Damon Runyon
Because of the costs of paper publishing and publisher assumptions about how to make books return a profit, a 500-page textbook typically costs $50 retail, or 10 cents a page. Second-hand it costs $25, or 5 cents a page. On a large copier it costs $15, or 3 cents a page. On a large printer it costs $5, or 1 cent a page. If it were distributed electronically, it would cost about $1 to send it to any phone in the world, at a cost of 1/5 cent a page. And whether it is an excellent or a terrible book does not change these cost differences.