Quote:
Originally Posted by SensualPoet
The message here is: "Amazon Kindle has legitimized the concept" and that is absolutely true. And, I believe, the writer's point. A e-reader is only as good as the available content and Amazon's entry, as a proven business model for delivering content, legitimized the concept. Sony is not now, and never will be, known for being a major content supplier. The Sony E-reader Store is a necessary corporate blip to sell devices; they have no interest in content.
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I find that some people but especially Americans have strange ideas when it comes to the issue of copying digital information.
Let me spell it out for you - the ONLY reason I bought my e-reader was to read books for FREE, as ALL books can be found for FREE on the Internet. I had used my computer for reading books before that but that hurt my eyes and my back much more.
The same goes for the only other person I personally know that owns an e-reader, and the several other people that I know that read books and have considered buying an e-reader.
For me and for all of them buying a digital file is pointless as you pay almost as much as for a paper book and are left with nothing (but the file on the reader) after you read, where as if you buy a book you have a physical object to put on your shelf and enjoy having as part of your collection.
I know another advantage of an e-reader is portability, but I don't travel anywhere for more then a week and don't have enough free time on any trip to read more then a single book, so that doesn't matter. The same goes for these other people.
I do sometimes buy books, but in paper edition, and only the ones I like the most, the ones I consider worth having.
My point and the response to your post is - for me and a lot of other people the "available content" of Amazon and Sony's store is completely IRRELEVANT as we want the devices, not the files.
P.S.
Please let's not get into an ethical debate about copying files without giving money to the original author, let's just say there are many people (like the Swedish Pirate Party for example
) who think it's alright (that it's enough to pay for the electricity because it's the only thing being spent) and many other who think it's evil, anti-social, communist and sinfull (not to mention illegal, but that's not a matter of opinion but of location).
P.P.S.
Oh and the mistaken statement wasn't about the book selling service, it was about the device.
P.P.P.S.
Oh and for you people who actually pay for digital files - the Sony Reader (and most other e-readers, as far as I know) can open non-DRM files like .txt and .rtf, so wouldn't it be possible to buy a book from Amazon's store and then convert it or rip it (as far as I know ripping what you own is legal in the US ?) or copy the contents into a .rtf file and then read it on the Sony Reader ?
I know it's a little bother for the average idiot user, but I edit any book I read anway, to adjust the margins and such things to my personal tastes.
Again, please don't be angry at me because of political/ideological issues...