Books Are Not Remotely Too Expensive • Hacker News Board

Re: Books Are Not Remotely Too Expensive

#11

Post by fedeb95 » Wed, Apr 22, 2026, 2:11 PM UTC

books are too expensive when you factor in quality. Most edition today are crap, designed to look good, but be bad. Glued pages are even in "fancy" editions. And not speaking about content.

I get that many people will probably loose their jobs, but they need to adapt rather then defend a dying industry. Paper books must remain for high end editions of classics or very high demand books (category which in time coincide with classics).

Other books should be digital first, which is the most efficient medium for discovering new books by new authors, and cut costs by those authors who can easily self publish. Publishers should innovate in this direction, not by publishing thousand of crap books yearly (both in quality of paper etc. and content itself).

Re: Books Are Not Remotely Too Expensive

#12

Post by aeblyve » Wed, Apr 22, 2026, 2:12 PM UTC

piva00 wrote: post #5

aeblyve wrote: post #2

I have a hard time cognitively justifying most physical book purchasing anyways when internet shadow libraries have most of what I want to read.

I much prefer reading on paper, something about screens never allow me to get into a deeper state that reading books take me to. I read a lot on my old Kindles, had a gen 1 and gen 2, it was easier than on a computer but still not the same experience as a book. Years later I had read many books on Kindle that I'd mention to people and... I could never let them borrow them, having physical copies also lets you share y…

I agree with the cognitive premise unfortunately. But even so, I start to speculate about solving this by DIY book printing, or advances in digital reading technology (mostly I'm interested in the latter, for example, means of "spatializing" the flat screen experience, and reducing latency to a minimum)

Re: Books Are Not Remotely Too Expensive

#13

Post by _aavaa_ » Wed, Apr 22, 2026, 2:14 PM UTC

joe_mamba wrote: post #9

Oh god, this argument again?! They used the same argument for video games. "Oh stop complaining about our 80$ AAA video games, because NES games would cost you 60$ back then which is a lot more than 80$ today when adjusted for inflation." Yes we know, games and books are cheaper today when adjusted for inflation (along with stuff like phones, TVs, washing machines, etc) but you know what isn't cheaper? Everything els…

Oh god, another commenter who didn’t read the article again?!

From the article:

> Don’t blame books for being too expensive. Everything else is more expensive, and that’s why you can’t afford books.

Re: Books Are Not Remotely Too Expensive

#14

Post by beej71 » Wed, Apr 22, 2026, 2:14 PM UTC

amiga386 wrote: post #7

Textbooks , on the other hand... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textbook#Market > In the United States, the largest textbook publishers are [four companies]. Together they control 90% of market revenue > Harvard economics chair James K. Stock has stated that new editions are often not about significant improvements to the content. "New editions are to a considerable extent simply another tool used by publishers and te…

Yeah. As a college instructor, I now require zero textbooks that have a cost. There's lots of great material out there that instructors have put out for free use. School's expensive enough as it is.

Re: Books Are Not Remotely Too Expensive

#15

Post by aeblyve » Wed, Apr 22, 2026, 2:15 PM UTC

beej71 wrote: post #10

aeblyve wrote: post #2

I have a hard time cognitively justifying most physical book purchasing anyways when internet shadow libraries have most of what I want to read.

If you don't have the money, you don't have the money. IMHO I'd rather have people without the means pirate books rather than go without. (Though the library is usually an option.) But if you do have the means, drop the author some bucks for their work. And I can assure you, it's a lot of work. My tip jar doesn't get a lot of action, but when it does, I'm very appreciative. Here's someone who appreciated the work eno…

I've read some of your stuff over the years and was appreciative of its accessibility.

https://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~remzi/OSTEP/

The above is another example I appreciate: the authors charge for physical copies and complete documents but generally make the work content available for free. I've bought a physical copy in that case because I really valued the work.

Re: Books Are Not Remotely Too Expensive

#16

Post by beej71 » Wed, Apr 22, 2026, 2:17 PM UTC

aeblyve wrote: post #8

leviathant wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I am hearing is that while you like to read, you do not feel like authors bring enough value to the table for you to actually reward them for their work.

In most cases that is also true, although in rare cases I will buy physical copies of certain books for that reason.

[dead]

Re: Books Are Not Remotely Too Expensive

#17

Post by beej71 » Wed, Apr 22, 2026, 2:18 PM UTC

I wonder how much is supply and demand. Hasn't the rate of reading been decreasing?

Re: Books Are Not Remotely Too Expensive

#18

Post by josefritzishere » Wed, Apr 22, 2026, 2:30 PM UTC

I buy used books. Those prices are up too but paperbacks are usually about $8 bucks or less. That's the way to go.

Re: Books Are Not Remotely Too Expensive

#19

Post by Jamesbeam » Wed, Apr 22, 2026, 3:59 PM UTC

I would correct that to "some books are not remotely too expensive". A practical example. Just went to my bookshelf and grabbed

Dinner in One: Exceptional & Easy One-Pan Meals: A Cookbook by Melissa Clark. It costs $15 rn. Even at $30, it’s worth the money. Why?

It’s one of the most recommended cooking books for beginners, it teaches you how to feed yourself in a simple and efficient way (one-pot or one-sheet pan or skillet or casserole dish or bowl) in a world where time has actually the most value.

It helps you to save money, and time, as you will eat less takeout, you have more control over what quality of food you actually eat, it teaches you concepts to cook dinner way beyond the hundred recipes provided, and as long as you have one pot or one sheet pan or skillet or casserole dish or bowl, you can make use of the knowledge from that book right away.

It provides actual value and a ROI that will pay back the price of the book in tasty, quick, and mostly healthy meals in no time.

The Idea Machine, on the other hand, is a luxury item. It’s the same justification perfume makers will tell you their $2 perfume is actually worth $150.

The real-world value in reading The Idea Machine is actually close to zero. Never ever did someone ask me to explain to them the concepts in there you pay $34.95 to read for.

You can’t eat the book or knowledge about the history of books. When was the last time you tried to impress someone at a party with your book knowledge about books?

Maybe in social settings where people buy monocles, but if you have monocle money, you will not even notice the dent it makes in your BlackRock portfolio.

So some books are worth the money, others are luxury items. This guy is just trying to justify his own book’s existence at $34.95, which, considered the real value of the book to the majority of humans out there, is too expensive. Not having this printed and the resources used for it, would get it closer to the value of what is written inside.

Just because the market is flooded with paperback "shit knowledge" at $30+ doesn’t justify most of that being even worth printing, or even trying to sell it at a premium. The price justifies the cost, but not the value.

But that goes for most luxury items produced by entitled people who think what they produce is revolutionary.

Re: Books Are Not Remotely Too Expensive

#20

Post by dlcarrier » Wed, Apr 22, 2026, 5:50 PM UTC

As my 401(k) statement once said "past performance is not an indicator of future performance". Comparing current prices to past inflation-adjusted prices has no relation to current markets, even for books.