Amazon being so successful at controlling the ebook medium makes me uneasy.
lord-of-shadow Send a noteboard - 20/04/2011 07:13:02 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.
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.
Amazon to Launch Library Lending for Kindle Books
- 20/04/2011 03:18:34 PM
1613 Views
Excellent news!
- 20/04/2011 06:58:09 PM
962 Views
Paper books will not die for quite some time I'm sure.
- 20/04/2011 07:44:39 PM
1039 Views
I guess it depends on what you mean by "death."
- 21/04/2011 05:04:40 PM
1397 Views
Of course an online bookshop is going to sell more e-books than physical books.
- 21/04/2011 06:14:51 PM
981 Views
That's exactly right.
- 21/04/2011 06:34:28 PM
1399 Views
I'm talking about the "Amazon sold more e-books than physical books in 2010" argument.
- 21/04/2011 06:39:45 PM
1107 Views
Amazon being so successful at controlling the ebook medium makes me uneasy.
- 20/04/2011 07:13:02 PM
1037 Views
Also: Terrible news. Another nail in the coffin of physical books. *NM*
- 20/04/2011 07:13:32 PM
591 Views
Not so much. *NM*
- 20/04/2011 07:39:17 PM
476 Views
A bit too melodramatic? Another blow to the desirable dominance of physical books, then. *NM*
- 20/04/2011 10:24:20 PM
490 Views
No. I just don't think this spells the end of physical books at all.
- 21/04/2011 06:11:53 PM
954 Views
Assuming you're right, that will still wreck the business of physical books.
- 21/04/2011 06:47:45 PM
1388 Views
I take perverse pleasure in watching the decline of physical books. 
- 21/04/2011 05:45:59 PM
1427 Views
- 21/04/2011 05:45:59 PM
1427 Views
You are right, of course. But all the rationalizing in the world doesn't make me happy about it.
- 21/04/2011 05:57:12 PM
1020 Views
Re: Amazon being so successful at controlling the ebook medium makes me uneasy.
- 20/04/2011 07:41:00 PM
1041 Views
I'm not sure I understand how this works...
- 20/04/2011 07:30:51 PM
1127 Views
Re: I'm not sure I understand how this works...
- 20/04/2011 07:43:19 PM
1026 Views
You download them from the Internet using your library card as an ID. *NM*
- 21/04/2011 01:07:54 AM
619 Views
What Ghavrel said, but...
- 21/04/2011 03:14:07 AM
1197 Views
Obviously none of you have used Overdrive. It's horrifically bad.
- 21/04/2011 01:07:14 AM
1001 Views
- 21/04/2011 01:07:14 AM
1001 Views
Never heard of it. *NM*
- 21/04/2011 01:08:00 AM
501 Views
It's an already existing library ebook service, and it's terrible. *NM*
- 21/04/2011 02:19:25 AM
487 Views
What makes it terrible? *NM*
- 21/04/2011 02:20:12 AM
460 Views
The selection is awful, the interface is awkward, and it requires bizarre DRM installations.
- 21/04/2011 02:40:55 AM
1038 Views
To be fair, Overdrive's problems are software issues, and not inherent to the business model.
- 21/04/2011 05:23:54 PM
1302 Views
I definitely agree; I'm just irritated they're sticking with Overdrive. Ebook libraries make sense. *NM*
- 21/04/2011 07:14:38 PM
512 Views
Will a borrowed Kindle book have "fuck" underlined when it appears?
- 22/04/2011 01:59:39 AM
1031 Views