[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Ntsimp

That doesn't count. Amazon would never try it. No one here would buy books that were only delivered that way. It's an absurd, unworkable idea.

Originally Posted by jgaiser

So you could only read a book if you had a wifi/3g connection? Not going to happen in anybody's wildest dreams. Even google let's you read books offline.

Why is everybody thinking that this will not happen?

There is Spotify, and other services that stream music, the gaming industry is gearing up to stream games, software is moving toward the cloud running in browsers (effectively streaming the software), and there are already some services that stream books, and you can only read them using their smartphone or tablet apps.

So tell me: why would no-one ever start doing this with books on a big scale?

I won't EVER buy a subscription to a book streaming service, just as I won't buy subscription services for software, games, or music. Nowadays, I buy only stuff that is completely independent from the seller, or can be made to, with little or no effort.

For example, Dragon Age: Origins has online capabilities and downloadable content for which an account is required if you have the "normal" version. However, its Ultimate CD provides all downloadable content, and you can "activate" it by setting a certain option in an ini file from 0 to 1, without ever creating an online account. Then the game will run completely offline.

Actually, huge problems with Dragon Age's DLC in 2009 was the first and final warning I needed to make me abandon any and all DRM. (I was hesitant about DRM/DLC on DA:O, but I couldn't resist buying it in the week of release after waiting for it for 5 years.) I've replaced Dragon Age: Origins with the Ultimate CD from 2012, and intend to sell or give away my original version.

Nowadays, if I can't make some stuff completely mine, forever, I don't want it. Basically, I want to be able to use the stuff I buy until the day I die. OK, I understand that games from 2009 may not be playable on any computer in 2024, but this does not alter the fact that I *can* play the game as long as I have, or preserve the means to run it, which can be saving an old computer, or running it in an emulator, somewhere down the line.

I require the same of my music and books. I (finally) accepted that digital content cannot be made 100% future proof, but I'll make durned sure that the seller is not going to interfere with me trying.

Originally Posted by fjtorres

There is an entire category of software, called screenscrapers, dedicated to *automatically* extracting data from computer displays. At its most basic, you aim it at an open window and it automatically does a screen capture, pages down, and repeats. The result is a folder-full of image files that can be read as a slideshow or OCR'ed.

I know, and of course you're right, but this is a LOT more work (and because of the OCR, error-prone) than just alfing(*) your books.

(*)That should be a word.