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One of the things that’s so vexing about the ebook back and forth is the people who think that issues with ebooks are all about people being fussy about reading off of screens and the like. In fact, for me, it’s much more the availablility, DRM, licensing and other issues that make me feel that ebooks are not ready for prime time. To drive a point home, here’s Matthew Battles [of Unquiet History fame] with his notion of a Book: Terms of Service.
For those of you who thrilled to Matthew Battles’ book Library: An Unquiet History should try out his podcast — similarly titled but not library-specific — Unquiet History. I’m currently enjoying listening to a short history of medeival urban garbage. Fun!
[...] Found at librarian.net [...]
I know what ‘not ready for prime-time’ means; and I agree. DRM is not only evil; it’s ridiculous.
What’s next? Pay-per-read? Like a rollercoaster ride? Maybe eventually each word will sense that my eyes have looked at it, and I’ll be charged a micropayment? If authors’ and publishers’ thinking lies *anywhere* along the continuum from unit- or device-bound DRM to pay-per-view-per-word… who do they think they ARE? In a world in which reading is declining? Oh please. I could stop buying books in *any* format this minute, and still have enough print editions sitting on my bookshelves at home, that I’d be able to read for the rest of my life without buying another text. And on top of that, I have, and use, a library card.
So what now? Is declaring e-books ‘not ready for prime time’ useful? Do you mean that there *is* hope? Or that there is *no* hope, and e-books should be dropped? Can you imagine a way for real pressure to be exerted on ‘the industry’ to sit their butts down and work out something SENSIBLE? Because if they all keep fighting over their piece of the pie, it’s going to end up on the floor and the dog will come and lick it up.
I’ve been waiting for electronic texts to become a viable, ergonomic technology for over 20 years. I love print, but I do not love *printouts*; and even among those who are quite emotional about ‘the printed book’, I know that I am not alone. I just wonder what it’s really going to take to get the whole thing worked out.