Are the posted questions getting worse?
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HowardW (10/2/2012)
Have to say, getting increasingly irate about e-book pricing. Why do I have to pay 50p more, given all the costs of printing, distributing and shipping a physical hardback, to have a non-transferable lease of an electric copy?Not just pricing, the whole regional setup. So many books Amazon is very happy to sell and ship to me, but they're not willing to sell me the electronic version.
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverabilityWe walk in the dark places no others will enter
We stand on the bridge and no one may pass -
GilaMonster (10/3/2012)
HowardW (10/2/2012)
Have to say, getting increasingly irate about e-book pricing. Why do I have to pay 50p more, given all the costs of printing, distributing and shipping a physical hardback, to have a non-transferable lease of an electric copy?Not just pricing, the whole regional setup. So many books Amazon is very happy to sell and ship to me, but they're not willing to sell me the electronic version.
Well, moving electrons is really hard!
I wanted to buy an album that was only available in Germany, but there was no way to do it. Amazon wouldn't even let me buy the physical copy and have it shipped.
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When you encounter a problem, if the solution isn't readily evident go back to the start and check your assumptions.
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What’s so unpleasant about being drunk?
You ask a glass of water. -- Douglas Adams -
GilaMonster (10/3/2012)
HowardW (10/2/2012)
Have to say, getting increasingly irate about e-book pricing. Why do I have to pay 50p more, given all the costs of printing, distributing and shipping a physical hardback, to have a non-transferable lease of an electric copy?Not just pricing, the whole regional setup. So many books Amazon is very happy to sell and ship to me, but they're not willing to sell me the electronic version.
They're looking out for you. They know you make that 30 hr (one-way) round-trip flight every year, and they want you to be able to read the entire time without running out of battery power for your e-reader of choice.
:w00t:
Wayne
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server 2008
Author - SQL Server T-SQL Recipes
If you can't explain to another person how the code that you're copying from the internet works, then DON'T USE IT on a production system! After all, you will be the one supporting it!
Links:
For better assistance in answering your questions
Performance Problems
Common date/time routines
Understanding and Using APPLY Part 1 & Part 2 -
GilaMonster (10/3/2012)
HowardW (10/2/2012)
Have to say, getting increasingly irate about e-book pricing. Why do I have to pay 50p more, given all the costs of printing, distributing and shipping a physical hardback, to have a non-transferable lease of an electric copy?Not just pricing, the whole regional setup. So many books Amazon is very happy to sell and ship to me, but they're not willing to sell me the electronic version.
Well, I think regional restrictions on ebooks are appalling. Presumably that's the publishers, not Amazon, though (just as it is with DVDs).
Also, Amazon are a bit weird. Amazon.es won't sell a Kindle to an address in the Las Palmas province of Spain. Neither will Amazon.co.uk (I haven't tried Amazon.com, but I don't imagine they will either). So I got one shipped (by Amazon.co.uk) to my British address and picked it up when I was there. Then changed the registration of the Kindle to Amazon.es, using my address here (because this is where I mostly am) - and both Amazon.es and Amazon.co.uk happily accept orders for ebooks even though they know that I'm in the province they won't ship a Kindle to.
Tom
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On the region thing, sometimes it's the creators who only sell specific rights on their works. As in books, authors can sell North American English rights, German language rights, Worldwide rights. There are so many different breakdowns of the rights process that it confuses a lot of people. Savvy authors, though, know what to negotiate and can often make more money selling off the rights piecemeal.
More details on the region issue can be found here: http://ebookreadersresource.com/publisher-news/ebook-geographic-restriction/[/url]
The ebook pricing subject is a hot topic amongst authors, publishers, and distributors right now. There is a lot to be said on the subject, too much I think for a single post, so I'm going to sum up in a meandering kind of way.
1) There are a ton of people involved in the work of publishing a book. The editor, the copy editor, the head editor, the marketing department (lots of people there), the typesetter (yes, typesetters still exist), the cover artist, the publisher's lawyers and accountants. There isn't a whole lot of difference between the labor involved in creating an ebook and creating a print book (except when it comes to the printing and shipping part of the deal). Ebooks require specialized formatting and have their own special set of problems. At any rate, all these people have to be paid for their work.
2) Distributors like Amazon and Barnes & Noble and Smashwords want their share of the pie. Even print distributors want their share of the pie. So they have to get paid for the labor they put in (whether it's order taking, driving / shipping, delivery, returns or entering the data on a database, creating the webpage, etc.) Not to mention someone has to keep track of their books.
3) At this point, you've already taken a good 2/3rds to 3/4ths of the money received from a book. We'll assume there are no special license fees to be paid, like for a special software fee or payment to other people for use of their intellectual property or even for the use of an existing property like Star Wars or Star Trek. Because if there is any of that, there's more money from the total gone. Most of the time, authors don't make royalties on the cover price but the cover price after the bills are paid. So that $8.99 book you just paid for? The author who wrote it is lucky if they make a eight cents off the sale.
