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Why can't we purchase one or the other and have access to both?

Is this practice something only GW does, or are their other companies who are double tapping its customer base ?

buying a book on iBooks doesn't give you a freebie at Barnes & Noble, does it?

Lots of companies give you the digital version free with a hard copy (Crooked Dice do with the 7TV series, for instance).

But then most other companies also sell the digital version for no more than about 50% of the price of the hard copy, too.

I think that model is fairly typical throughout the paperback/eBook industry.

I think the only real inconsistency is that eBooks tend to be cheaper than their paper counterparts, GW's are often equally priced.

 viewfinder wrote:
buying a book on iBooks doesn't give you a freebie at Barnes & Noble, does it?

No but typically you can buy a hard copy there (though now defunct in my area) and get a code to download it to my e-reader.

 Uriels_Flame wrote:

 viewfinder wrote:
buying a book on iBooks doesn't give you a freebie at Barnes & Noble, does it?

No but typically you can buy a hard copy there (though now defunct in my area) and get a code to download it to my e-reader.

Depends on the publisher. B&N itself doesn't supply the codes. If your local one does, that's something the manager is doing, it's not corporate policy.

<~~~ worked at B&N for 4 years and still know the store managers for the Baton Rouge and New Orleans locations.

 Platuan4th wrote:

 Uriels_Flame wrote:

 viewfinder wrote:
buying a book on iBooks doesn't give you a freebie at Barnes & Noble, does it?

No but typically you can buy a hard copy there (though now defunct in my area) and get a code to download it to my e-reader.

Depends on the publisher. B&N itself doesn't supply the codes. If your local one does, that's something the manager is doing, it's not corporate policy.

<~~~ worked at B&N for 4 years and still know the store managers for the Baton Rouge and New Orleans locations.

But B&N isn't the publisher, and GW is. Not quite the same situation. GW could choose to do so, but does not - entirely by their own choice.

So the question remains.

Heck, Amazon offers discount codes for many books to e-books to audio books.

*Shrug*

Doesn't affect me though - I have not bought a GW game in several editions. And I plan on never buying a damned thing from the iBooks site in my entire life. (I actually like Apple less than I do GW. Heck, I like Microsoft better than I like Apple.)

Then you have companies like Mantic that have the base rules for free, whether or not you purchased the hardcover. (It has made teaching Kings of War a lot easier, let me tell you. )

I would like to see more companies at least offering a discount on e-books for folks that have purchased the print versions, but it is their rules, and their choice.

The Auld Grump

 Accolade wrote:


I think the only real inconsistency is that eBooks tend to be cheaper than their paper counterparts, GW's are often equally priced.

Maybe in America, in the UK books are VAT free but eBooks are not. So although many companies could actually offer cheaper eBook the UK government adds 20% to the cost so they end up costing the same. I've even seen some companies that charge more for an eBook version.

Not sure how this rule affects US buyers though - not really an expert on tax law.

GW is a horrible awful evil mean-spirited vicious inept pile of gak, but charging twice for a physical and ebook is not a big deal. Every bookstore and so on does it, it's like buying the same book twice. Just because you buy a copy of a book doesn't mean you can get further copies for free, for instance.