The article quotes the monopoly framing, and presents the 9.99 price point as competitive and Amazon's behavior as trying to "hold the line".
Honestly, I know that Forbes produces drivel in a limited number of flavors, but this is kinda silly even for them.
ETA: PC World did better.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/188275/amazons_ebook_fail_what_we_should_get.html
Arguing for more (and less) to compensate for price hike: release ebooks on same day as new in hardcover, remove DRM, let us loan out our ebooks. Straightforward.
ETAYA: Barron's blogger makes a funny.
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2010/02/01/amazon-tumbles-as-e-book-pricing-model-unravels/
The tumbling refers to the objectively measurable impact on the stock price.
"...which is likely to lead to higher prices - and lower sales..."
That's funny. Look, the logical market for the kindle is and always was the 2+ new in hardcover a week market. It pays out _fast_ at that point, and the convenience is huge; you don't have to stop by a shop to get your fix and you don't have to dispose of the hardcovers when you are done with them. This crowd is used to dropping a couple thou on books a year. You cannot convince me they are going to blink if the per hit cost goes from around $10 to around $15. You can't. Don't even try.
Do these authors know what a decent beer costs these days? Heck, what a cheap dinner out at a decent thai restaurant costs?