eBook Prices Are Too High

When Amazon launched the Kindle, we were told that eBookswould be $9.99 for most new releases, with many other books available for less.That was true, for a while. Amazon had set the price and everyone else—publishers,authors, and readers—had to live with it. Considering that new hardcovers sellfor $30 or more in the bookstore (although considerably less on Amazon, ofcourse), the eBook price seemed like a pretty good deal. Pricing has changednow, however, and the publishers, for the most part, set the prices.
eBooks have lots of advantages, of course, all welldocumented: portable, space-saving, searchable. But there are alsodisadvantages. While some books can be lent (to other Kindle owners), manycannot; and of course lending to a non-Kindle or Kindle-app user is out of thequestion. Some of us still like reading actual books, turning actual pages,feeling the paper in our hands. And I happen to like more information aboutwhat's coming—I like to know how far from the end of a chapter I am, or howmany pages there are in the book. I also like being able to go back and readsections over if I'm confused about something. While that's not impossible witha Kindle, it's not as easy as merely flipping pages. And sometimes, when I'mdone with a book, I like to sell it or give it away. Can't do that with aneBook.
But today I'm thinking about prices. I recently had a giftcard to spend on Amazon. There were a couple of new release hardcovers I wasinterested in, so I bought them. The first was Julian Barnes's The Sense of an Ending. It retails for$23.95 (although it's only 175 pages) in hardcover. (Terrific book, by theway.) Amazon sells it for $14.37. The Kindle price is $11.99, a difference of$2.38. I also got The Marriage Plotby Jeffrey Eugenides. Amazon's price is $15.28, with a list price of $28.00. TheKindle price is $12.99, a difference of $2.29. Weighing the costs and benefitsof the eBook, it seems worth it to me to pay a little extra to have thehardcover—especially if there's the theoretical possibility of selling the bookonce I've read it, or giving it away. In fact, I've found many instances wherethe Kindle price for a book is actually higherthan the discounted price of a paperback. (Shipping must be taken intoconsideration, of course, but my purchases usually total over $25, in whichcase shipping is free.)
So, as a reader, I'm not at all happy about eBook prices.
On the other hand, there are many books available for muchless (and I'm not even talking about self-published books, many of which arefree or sell for $.99). For example, my publisher, Press 53, sells most of itseBooks, including mine, for $3.99 on Kindle and Nook. The paperback list pricefor my book is $14.00 and the Amazon/B&N discounted price is $12.62. So,the eBook savings over the discounted price is $8.63. That's significant.
All of which is considered solely from the reader's point ofview. As an author, I'm not sure what to think. I want to make more money frombook sales, but at some point the price is too high and inhibits demand, and ina competitive environment that's the last thing I need!