Apple E-Book Trial -- Isn't It Ironic, Don't Cha Think?

Apple e-book trial continues today -- and wraps this week.  All digital media eyes are on -- or should be on -- this trial.  Lots of ramifications.  For MFNs that have been at the core of media and entertainment deals since the beginnings of time.  For content creators and distributors of all stripes -- and their business models.

And, here's the ironic part.  In this trial, Apple is seen as being a "friend" of the content creators -- the publishers.  They are the ones challenging Amazon's $9.99 default e-book pricing with their "agency" model (in which the publisher sets the pricing).

Hmmm ... a $9.99 price point.  Sound familiar?  Yes, THAT is the same pricing Apple used as the default album pricing when it disrupted the online music world one decade ago via iTunes.  At that time, the music world viewed Apple as being the unfriendly ones ... like the publishing world views Amazon in the e-book world.  But, now, it is Apple that is fighting that familiar price point.

At the end of the day, content creators and owners of all stripes want MORE, not less, who fight to distribute their wares.  I wrote about this previously in TechCrunch -- and, this is why the Apple e-book trial should be viewed closely ... very closely ... by all in the online media game.