Quote:
Originally Posted by Logseman
My case exactly. This is the subtlest and most powerful DRM that any company could devise. If you accept that you don't have the book, the Kindle 1984's affair can be child's play in comparison to what Google could do with a book "in the cloud".
Plus, what good is to "buy the book" if I go elsewhere with no Wifi or 3G possibility, and thus become unable to read what I bought?
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While I agree with you that it's good to have the data yourself, in the world of DRM, this is no guarantee of anything. Some DRM schemes require at least occasional verification of your license with a central server, which can disappear at any time, making your local copy of the data worthless.
This has happened before.
Also, if the DRM is tied to particular devices/software and that becomes obsolete, discontinued, breaks, etc. then the data is likewise worthless.
My point is that while having a local copy of the data is better than not, when DRM is involved, you can lose access to the information in many different ways, some of which can't be protected against. It's a matter of trust between the customer and the provider, regardless of whether you have a copy of the DRM'd data or not.
So, while the press has emphasized the "in the cloud" nature of Google Editions, I sincerely hope they wouldn't be short-sighted enough to rule out disconnected devices, and Google has a pretty good track record so far of not losing data and not leaving customers in the lurch. We'll see.
I kind of take the attitude I do with loaning money -- assume you'll never see it again! Until DRM gets balanced out between provider and customer, I (unfortunately) buy based on the assumption I'll be able to read the book at least once, but not necessarily much more.
--Rob