Why ebooks are bad for you

HansTWN · 06-10-2011, 04:08 AM

http://www.pcworld.com/article/22988...ml#tk.rss_news

Pretty much sums up the objections a lot of fellow MR readers have.

FizzyWater · 06-10-2011, 04:22 AM

I'm NOT saying I agree with all the crap that goes along with ebooks, but you have to admit that quite a few technology "improvements" have been rolled out with greater restrictions to consumers that the original - here are a couple that come to the top of my mind:

*Cable TV - TV is no longer free, and your cable provider knows what you're watching (oh, and some of you might remember it was highly advertised in its infancy as "TV without commercials" - and with the exception of the premium pay channels, that certainly hasn't held true)

*Cell phones - this is mixed bag, but to me, the biggest restriction is that you are charged if someone else calls you - so no matter who initiates the call, both people are charged to use their phones [This has been on my mind lately, because my mother - a senior citizen on a fixed income - is thinking of dropping her land-line/cable based phone service for strictly her cell phone. In the 2 1/2 hour phone call I had with her that day, she insisted "I never call anyone" - and had a hard time understanding that my phone call with her would have costed her minutes, too.]

DMB · 06-10-2011, 04:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

I'm NOT saying I agree with all the crap that goes along with ebooks, but you have to admit that quite a few technology "improvements" have been rolled out with greater restrictions to consumers that the original - here are a couple that come to the top of my mind:

*Cable TV - TV is no longer free, and your cable provider knows what you're watching (oh, and some of you might remember it was highly advertised in its infancy as "TV without commercials" - and with the exception of the premium pay channels, that certainly hasn't held true)

*Cell phones - this is mixed bag, but to me, the biggest restriction is that you are charged if someone else calls you - so no matter who initiates the call, both people are charged to use their phones [This has been on my mind lately, because my mother - a senior citizen on a fixed income - is thinking of dropping her land-line/cable based phone service for strictly her cell phone. In the 2 1/2 hour phone call I had with her that day, she insisted "I never call anyone" - and had a hard time understanding that my phone call with her would have costed her minutes, too.]

You didn't mention that cell phones can also be used to track you.

Cyberman tM · 06-10-2011, 05:22 AM

Isn't that basically a duplicate of another thread?

--

Anyway, while I agree with most of it, I also completely disagree.

It's focusing at the wrong point, IMO. It's not eBooks that are the problem. It's DRM and the content industry (who ever that may be in detail).

Closing your eyes or turning away doesn't help. Just saying "Don't use eBooks" is ridiculous.
Instead, say "Don't use DRMed material".
Not all eBooks have DRM, not all devices bind you. Just a very few, I'd say - unless all you see are the biggest players.

Kali Yuga · 06-10-2011, 05:48 AM

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=138178

Solicitous · 06-10-2011, 06:35 AM

Ok, ebooks may be bad for you, but not one has ever given me a paper cut

Seriously, these articles are starting to get a little thin. Ok, I need to identify myself with the ebook store to buy an ebook. Does one not need to identify themselves to get a mobile phone? OMG the phone company knows who I call. What about DVD rentals? Here in Australia anyway you need a drivers licence to prove who you are. ARGH they know I rented The Notebook. You go get a library card and they keep a record of your borrowings.

And this article written by someone with their writings blasted on the internet and facebook.....and they're concerned that an ebookstore knows what ebooks they have bought...pfft!

mbovenka · 06-10-2011, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

*Cell phones - this is mixed bag, but to me, the biggest restriction is that you are charged if someone else calls you - so no matter who initiates the call, both people are charged to use their phones

This is not universally true. Where I live (the Netherlands) only the caller pays, not the receiver of the call. Unless you are roaming internationally; then the caller pays the same as when the receiver was not roaming, and the receiver pays a certain amount per minute (which varies with call plan and cellular provider).

Clancy_s · 06-10-2011, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbovenka

This is not universally true. Where I live (the Netherlands) only the caller pays, not the receiver of the call. Unless you are roaming internationally; then the caller pays the same as when the receiver was not roaming, and the receiver pays a certain amount per minute (which varies with call plan and cellular provider).