BTW, I'm generalizing here. Contract terms vary from publisher to publisher and author to author. Also, there are authors who are more informed on the monetary breakdowns than I am. Their presentations are pretty scary for someone who is trying to make their living by writing books. HINT: Keep your day job.
4) Then we get into the whole "Amazon has a monopoly" debate. Amazon sells ebooks at a rate that actually loses money for Amazon, but gains them lots of loyal customers. And if Amazon is losing money, how can publishers or authors be expected to make money? Amazon has been a bit of a bully in the marketplace, removing Buy buttons for publishers (or authors) who have refused to play ball (MacMillan ran into that a few years ago). When the publishers moved to force Amazon to allow them to sell on the agency model (directly to the consumer), Amazon turned the tables on them by reporting them to the Department of Justice for anti-trust violations (price collusion). This is still an ongoing issue that is making a lot of people mad.
Here are some links on that whole debate:
The Irony Of The Government's Antitrust Case Against Apple And Five Publishers[/url]
2 Publishers Deny Claim of E-Book Price Fixing
Justice Department Abets Amazon’s E-Book Monopoly[/url]
Letters sent to DOJ on anti-trust case
The case isn't settled yet. The letters collected by the DOJ are very interesting reads, IMHO.
As a reader (I'm addicted to books), I completely understand not wanting to pay more than something is worth to read it. Book prices have gotten high. But as an author, I have certain prejudices on the issue. I want to actually get paid for what I write. I don't care if I get rich, but being able to pay my bills with my royalties & advances would be nice. As it stands, my total royalties for the June-August time period (from all my publishers) was a total of $11.00. I got to by myself lunch at a really cheap fast food place.
I want to make more money off my books, but the reality of ebooks is that the lack of printing & shipping doesn't mean that it costs a lot less than print books. Yes, there is a cost savings, but it's not as much as people tend to think. And the lower the ebook price, the less money is retrieved by the publisher to recover costs. Especially since Amazon takes between 65 - 30% of the book's lowest cover price.
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Brandie, you should have eaten off the dollar menu, that's two whole weeks worth of workaday lunches. Or one week if you splurge and buy *two* things off the dollar menu!:-D
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How best to post your question[/url]
How to post performance problems[/url]
Tally Table:What it is and how it replaces a loop[/url]"stewsterl 80804 (10/16/2009)I guess when you stop and try to understand the solution provided you not only learn, but save yourself some headaches when you need to make any slight changes."
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jcrawf02 (10/4/2012)
Brandie, you should have eaten off the dollar menu, that's two whole weeks worth of workaday lunches. Or one week if you splurge and buy *two* things off the dollar menu!:-DOnly if I can find a place that doesn't charge taxes. @=)
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I've waited five years, but finally I've got a reply!
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/FindPost1368501.aspx
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Deja View - The strange feeling that somewhere, sometime you've optimised this query before
How to get the best help on a forum
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537
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Mark-101232 (10/4/2012)
I've waited five years, but finally I've got a reply!That's why I love SSC, never-ending help...
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How best to post your question[/url]
How to post performance problems[/url]
Tally Table:What it is and how it replaces a loop[/url]"stewsterl 80804 (10/16/2009)I guess when you stop and try to understand the solution provided you not only learn, but save yourself some headaches when you need to make any slight changes."
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Mark-101232 (10/4/2012)
I've waited five years, but finally I've got a reply!Shame it's not billable Mark, we could all have gone out for a beer on the interest!
“Write the query the simplest way. If through testing it becomes clear that the performance is inadequate, consider alternative query forms.” - Gail ShawFor fast, accurate and documented assistance in answering your questions, please read this article.
Understanding and using APPLY, (I) and (II) Paul White
Hidden RBAR: Triangular Joins / The "Numbers" or "Tally" Table: What it is and how it replaces a loop Jeff Moden -
Now taking bets on how long for the wifi at the SQL in the City event to be overwhelmed...
😀
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Hey, all. My publisher is offering free swag (including a Kindle Fire) in our 1st year anniversary blog hop. Only 2 more days to enter. And it's free. All you have to do is comment on a blog or three.
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jasona.work (10/5/2012)
Now taking bets on how long for the wifi at the SQL in the City event to be overwhelmed...😀
You mean my brilliant plan to steal all the wifi in the city for myself has not yet worked?
Darn!
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Brandie Tarvin (10/5/2012)
Hey, all. My publisher is offering free swag (including a Kindle Fire) in our 1st year anniversary blog hop. Only 2 more days to enter. And it's free. All you have to do is comment on a blog or three.Booooooo, Canada and US only 🙁
Need an answer? No, you need a question
My blog at https://sqlkover.com.
MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP -
Koen Verbeeck (10/5/2012)
Brandie Tarvin (10/5/2012)
Hey, all. My publisher is offering free swag (including a Kindle Fire) in our 1st year anniversary blog hop. Only 2 more days to enter. And it's free. All you have to do is comment on a blog or three.Booooooo, Canada and US only 🙁
International addresses can win a $50 gift card!
Gail Shaw
Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverabilityWe walk in the dark places no others will enter
We stand on the bridge and no one may pass
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