Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Sony tried the "expiring content" DRM model with the original Librie - it was a disaster. People just don't want content which disappears.
|
Was it subscription-based (like a real library)? Otherwise, what was the price per-book? Comparable to what it would cost to get from a (public) library (ie. in the cents per title)?
-For reference:
--Public library subscription (near my house): 20€ per year (and only because I'm older than 18 and younger than 65 - 18-and-under it's free while "oldies" get discounts).
--Maximum of 3 books "loaned" at a time, for a period of 2 weeks (extendable if so desired.. but lets just leave this part out for convenience's sake).
--3books per 2weeks & 52weeks total = 156 books for 20€ = 12.8c (0.128€) per book. And that is not taking into account early returns, etc.
-- Of course, this is somewhat of a high figure (most people won't get that many books out), so lets just take half of that many books (78), thus doubling the price: 0.256€.
-- And lets not forget that anything beyond your small-village public library probably has a selection of books quite a bit more extensive than that of most ebook providers.
EDIT
I should note of course that aside from the under 18s, college and such students also get massive discounts (or straight-out free access). Now lets look at the average "consumer" of pirate-ware... I don't think I'd be far off the mark if I stated that probably the majority of those would fall exactly within the category of under-18 or college-age. Arguably one of the reasons why many SW companies bring out extremely cheap "student" versions - getting 100US for a 1000US SW package is better than getting nothing.
/EDIT
Or was it just another corporate attempt at ripping people off by raping what otherwise could've been a good idea?
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Nonsense. The leading DRM format for eBooks is MobiPocket, and that certainly hasn't been broken.
|
I think he means protected media in general, not ebook DRM per sé.
Or at least that's the way I read his comment.
----
And not in the UK? Well, the UK has always been considered an outsider in Europe (or at least, not wanted to be considered an integral part of it - anyone that's ever done international politics knows that even in the EU the UK has always been a monkey-wrench, and more often than not gone against the "norm", the issue with Iraq a few years ago being the perfect example hereof). But then again, what do I know? I'm just a war journalist specialized in international politics.