That also applies in Australia; in fact as I understand it the US is unusual in having the receiver also have to pay for domestic mobile calls.

astrodad · 06-10-2011, 07:40 AM

Quite possibly the funniest thing I have read all morning. I've only been up for an hour.

Quote:

Better ways to support authors, he suggests, would be "to distribute tax funds to authors based on the cube root of each author's popularity"

I can really see that working.

jbcohen · 06-10-2011, 08:19 AM

After reading this article I must admit that Mr. Stillman has no idea what he is talking about and is another example how idiots frequently pass themselves off as experts. What Mr. Stillman fails to understand is the DRM and formats are simple innocnviences for electronic book readers. A reader with average intelligence, something that Mr. Stillman clearly does not have, can easily eliminate the DRM and change the format to what ever he/she wants. A dear friend of mine bought himself a Kobo, buys books from Amazon, uses Calibre to strip out the DRM and change the format to epub then he uplaods it to his Kobo. "It takes me approximatly five minutes" he says.

queentess · 06-10-2011, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

*Cell phones - this is mixed bag, but to me, the biggest restriction is that you are charged if someone else calls you - so no matter who initiates the call, both people are charged to use their phones [This has been on my mind lately, because my mother - a senior citizen on a fixed income - is thinking of dropping her land-line/cable based phone service for strictly her cell phone. In the 2 1/2 hour phone call I had with her that day, she insisted "I never call anyone" - and had a hard time understanding that my phone call with her would have costed her minutes, too.]

The whole "senior citizen, fixed income" thing peeves me. *I'm* on a fixed income too, you know!

Maybe check into one of the providers that let's you have 'free' calls with a certain number of people? I'm on Verizon, and so is my immediate family and my husband's immediate family, and those in-network calls don't count towards our minutes. I seem to remember another provider (no clue which one or if it's still offered) used to have a "friends and family circle" where your top 5 or 10 people were 'free' calls.

jbcohen · 06-10-2011, 08:40 AM

My former cell provider did not offer that (I was green with envy), my current provider will provide free unlimited calling anywhere - its provided by my employer who seemed to be so eager to pick up my cell bill so why not let them.

Bro Pete · 06-10-2011, 08:52 AM

So the author's complaint is that Big Brother knows what you are reading? If you purchase books, or anything for that matter, with a credit/debit card, or checked out a book from the library, haven't they had that ability for a long time?

Amazon isn't the only place to buy books. I always hope that people will see that they have choices in ereaders and ebooks.

Everything from microwaves and TV remotes to wifi computers and smart phones is supposed to make our lives better. Microwave food rarely tastes as good as stove cooked (think grilled cheese sandwiches, fried chicken and pie). I have 150 channels that I can browse through and have nothing to watch. I am better connected to the entire world but I don't know all of my neighbors names. I have a thousand songs on a tiny device but the quality is such a compromise that I can't hear the subtlety that the artist worked hard to acheive. My neighbor has a car that parks itself, recognizes his voice, monitors his performance better than the space shuttle, calls for assistance if he has a wreck, can climb the steepest mountains at the push of a button, and warms his butt when it is cold outside, but he can't find time and doesn't want to fight the traffic to go visit his Mom at the nursing home just across town.

Ereaders are bad for you? I have never had greater access to the world's great books than now. My ereader's pages are as crisp and clear as most of the books I own. If I install a memory card, it holds more books than I could read in a lifetime. I share my reader with my wife and daughter. The books we've read number much more than all the books we've read in all the time before. We even take time to discuss the books we've read and suggest titles for each other to consider. Try that with your teenager and their omnifunctional smart-phone apps. (Just how important is your angry birds high score?) txt them 2 ask maybe they will ttyl. @TEOTD 1dr how it has improved our life. DBEYR. BSF, Go on facebook to see if you are still friended. If you are confused google it. Yo dog, see how our vocabulary has grown.

This article makes me wonder how many works-of-art books the author has read, paper or electronic. What inventions does she consider to enhance her life experience? Ironic, the article she mentions "The Dangers of Ebooks" by Richard Stallman is a PDF file. Fine literature it is.

