Is the E-book Over?

I am seeing a lot of negative comments regarding e-books around the forums. I think the majority of DPers are sick of them due to the sheer volume, the lack of useful info presented, the prices, etc.

How do you guys feel about them?

Should e-books be free? Have you bought any that truly helped you?

 

E-Book's SHOULD be free...

 

I say just give your E-books out for free, or in exchange for a few blog comments or something. Not too many people will pay for them, but sell them if you want :/ not really up to me.

 

As long as your providing information people want and they are willing to pay for it... an ebook is just one medium used to give it to them. There is some garbage floating around but the same can be said for information products that come in the form of printed books, software, CDs, DVDs etc.

 

It all depends on who is offering it.
If no one has heard of you and they visit your site/ blog for more info before the buy your $30 piece of digital garbage only to find out that it looks exactly like all the others out there and says the exact same thing, then of course you should be giving the thing away (if you can...)
However, I think if you know how to write well and have proven yourself (blog, forums, your mom loves you, etc.) then you might consider offering an e-book.
If you have something to say that's really worth while maybe offer a chapter or two for free to get people interested and then sell it for a low cost.
Especially now with the Amazon Kindle. If that thing takes off no one will pay more than $10 for an ebook ever again.