The problem with the recording industry is that at the beginning of MP3s, they weren’t willing to provide their content in the way their users wanted (in MP3 format) at a price they’re willing to pay ($.99/song or less). So people had to turn to piracy to get what they wanted, which persisted even after the record labels woke up and started doing digital downloads.

I am hopeful that the publishing industry has learned from the recording industry’s mistakes. But with the Kindle text-to-speech debacle showing that people still don’t understand technology, I’m thinking they haven’t totally learned yet.