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Also: Terrible news. Another nail in the coffin of physical books. *NM* lord-of-shadow Send a noteboard - 20/04/2011 07:13:32 PM
Setting aside my dislike of the ebook medium as a whole (suffice to say I don't like it or what it's doing to physical books!), the medium is too closely controlled by corporations.

When you buy a physical book, you own that book - or at least that copy of it. It is a physical object that enters into your complete control. You can give it away, borrow it, destroy it, break it down, preserve it, rebind it as you see fit.

The ebook industry, on the other hand, is a software/data driven one. And it is riddled with things like digital rights management, "purchases" that rely on continued support from the company you're licensing the text from, etc., etc.

As nice as this development may seem, I view it as a corporation muscling in on local libraries under the guise of offering a nice service. It ends with a significant extra chunk of the book/publishing space under Amazon's control. And Amazon already has too much ownership over this space.
This message last edited by lord-of-shadow on 20/04/2011 at 07:13:40 PM
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Amazon to Launch Library Lending for Kindle Books j-whitt987 - 20/04/2011 03:18:34 PM 1531 Views
Excellent news! Tigr - 20/04/2011 06:58:09 PM 883 Views
Paper books will not die for quite some time I'm sure. j-whitt987 - 20/04/2011 07:44:39 PM 961 Views
I guess it depends on what you mean by "death." Aemon - 21/04/2011 05:04:40 PM 1176 Views
Re: I guess it depends on what you mean by "death." j-whitt987 - 21/04/2011 05:40:28 PM 1034 Views
Re: I guess it depends on what you mean by "death." Aemon - 21/04/2011 06:04:16 PM 1344 Views
Of course an online bookshop is going to sell more e-books than physical books. Rebekah - 21/04/2011 06:14:51 PM 896 Views
That's exactly right. Aemon - 21/04/2011 06:34:28 PM 1185 Views
I'm talking about the "Amazon sold more e-books than physical books in 2010" argument. Rebekah - 21/04/2011 06:39:45 PM 1028 Views
I understand. Aemon - 21/04/2011 07:26:28 PM 1091 Views
Amazon being so successful at controlling the ebook medium makes me uneasy. lord-of-shadow - 20/04/2011 07:13:02 PM 956 Views
Also: Terrible news. Another nail in the coffin of physical books. *NM* lord-of-shadow - 20/04/2011 07:13:32 PM 528 Views
Not so much. *NM* Rebekah - 20/04/2011 07:39:17 PM 409 Views
A bit too melodramatic? Another blow to the desirable dominance of physical books, then. *NM* lord-of-shadow - 20/04/2011 10:24:20 PM 421 Views
No. I just don't think this spells the end of physical books at all. Rebekah - 21/04/2011 06:11:53 PM 871 Views
Assuming you're right, that will still wreck the business of physical books. Aemon - 21/04/2011 06:47:45 PM 1171 Views
I take perverse pleasure in watching the decline of physical books. Aemon - 21/04/2011 05:45:59 PM 1208 Views
You are right, of course. But all the rationalizing in the world doesn't make me happy about it. lord-of-shadow - 21/04/2011 05:57:12 PM 937 Views
Yeah, I hear you. Aemon - 21/04/2011 06:16:24 PM 1144 Views
Re: Amazon being so successful at controlling the ebook medium makes me uneasy. j-whitt987 - 20/04/2011 07:41:00 PM 962 Views
Considering you can print out an ebook, your argument is silly. Ghavrel - 21/04/2011 01:09:18 AM 885 Views
I'm not sure I understand how this works... A Deathwatch Guard - 20/04/2011 07:30:51 PM 1048 Views
Re: I'm not sure I understand how this works... j-whitt987 - 20/04/2011 07:43:19 PM 947 Views
You download them from the Internet using your library card as an ID. *NM* Ghavrel - 21/04/2011 01:07:54 AM 551 Views
What Ghavrel said, but... Cockatiel of Doom - 21/04/2011 03:14:07 AM 1102 Views
That's pretty cool then A Deathwatch Guard - 21/04/2011 06:25:03 AM 899 Views
Yes and no. Aemon - 21/04/2011 05:10:24 PM 1199 Views
Obviously none of you have used Overdrive. It's horrifically bad. Ghavrel - 21/04/2011 01:07:14 AM 920 Views
Never heard of it. *NM* j-whitt987 - 21/04/2011 01:08:00 AM 433 Views
It's an already existing library ebook service, and it's terrible. *NM* Ghavrel - 21/04/2011 02:19:25 AM 419 Views
What makes it terrible? *NM* j-whitt987 - 21/04/2011 02:20:12 AM 395 Views
The selection is awful, the interface is awkward, and it requires bizarre DRM installations. Ghavrel - 21/04/2011 02:40:55 AM 956 Views
I'm not a fan of the interface, either. Cockatiel of Doom - 21/04/2011 03:08:53 AM 1033 Views
I agree. *NM* everynametaken - 21/04/2011 01:35:12 AM 389 Views
To be fair, Overdrive's problems are software issues, and not inherent to the business model. Aemon - 21/04/2011 05:23:54 PM 1079 Views
I definitely agree; I'm just irritated they're sticking with Overdrive. Ebook libraries make sense. *NM* Ghavrel - 21/04/2011 07:14:38 PM 445 Views
Yeah. Aemon - 21/04/2011 07:31:24 PM 1151 Views
Will a borrowed Kindle book have "fuck" underlined when it appears? Tom - 22/04/2011 01:59:39 AM 951 Views
Better than it being written on the margins A Deathwatch Guard - 22/04/2011 05:27:12 AM 880 Views
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