So you have a ebook device. When will you upgrade?

[rlauzon]

Originally Posted by HarryT

And exactly the same is true when you "buy" a paper book too .

Actually, it's not true for a paper book.

When you buy a copy of a paper book, that's exactly what you are paying for. You can do anything you want to with that paper book - except make a copy. Even making a copy, under certain conditions, is permitted under Fair Use.

When you get a DRMed eBook, you can do nothing with it except read it with the proprietary reader it needs. You are not guaranteed that you will be able to read it on another device. You are not guaranteed that you will be able to read it next week. You certainly cannot re-sell it, give it away, etc. (i.e. all the things you can do with a paper book).

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by rlauzon

When you get a DRMed eBook, you can do nothing with it except read it with the proprietary reader it needs.

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.

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!

[yvanleterrible]

Is there a finite use with a license contract? Meaning that when they say it's over it's over, you can't use that ebook any more!

[yvanleterrible]

I just posted something a minute ago and it just disappeared. What happened to it? and I believe I saw a reply from Harry at the same time???!??

[yvanleterrible]

Hey now it's come back...weird! (music from The Twilight Zone)

[yvanleterrible]

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.

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!

Maybe someone could set up a service proposing that you can read such or such book for a lesser price than the sevice offered now and when you land on the last page... Poof! it disappears. Just like the ball on that last minigolf hole.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

Maybe someone could set up a service proposing that you can read such or such book for a lesser price than the sevice offered now and when you land on the last page... Poof! it disappears. Just like the ball on that last minigolf hole.

That's the way DRM worked on the original Sony Librie - you "rented" content and it vanished after a certain number of days. It didn't prove to be a terribly popular system .

[yvanleterrible]

Well there you go! Finally people's money talked!

[rlauzon]

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.

That's today. What about tomorrow?

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!

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.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

If the company that licenses you a book goes belly-up and no one buys the license for service, what happens to these books as the devices storing them fail?

From what I gather, if the files are DRM protected and you no longer have any way of reading them, then you are well and truly screwed.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's the way DRM worked on the original Sony Librie - you "rented" content and it vanished after a certain number of days. It didn't prove to be a terribly popular system .

The DivX rental system (when DVDs first came out) wasn't a terribly good idea. You needed a player capable of playing them and a phone line to authorize them to be played.

[JSWolf]

The way I look at is this... There is a possibility that some company other then Sony might someday come out with a reader that I want more then my current Sony. If I do it right here, I can take most of my books and move them to this new device. But if I go purchasing my books from Sony in their proprietary closed DRM laden format, I very well and truly may get stuck with books I can never read again on some other reader. So unless someone comes out with a way to break the DRM and do a proper conversion from LRX files, then I won't be purchasing books from Sony once my credit with them is over. Yes I will purchase books from Sony using my credit since they are essentially free.

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Yes I will purchase books from Sony using my credit since they are essentially free.

Hey! That's the price point that rlauzon likes for DRMed books too!

[JSWolf]

Oh, I'll still buy DRMed ebooks. Just ones I can deal with that does not have an end of life when my Sony Reader is no longer my reader of Choice.

[yvanleterrible]

I have a suggestion. Buy boring books in DRM. That way you won't miss'em!