Quote:
Originally Posted by rixte
And yet the movement in music is shifting *toward* nonDRM files being made available for direct sale.
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Right. I think it's significant that iTunes started out with DRM'd content. Once people got used to the service, and voted with their wallets, Apple knew they had their audience. Once the audience was established and experienced in using the service, Apple could offer non-DRM'd music at a slightly higher price.
This is why I feel standardization is key to e-books' being able to travel the same route. As long as we have competing formats and delivery systems, the consumer will not have a dominant delivery system to get used to, adding to confusion and complexity, and promoting DRM to artificially force product lock. Once standardization is set and product lock is no longer an issue, the process of getting everyone settled into a system can be accomplished. Once a large audience is used to the system, DRM can be dropped, because the vast majority will be satisfied to pay for content and will offset any losses due to piracy or sharing.