normal thing ever to ring up their competitors and band together. There was no thought to the reader. The goal, it seems, was to hurt Amazon and to protect print books.
Meanwhile, authors are screwed with higher book prices (which leads to less sales). Readers are screwed with higher prices (which means less to read or moving on to other forms of entertainment). Publishers are screwed because they could make more money selling a greater number of books at lower prices (please don’t anyone tell them this. It’s a secret that only indie authors and every other business major in the universe knows).
But none of that mattered. The bookstores were happy, the English majors who love books and hate the exact same story presented on e-ink were happy, and Amazon’s customers were sad, and that was all that mattered!
I’m sure we’ll hear from Scott Turow at any time to tell us how Apple is great for authors and Amazon sucks. Get on it, Scott!
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