So far I have been able to read my ebooks on my ereaders, my desktop, my tablet, my laptop and my phone.
My pbooks I can only read by holding the book although I could scan them and have the same alternatives with a lot of effort and frankly I would rather just buy the book again rather than scanning and proofing it.
Expecting to have universal access to a book seems a bit much. You buy a paper book you can read it on the couch or at the table etc. Same with an ebook.
Maybe you can't read your epubs on a mobi device or your mobi books on an epub device, but how many pbooks can you just automatically read on either.
Myself, I will live with DRM. I see no more danger of an ebook becoming unreadable than a physical book. Much less in fact. If a physical book is destroyed it is gone, with an ebook I probably have a backup or can download it again from the seller. Maybe not always, but no seller that I know of will just send me another copy of a paper book. And would I want them to? I have been reading 3-9 paper books a week for 50+ years. Minimum 7800 books, probably 15,000. More than 1/2 I bought new. Where would I keep them all and why would I want to? To earn a place on Hoarders TV show?
Sure I would have kept them all if they were ebooks, and possibly reread a few. But I am probably strange in that I would rather read a book that I haven't read before. Most of the strong opponents of DRM probably have all the books they have ever bought, or have never bought a book that they didn't lend to a lot of people and then resell it for a substantial sum. I find this a bit hard to believe but could be true. And they have probably had many ebooks chewed up by DRM.
Me I buy the book, or borrow the book from the library. I read the book. If I still have the book forever this is an advantage of it being an ebook. If I don't, well nothing new.
Helen
Last edited by speakingtohe; 05-22-2012 at 09:02 PM.
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