I should clarify: I don't mean to say I want pricing to be flat by any means, even if my original post implied it. What I meant to say is that the ebook is not cheaper than the paperback or the hardcover.
Example: Cryptonomicon is $8.99 as a softcover, but, the ebook version is $10.99
The notion that things on computers are less "real" than things in the real world is one of my pet moral crusades; probably not surprising given my background. With that in mind: I don't start from the premise that ebooks should cost less than paper books.
In particular, ebook versions of reference works are more valuable in electronic form.
I start from the premise that eBooks should cost less, because you get less. No right to lend, no right to sell, no way to insure against loss or theft, no guarantee you can even read it a couple of years down the road if the platform fails in the market. In effect, you "buy" something but never actually own it. You'd have to drop the price pretty low to interest me under these circumstances.
(I've picked up a few $5 O'Reilly titles on the App Store, but probably wouldn't even have done that if they weren't basically DRM-free ePubs with a reader wrapped around them.)
I value my electronic copy of _Infinite Jest_ more highly than my physical copy:
* The physical copy is run ragged because you have to flip from the front to the back of the book constantly
* In the electronic copy, if I tap the word catastatic in the text, I'm immediately presented with the definition. In the paper copy, it's just annoying enough to look that up that I'm inclined to try to derive the meaning from context, which is a trap DFW seems inclined to spring mercilessly.
* Similarly, in the electronic version, and anyone who has read IJ will see immediately the value of this, when I tap a footnote number, I'm immediately taken to the text of the footnote, and I can instantly return back to the text. This speeds up my reading time of the book significantly.
Do these factors matter to you? Of course they don't. I'm a dork and I'm just namedropping a prestige book to make a point in the most puffy way possible. But: I value these features a lot more than "right to lend", "right to sell", "insurance against loss", etc.
And in a free market, I'm allowed to do that. And, though this is a stretch and you won't be happy to hear me claim this, I think I'm closer to the opinion of the bulk of the market than you are.
The marginal cost is a lot less for an ebook, though. Sure, the sunk costs are the same (actually writing the book), but the costs to produce, distribute and store the book are significantly less, so I'd expect a discount of a few dollars. And yes, also because I'm foregoing the ability to lend it out or resell it. Oh, also the technology is still pretty new, so I still don't think you're getting the same experience as with a copy of one of Knuth's books, or another well-made hardback.
Example: Cryptonomicon is $8.99 as a softcover, but, the ebook version is $10.99