Re: (Realized World) Knight Moves by Walter Jon Williams

On Wed, 29 Jan 2025 17:41:28 +1300, Titus G <noone@nowhere.com> wrote:

On 29/01/25 03:02, James Nicoll wrote:

Knight Moves by Walter Jon Williams
 
Eight centuries ago, Doran Falkner revolutionized physics and
saved the world. Interstellar civilization needs his brilliance
once more. Too bad he isn't the genius he claimed to be and might
not be up to the current task.
 
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/stuck

>
The full review was much more interesting and positive so I have grabbed
a Kindle copy.
There were a couple of free books with the same name and several more at
varying prices with the Williams at $7.18c. The next book of the same
name by a different author was $7.14c. These exact prices can have no
basis in logic. Is someone calculating the price sensitivity subject to
demand or is someone just throwing darts?

On Amazon (USA) I too see a large number of books with that title,
many of them parts of different series, some of which may not be SF.

But the prices look reasonable, ending in .99 ($US).

Marketing does do weird things. There was a time when I saved $5/DVD
by skipping the two-disc "Special Edition" and buying the 1-disk
version. When I referred to the latter as the "Not-So-Special Edition"
I got pushback online, just as I did when I referred to the second
disc (the one without the movie) as a "coaster".

Marketing, you see, was firmly convinced that calling a collection of
boring documentaries and other even less watchable items "Special
Features" meant they actually were "special" and so people would pay
more if they were included. They may still be convinced of this, who
can say?
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"