Quote:
Originally Posted by L.J. Sellers
From ShelfAwareness: Shifting the focus away from choosing which e-reading device to buy, the Wall Street Journal explored the options involved in deciding the equally important question of "which e-bookstore to frequent."
"Reading devices like the iPad, Kindle and Nook will come and go, but you'll likely want your e-book collection to stick around. Yet unlike music, commercial e-books from the leading online stores come with restrictions that complicate your ability to move your collection from one device to the next. It's as if old-fashioned books were designed to fit on one particular style of bookshelves. What happens when you remodel?" the Journal wrote.
My comment: Jeff Bezos has also recently made a point to differentiate the Kindle device from Amazon's e-book store. Will DRM soon become an outdated idea?
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I doubt that DRM will become outdated soon. I think there will be more theft with the spread of e-books, though.
I agree wholeheartedly with content being the priority. I buy e-books with the future in mind. I want to keep access to my books, without stripping DRM, so I buy from companies that allow their books on multiple companies' devices. I don't buy iBooks, for instance, because they're tethered to Apple devices. I use an iPad and a Kindle now, but I don't want to be tied to any one company's hardware over the years.
Jeff Bezos has long said that Kindle hardware and Kindle content are separate, that the hardware unit has to be competitive on its own. He's no dummy. Even if Kindle hardware doesn't survive or Amazon turns it into a loss leader, the company can thrive on selling content. Amazon has so far set the bar on apps for a variety of devices. B&N seems to be heading that way, too.
As a reader, I want more e-book and hardware competition and more apps, to widen my hardware options.