One author's pledge on DRM

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

The majority will go for the familiar. But what if someone with a kindle decide that he don't like it, and want a sony. Or someone with a sony decides he wants a kindle after all. Readers changes, taste changes, needs changes. What was the best choice one moment might not be the best choice later.

It's a question a fair choice. Right now I use a bookeen reader. When I get the next I expect to be able able to chose any brand I wish.
People need to be able to come and go as they wish, or there is no competition. And no competition = BIG problem. Your choices shouldn't be binding.

Oh, I largely agree, and I'm anti-DRM. But I don't see the number of people being bitten by being unable to switch readers and take their library with them as being a huge number. Most folks will stick with the brand they have.

And the reader vendors certainly aren't going to care. While they might not impose DRM to prevent switching, I don't think they'll cry tears if it makes switching to a competitor difficult. Amazon is the closest to imposing DRM to prevent switching, but it's not because they want to tie you to the Kindle - it's because they want to tie you to Amazon as the ebook vendor. I don't see it as likely to occur, but I suspect Amazon would not reject out of hand a proposal from a manufacturer to sell a Kindle competitor that could get and read content from Amazon, as long as Amazon was the only vendor it could do that with.

Amazon wants to the your only source of ebooks.
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Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

This isn't about the Kindle vs the rest of the world. This is a DRM issue. I can easily see people getting bitten by DRM because they like the K3 and want one and have/had one that used ADE. Or the other way round. I was using Sony and Kindle as an example of non-interoperable DRM and what could happen if a switch was made.

Understood. And my query was exactly how likely such a switch would be. I don't see it as affecting more than a small fraction of the market.

An even better example could be Apple and iBooks. If you have an iPhone and use iBooks and have bought some eBooks via iBooks and then decided you wanted a reader and got one because it also supported ePub, you'd find out the ePub from Apple is not compatible thanks to the DRM. So really, all this format lock in is mostly due to DRM.

I won't argue that. I don't want DRM, and format lock in is just one reason. But my wishes aren't reality, and won't be any time soon.
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Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Sandra Edwards

All of my books are DRM-free. I believe you should be able to read a book that you've purchased on any and all devices you own. I also don't mind if you share with your family and close friends...the same as you would a paperback. That just gives me a chance to gain one more fan :-)

Bravo. You understand what a lot of people who should know better haven't learned. The best marketing is word of mouth. You read a book because a friend who reads the same sort of stuff you do grabs you, hands you a book, and says "You have got to read her stuff! She is so good!" And to keep your friend happy, you do read it, and the friend is right, she is that good, and you put the author on your list to buy when the next one comes out.
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Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

As long as we're carving up varieties, you can add:

"I'm OK, but there's at least ONE GUY out there who's not"

As it has been pointed out, all it takes is one guy to put a book on a torrent site or email it to a million of his closest friends, and damage is done. Multiply by more guys, and you get correspondingly more damage. I'd assume a lot of DRM users think of it that way.

Yes, I made that observation is an earlier message to Doranna. This pirate may not be able the remove the DRM you placed on your book, but that one can, and Poof! It's running free in the world. Other people have also made the "It only takes one" observation.

Of course, the folks who apply DRM don't seem to get the concept...
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Dennis

[MrPLD]

Originally Posted by Sandra Edwards:
All of my books are DRM-free. I believe you should be able to read a book that you've purchased on any and all devices you own. I also don't mind if you share with your family and close friends...the same as you would a paperback. That just gives me a chance to gain one more fan :-)

We're doing the same here Sandra, for the same reasons. Glad to see people understand this.

Paul.

[Barcey]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Bravo. You understand what a lot of people who should know better haven't learned. The best marketing is word of mouth. You read a book because a friend who reads the same sort of stuff you do grabs you, hands you a book, and says "You have got to read her stuff! She is so good!" And to keep your friend happy, you do read it, and the friend is right, she is that good, and you put the author on your list to buy when the next one comes out.
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Dennis

Exactly. When the next book comes out people are likely to buy it themselves rather then call up their friends to see if they can "borrow" another copy. You don't keep many friends by doing that.

I was watching a TED talk about mapping out human social networks and using them to predict epidemics (social networks being friends and family rather then "Facebook"). He makes a point about how the social networks are used to spread trends (fashion, gadgets, movies and books) in a similar pattern to disease.

http://www.ted.com/talks/nicholas_ch...epidemics.html

[neilmarr]

Excellent move, Paul. Well done that man! Why not post the stamp as an attachment to some of your posts, as I often do with ours (example below), so that folks can freely pick it up, use it as they will, and join the good fight? Cheers. Neil

[MrPLD]

Neil,

Thanks for the approval. I'll do that (put the stamp up), let me just go over to the other computer and clean it up for everyone's use.

paul.

[MrPLD]

okay, here's the two files - in their 'large size' they're a bit strange but when you shrink them down it works well.

I also suggest adding a drop-shadow to them for a more realistic effect.