When will the press get it right?

[Enkidu of Abydos]

I seem to remember something like ripping MP3s strictly for personal use being declared legal ?

[DawnFalcon]

Nope, there are only a very few exceptions to circumventing DRM, and that is not one of them.

(In the UK, it's illegal but basically non-prosecutable if done for private usage)

[Enkidu of Abydos]

Oh well, we've gotten off topic (for the second time in this thread), which was Kindle VS Sony Reader as the first POPULAR e-reader device...
About that, was there anything before the Librie (with e-paper) ?

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I was reading an article on PC Week's website about the Kindle development quote and right at the beginning of the article we find:

"The success of the Amazon Kindle has legitimized the concept of an electronic book-reading gadget and led to an explosion of competing devices like the Barnes and Noble Nook, and the Sony Reader."

I'm sorry, but the Sony Reader came out will before the Kindle. After reading a sentence like this I have to question anything else said in the article.

Does anyone fact check this stuff any more?

BTW: Here is the link to the article: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscente...n_gadgets.html

BOb

It does begin to grate on one's last nerve doesn't it? Yeah, I have now owned three Kindles but they are far from great. And they are far, in fact extremely far from the original ereading devices and certainly not the first to use eink.

Ultimately we have to wonder what each author's individual as well as their employer's stock portfolio looks like. There are either no or 2-3 Woodward & Bernstein or even Ralph Nader sorts anymore. We certainly never see the Ralph Nader sort of consumer advocates because unless one gushes over the products from the big-boys the advert income drops overnight, from a single bad review of a product.

Sorry, I think today's BS US Supreme Court decision has me "spring loaded to the pissed off position" WRT anything associated with pandering to big corporate interests.

So, perhaps my own opinion here is not very neutral...but I am just ired of the whole "eink will save the children, cure cancer, feed and clothe the globe as well as cure AIDS..." fashion in which it is presented. And talking as if the Kindle, and to a lesser extent the Sony devices are the end all of products only makes our options as consumers worse.

Right now as far as I am concerned they can all just...oh, I better not write that part...maybe Linda Lovelace can log in and mention it in deeper detail!!??

Great take on it all BOb...

[brecklundin]

You know I just re-read BOb's original comment and completely whiff'd on the way the aritcle not only panders to the Kindle but it also sets up the consumer, who mostly has no idea there are different formats for books, but it in a way makes it sound as if each book store needs it's own proprietary device.

And wait...if the aPPle tablet comes out, that will be ALL we read and hear about...but of course we are not allowed to be critical of Mr. Blow Jobs...

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

I really think there is a little too much parsing going on; lighten up.

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.

I have to agree about the content portion of the article as you point it out. Most because I was shopping for some newer titles this evening as well as they other evening and nothing really exists in the areas I am looking anywhere but Amazon.

So, I ask where are the articles giving the critical eye toward the inability to buy many books anywhere except Amazon? Just how normal is that in the print book world? I can walk into any of a dozen bookstores of all sizes and find the same book for the same price within a couple bucks of course there are a few exceptions but 99% of the time I can get the book anywhere that sells books. Not so with ebooks and as a consumer I need to get someone to find out WHY this is the case.

[YGG-]

Originally Posted by mores

[...] Didn't Apple invent MP3 too?

The MP3 standard was invented in Germany, in a Fraunhofer Institut.

[exreader]

Originally Posted by spideog

Re: Walkmans

The BBC gave a 13 year old one instead of an iPod to see what kids today made of them:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8117619.stm

also:

http://news.yahoo.com/video/tech-157...onics-17519547




ex

[calvin-c]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

I really think there is a little too much parsing going on; lighten up.

The message here is: "Amazon Kindle has legitimized the concept" and that is absolutely true.

Gasp!!! You mean all those pre-Kindle readers were illegitimate? Why those bastards! (Not profanity-if this opinion were true then this would be strictly factual.)

Sorry, but 'legitimate' is an opinion so it cannot be 'absolutely true'.

[calvin-c]

Originally Posted by DawnFalcon

If it's DRM'ed? No, not under the DMCA. (And it's criminal offence, not a civil one as downloading from the darknet would be)

"no person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title."

Major portions of DMCA have been ruled unconstitutional. AFAIK this portion has not yet been tested-but I have my doubts since it conflicts with copyright law provisions that allow 'format-shifting' for personal use. OTOH fighting it would take time & money so I'll not state that de-DRM'ing is legal, just that it's not yet been ruled to be illegal. (AFAIK)

[borax99]

Yes, Sony beat Amazon to the market. I remain shocked, however, at their retrograde decision to switch everything on their store to epub - - when the software they use won't allow for proper justification !!!! So if you had a well-formatted BBeB book and removed it, redownloading it gets you a copy that is broken beyond repair. This issue is under-reported! Sure, they're bound to fix it eventually, but I don't appreciate being kicked around like this. As a customer, I have to option to shop elsewhere.

Because of this problem, I am considering walking away from Sony altogether and pursuing the Kindle option (while also growing my ereader library) ...

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by borax99

Yes, Sony beat Amazon to the market. I remain shocked, however, at their retrograde decision to switch everything on their store to epub - - when the software they use won't allow for proper justification !!!! So if you had a well-formatted BBeB book and removed it, redownloading it gets you a copy that is broken beyond repair. This issue is under-reported! Sure, they're bound to fix it eventually, but I don't appreciate being kicked around like this. As a customer, I have to option to shop elsewhere.

Because of this problem, I am considering walking away from Sony altogether and pursuing the Kindle option (while also growing my ereader library) ...

I think it would have been a good move on Sony's part to release BBeB as an open format and freely offer it to everyone who wishes to use it without cost or limitation. This would provide a good open ebook format that already has some support behind it.