Hardcover Books and Market Segmentation

New books are usually only available in hardcover for about a year.

Wikipedia writes that
Hardcover books tend to cost more than paperback versions of the book. This is due to price discrimination by booksellers who observe that consumers are willing to pay a premium for hardcover editions over paperbacks beyond the extra costs in materials and production.
This bugs me. I think that for most for-fun reading where you aren't taking notes, paperbacks are ergonomically better. So not only do I have to pay more, I am paying more for an inferior product. If they do insist on charging more for new books (fair enough), at least make it an expensive paperback.

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