Luddite rant off

J. Strnad · 06-10-2011, 10:52 AM

Yes, the big advantage of paper books, for which we should eschew ebooks, is that you can pay cash for them and no one knows you bought the book! Of course you'll want to wear a disguise at the cash register because of those security cameras. You never know when Homeland Security will swoop down and arrest everyone buying Fahrenheit 451.

As for DRM, just buy as many non-DRMed books as you can and check the DRMed bestsellers out from the library. The publishers will get the message.

odiakkoh · 06-10-2011, 11:39 AM

books get stolen from book shops and libraries all the time because its not anonymous enough for some people lol. the satanic bible was a hard find. everyones inventory said they had plenty in stock but no one actually had a copy thanks to thieves. the employee that helped me find it was actually surprised that i was "brave" enough to pay for it.

06-10-2011, 04:08 AM	#1
HansTWN Wizard Posts: 4,538 Karma: 264065402 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Taiwan Device: HP Touchpad, Sony Duo 13, Lumia 920, Kobo Aura HD	Why ebooks are bad for you http://www.pcworld.com/article/22988...ml#tk.rss_news Pretty much sums up the objections a lot of fellow MR readers have.

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06-10-2011, 04:22 AM	#2
FizzyWater You kids get off my lawn! Posts: 4,220 Karma: 73492664 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Columbus, Ohio Device: Oasis 2 and Libra H2O and half a dozen older models I can't let go of	I'm NOT saying I agree with all the crap that goes along with ebooks, but you have to admit that quite a few technology "improvements" have been rolled out with greater restrictions to consumers that the original - here are a couple that come to the top of my mind: Cable TV - TV is no longer free, and your cable provider knows what you're watching (oh, and some of you might remember it was highly advertised in its infancy as "TV without commercials" - and with the exception of the premium pay channels, that certainly hasn't held true) Cell phones - this is mixed bag, but to me, the biggest restriction is that you are charged if someone else calls you - so no matter who initiates the call, both people are charged to use their phones [This has been on my mind lately, because my mother - a senior citizen on a fixed income - is thinking of dropping her land-line/cable based phone service for strictly her cell phone. In the 2 1/2 hour phone call I had with her that day, she insisted "I never call anyone" - and had a hard time understanding that my phone call with her would have costed her minutes, too.]

06-10-2011, 05:22 AM	#4
Cyberman tM Evangelist Posts: 439 Karma: 2248782 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Austria Device: Inkbook Prime; Icarus Illumina;ImcoV6l;EB600;Kobo	Isn't that basically a duplicate of another thread? -- Anyway, while I agree with most of it, I also completely disagree. It's focusing at the wrong point, IMO. It's not eBooks that are the problem. It's DRM and the content industry (who ever that may be in detail). Closing your eyes or turning away doesn't help. Just saying "Don't use eBooks" is ridiculous. Instead, say "Don't use DRMed material". Not all eBooks have DRM, not all devices bind you. Just a very few, I'd say - unless all you see are the biggest players.

06-10-2011, 05:48 AM	#5
Kali Yuga Professional Contrarian Posts: 2,045 Karma: 3289631 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Kindle 4 No Touchie	https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=138178

06-10-2011, 06:35 AM	#6
Solicitous Wizard Posts: 1,434 Karma: 1525776 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: TAS, Australia Device: Astak Pocket Pro (Black), 2 x Kindle WiFi (Graphite), iPod Touch 4G	Ok, ebooks may be bad for you, but not one has ever given me a paper cut Seriously, these articles are starting to get a little thin. Ok, I need to identify myself with the ebook store to buy an ebook. Does one not need to identify themselves to get a mobile phone? OMG the phone company knows who I call. What about DVD rentals? Here in Australia anyway you need a drivers licence to prove who you are. ARGH they know I rented The Notebook. You go get a library card and they keep a record of your borrowings. And this article written by someone with their writings blasted on the internet and facebook.....and they're concerned that an ebookstore knows what ebooks they have bought...pfft!

