I won't argue with most of your comments, other than to say that you may be a bit harsh. I think you're grouping "ignorant" people in with those who, honestly, just don't care.
But in essence, you're right: People should know that their HW and SW isn't perfect, and will likely only last a few years, and if they want something that will be more lasting, they should be using HW and SW that can be easily converted to universal formats and systems, to be ported to "the next device or app" down the line. They should also be smart enough to back things up and do preventive maintenance on their systems... anyone who doesn't, has no one to blame when their systems go down and everything is lost.
It's harder for people to appreciate how transitory a company or service can be (for some reason), but that lesson is being learned by more and more people every day. Even iTunes could disappear, if someone else develops AlphaOmegaTunes and Apple loses all of their business. Even iTunes users should prepare for that, if they want to keep their music, plain and simple.
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Originally Posted by recycledelectron
I mean that the students can rip books for their own use. As for the time, let's get togeather half-a-dozen able students that are all using the same 5 textbooks, averaging 600 pages each. At a ripping rate of 400 pages per hour, it doesn't take even 90 minutes per student to have digital editions available.
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I was thinking of programs that have students ripping non-textbooks for other people's use. I wouldn't want to see professors going to their students and saying, "For class today, we're going to all go over to the campus library, and work for Google scanning and OCRing the books in the Rs of the fiction section..." If students are being paid for the work, fine.
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Originally Posted by recycledelectron
I've been cheated time after time by companies that deliberately kept their software from working on my PCs. That is bad in my view, but you find it acceptable. We have different morals.
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No, I don't find that acceptable. However, when you say "deliberately," you're implying that they honestly didn't want the software to work
for you. Isn't it more likely that they simply didn't anticipate the way you intended to use it, so their DRM couldn't take that into account? Or that they did design it that way, but in order to prevent the possibility of the SW being pirated, a perfectly legitimate concern on their part, and with no malice towards you in particular?
Granted, maybe they did know it wouldn't work, and simply neglected to give adequate warning of that, in order to see bigger sales. In most cases, however, the SW maker simply can't anticipate every system and contingency. I myself have had problems with SW that was designed to run on the "average" PC, with "average" SW installed, but with my tweaks and additional system-monitoring SW, certain things wouldn't run on mine, and I'd have to return them. Even happens with Macs. Until computers are better-designed, and SW better-programmed, those things are going to happen, and you just have to understand and accept that.
And as you say, anyone who won't accept that is... well... ignorant.
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Originally Posted by recycledelectron
More than anything else, I demand that my authoring system (which has never been connected to the Internet) work, without phoning home.
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All I can say is, start thinking about designing and building all of your own HW/SW. That's the only way you are going to guarantee something like that.