Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Sorry - I really don't see what the problem is with this. I can read it with the proprietory reader it needs - that's exactly what I bought it for. I don't want to do anything else with it.
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That's today. What about tomorrow?
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Perhaps the difference between our viewpoints is that I don't regard an eBook as a "lifetime investment". It's a few hours of entertainment that I paid a few $ for, and that's how I regard it. I don't expect to be able to read it in 20 years time, and more than I expect to be able to read a paperback I buy today in 20 years time. If I want to re-read it in 20 years, I'll buy another copy then. Books are cheap!
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There are two ways to read a book:
1. Buy a copy.
2. Borrow a copy.
When you buy it, you get certain rights. If you want, you can keep it forever. You can sell it on eBay. You can give it to a friend. Level out a table with it.
When you borrow it, you don't get many rights at all. You must return it. You can't sell it and you can't give it away.
But the upside is that it's free to borrow a book from the library.
My argument is that a DRMed eBook is no different from borrowing a pBook from the library. You get the same thing. You have the same rights. That being the case, the price of the DRMed eBook should match that of borrowing from the library.
But how much do eBooks cost (especially ones in closed, proprietary formats)? Usually more than the paperback cost. Sometimes more than the hardcover version.
If you are fine paying paper price for an eBook, that's your problem. But I (and most people I know) find that to be a very, very, very poor value.
And that doesn't even get into the issue of permitting media companies to control how, when and where we can read books.