David, 

Good post, and I don't think it does any harm (I suspect the opposite) to pour some cold water on proceedings.

I am in the same boat as Alan, so won't rehash his comments.

My biggest concern (as someone who has take the self-publishing plunge) is that I believe a lot of writers don't fully grasp the danger of the free market and the race to the bottom. I really don't think they understand just how many future careers they are probably extinguishing (including their own). Some know, and simply don't care. But those can't be educated.

I don't worry about the day all books become 99c. I worry about the day that the worth of those books will amount to exactly that.