Future-proof buying choice-- which e-book format, e-bookstore?

[RyanMWilliams]

Originally Posted by go4thetop

Darn!! And as I write that last sentence I'm wondering if I recorded my now don longer used Visa card that I used to purchase some ereader ebooks! :-(

I know at Fictionwise and eReader.com you can download them again with a new unlock code. I had to do that with my eReader files from Fictionwise because card numbers had changed.

[DJHARKAVY]

Originally Posted by go4thetop

So, if publishers insist on some sort of DRM then maybe what should be done is ton encrypt the books with an open source standard encryption algorithm using the customers credit card number.
This way if the publisher disappears or technology changes over time people will have the best chance of decrypting books they own. It will still be the responsibility ofnthe purchaser to keep a record ofntheir credit card numbers even if they no longer use them.
Darn!! And as I write that last sentence I'm wondering if I recorded my now don longer used Visa card that I used to purchase some ereader ebooks! :-(

I keep an old credit card for just such uses...

[Worldwalker]

I wouldn't buy paper books whose covers locked shut forever if I didn't have the credit card I bought them with; why on earth would I buy ebooks with such a restriction?

There is no good DRM. The only people it interferes with are the legitimate users.

[troymc]

Originally Posted by GeoffC

digital formats will be a moot point if you can't get electricity .....

I think as a civilisation we are a little past that threat now. With the current ubiquity of electricity on this planet, if we ever find ourselves in a situation where we cannot get electricity at all then we'll have bigger problems than not being able to read a book -- we'll be too busy sharpening sticks to hunt our next meal.

Otherwise, I'd simply go rip an alternator out of one of the millions of vehicles out there, hook it up to a windmill, dig out an inverter from the remains of the nearest Radio Shack/Best Buy, and then power up my trusty laptop.


Troy

[troymc]

Originally Posted by Format C:

To preserve for centuries a digital book you need:
- A safe place
- A safe storage
- The technology to access the medium (which, in turn, has to be preserved)
- The medium itself (again, to be preserved)
- The ability to decode the information in it (file format, bit/byte algebra)
- A reading device complete with hw&sw (which, in turn, has to be preserved)
- The power supply (same voltage, enough energy, etc...)

To preserve for centuries a paper book you need:
- A safe place

You seem to be making that needlessly complex in order to present digital media in the most negative light, to wit, please explain:
- why item #4 doesn't apply to paper books? (is not the book the medium? does it not need to be preserved the same as, say a computer disk?)
- why item #5 doesn't apply to paper books? (ie. think alphabet/language, see Linear A)
- what you mean by "safe storage" in #2? (ie. are you referring to the medium, which is #4? or the location, which is #1?)
- how items #3 & #6 differ. (ie. is not the reading device hw/sw the technology used to access the medium?)

Digital media really only have 2 additional requirements over paper books: 1) a device to read the media, and 2) power to operate that device. Now there are some arguments to be made about fragility of media and the reading device - but the majority of those go right to point #1: a safe place.

Originally Posted by Format C:

To preserve for millennia a book you need:
- A chisel
- A stone (did I say Rosetta?)

We have many works which have survived multiple millennia without being engraved in stone. eg. think works from ancient Greece, India & China.

Environment seems to be a better indicator of survivability than media. The right media in the right place can survive indefinitely (within human terms.)


Troy

[Worldwalker]

The Rosetta Stone is in pretty rough shape. If you want reliable long-term storage, braille on sheets of gold is the way to go.