06-10-2011, 08:19 AM	#10
jbcohen Wizard Posts: 3,032 Karma: 11196738 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Where am I? Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature edition and a Samsung S24 Ultra	After reading this article I must admit that Mr. Stillman has no idea what he is talking about and is another example how idiots frequently pass themselves off as experts. What Mr. Stillman fails to understand is the DRM and formats are simple innocnviences for electronic book readers. A reader with average intelligence, something that Mr. Stillman clearly does not have, can easily eliminate the DRM and change the format to what ever he/she wants. A dear friend of mine bought himself a Kobo, buys books from Amazon, uses Calibre to strip out the DRM and change the format to epub then he uplaods it to his Kobo. "It takes me approximatly five minutes" he says.

06-10-2011, 08:40 AM	#12
jbcohen Wizard Posts: 3,032 Karma: 11196738 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Where am I? Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature edition and a Samsung S24 Ultra	My former cell provider did not offer that (I was green with envy), my current provider will provide free unlimited calling anywhere - its provided by my employer who seemed to be so eager to pick up my cell bill so why not let them.

06-10-2011, 08:52 AM	#13
Bro Pete Connoisseur Posts: 76 Karma: 52944 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Central Texas Device: Sony PRS 650	So the author's complaint is that Big Brother knows what you are reading? If you purchase books, or anything for that matter, with a credit/debit card, or checked out a book from the library, haven't they had that ability for a long time? Amazon isn't the only place to buy books. I always hope that people will see that they have choices in ereaders and ebooks. Everything from microwaves and TV remotes to wifi computers and smart phones is supposed to make our lives better. Microwave food rarely tastes as good as stove cooked (think grilled cheese sandwiches, fried chicken and pie). I have 150 channels that I can browse through and have nothing to watch. I am better connected to the entire world but I don't know all of my neighbors names. I have a thousand songs on a tiny device but the quality is such a compromise that I can't hear the subtlety that the artist worked hard to acheive. My neighbor has a car that parks itself, recognizes his voice, monitors his performance better than the space shuttle, calls for assistance if he has a wreck, can climb the steepest mountains at the push of a button, and warms his butt when it is cold outside, but he can't find time and doesn't want to fight the traffic to go visit his Mom at the nursing home just across town. Ereaders are bad for you? I have never had greater access to the world's great books than now. My ereader's pages are as crisp and clear as most of the books I own. If I install a memory card, it holds more books than I could read in a lifetime. I share my reader with my wife and daughter. The books we've read number much more than all the books we've read in all the time before. We even take time to discuss the books we've read and suggest titles for each other to consider. Try that with your teenager and their omnifunctional smart-phone apps. (Just how important is your angry birds high score?) txt them 2 ask maybe they will ttyl. @TEOTD 1dr how it has improved our life. DBEYR. BSF, Go on facebook to see if you are still friended. If you are confused google it. Yo dog, see how our vocabulary has grown. This article makes me wonder how many works-of-art books the author has read, paper or electronic. What inventions does she consider to enhance her life experience? Ironic, the article she mentions "The Dangers of Ebooks" by Richard Stallman is a PDF file. Fine literature it is. Luddite rant off

06-10-2011, 10:52 AM	#14
J. Strnad Guru Posts: 915 Karma: 3537194 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Kobo, Kindle 3, Paperwhite	Yes, the big advantage of paper books, for which we should eschew ebooks, is that you can pay cash for them and no one knows you bought the book! Of course you'll want to wear a disguise at the cash register because of those security cameras. You never know when Homeland Security will swoop down and arrest everyone buying Fahrenheit 451. As for DRM, just buy as many non-DRMed books as you can and check the DRMed bestsellers out from the library. The publishers will get the message.

06-10-2011, 11:39 AM	#15
odiakkoh Guru Posts: 823 Karma: 1818344 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: iPhone 5s	books get stolen from book shops and libraries all the time because its not anonymous enough for some people lol. the satanic bible was a hard find. everyones inventory said they had plenty in stock but no one actually had a copy thanks to thieves. the employee that helped me find it was actually surprised that i was "brave" enough to pay for it.

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