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Originally Posted by markbot
The publishers could go the other way--make ebooks widely available to rent several years after hardcover release (in another "window") instead of letting libraries loan them out directly....but the library websites could provide distribution.
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Would the library keep access to the book forever, or would the publisher be able to shut off titles it doesn't want to distribute anymore?
One of the problems with the current digital interface is lack of permanent access. Libraries don't rent books; they buy them, and based on local interest and use, they decide which ones to keep for how long. If the publisher keeps control of use of the book (or worse, a third-party interface *and* the publisher can both yank the book), this is not a viable solution.
Also... $2 per week, paid by whom? The person checking out the book? There'll be a very simple & obvious result to that: those books get ignored (and pirated). Libraries are supported by taxes so that individual readers don't have to pay at the time of reading--and they don't have to pay more for reading more. Libraries encourage reading by making access to one book or two thousand books cost the same per person.
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They could rent out a book for like $2 per week. I think that at the end of the day this would be more profitable for them than the current windowing system.
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More profitable for publishers: Yes.
Better for public libraries: No. Libraries aren't rental businesses; they're cultural repositories.