Actually, quite a lot of research went into the pricing structure before any demands were made of Amazon. While as you say some users might have purchased the Kindle based on the 9.99 price point (although there are many books ranging on both sides of this figure) all of the research has shown that price is 3rd or 4th on the list of considerations when buying an eBook, behind convenience of purchase, portability etc. As Dragonweaver stated, the missing fact in all of this is that publishers want the price of the eBook to start above 9.99, but move below it as the life of the book moves on. As far as I'm aware, the 12.99 starting price point is a fairly popular opinion amongst publishers at the moment. As for the DRM, I sympathise with you losing your Bill Bryson to an old device. But publishers are not to blame for DRM that locks you to one device. While it is true that publisher expect some protection on their eBooks, they actually want their books to be read on as many systems as possible. It is companies like Amazon & Apple that want people locked into reading on their device, because that's where they make most of their money. An understandable position for their business. But blaming publishers for not being able to read your Kindle books anywhere else (apart from your iPhone, your iPad, your PC, your Mac) is like blaming KFC refusing to sell you a Quarter Pounder. When you purchased the book through a particular company, you purchased it with the understanding that you could only read it where that company wanted you to. This is an evergrowing and changing market place, and a lot of strategies and companies are going to fall by the wayside before it's over. At the moment, everyone from Apple to Amazon to the Authors and Publishers are still trying to figure it out for themselves.