My guess is that you're not paying a lot for each bit transferred internationally, you're paying for the ability to be able to download content internationally. (Authors may be subsidizing the devices, as well. It makes sense, though; if Kindles were less ubiquitous, how much money would you make selling e-books.)
It's kind of like complaining that your ISP charges you the same monthly fee even if you don't download anything. The charge is for having the ability to transfer bits, not for each bit transferred.
I guess the complaint is that Amazon transfers much of their financial risk to authors via a $2 delivery fee. All I know is that I wrote a traditionally-published book and saw about $5 for every $40 the publisher charged. I would gladly take $38 instead of $5 and they could call the fee whatever the fuck they wanted.
It's kind of like complaining that your ISP charges you the same monthly fee even if you don't download anything. The charge is for having the ability to transfer bits, not for each bit transferred.
I guess the complaint is that Amazon transfers much of their financial risk to authors via a $2 delivery fee. All I know is that I wrote a traditionally-published book and saw about $5 for every $40 the publisher charged. I would gladly take $38 instead of $5 and they could call the fee whatever the fuck they wanted.