Distressing news about the books on your Kindle

[Fiddytree]

I have no reason to think it will or wont. I simply know that free markets adapt to inefficiencies.

Selectively, they do.

 

[Jerry]

There's nothing distressing about this to me because I always knew this is how it works. I never thought I was taking possession, I was buying access to the material (the license to use it). With paper books, they get read a couple times then donated, and audio books are removed from my Droid as soon as I've finished them, to save memory (BTW The Martian is excellent). Your drivers license and SS card don't belong to you either.
To me this just isn't a big deal :2wave:

 

[Fiddytree]

Amazon hasnt though, so its moot. People are happy with the service.

They have on select occasions.

People are frequently happy with the service, yes.

 

[Fiddytree]

There's nothing distressing about this to me because I always knew this is how it works. I never thought I was taking possession, I was buying access to the material (the license to use it). With paper books, they get read a couple times then donated, and audio books are removed from my Droid as soon as I've finished them, to save memory (BTW The Martian is excellent). Your drivers license and SS card don't belong to you either.
To me this just isn't a big deal :2wave:

But you are able to donate or sell the paper book. With your license agreement, you cannot do so (yet). In fact, one storefront could find themselves in actual legal trouble if they try to (Can a Used E-Book Market Survive the Legal Attacks?). If you wish to loan the book to an individual you have to proceed through a limited avenue to do so. Because of the nature of digital content, we are still trying to find the correct analogies which to guide us in user rights and content holder rights. As of now, user rights are much more restrictive than their analogue or traditional counterparts.

 

[Slyfox696]

Stories like this are why my books are always DRM free.

If a person downloads a book to their computer, there are ways to prevent companies from keeping you from what you've paid for.

 

[Jerry]

But you are able to donate or sell the paper book. With your license agreement, you cannot do so (yet). In fact, one storefront could find themselves in actual legal trouble if they try to (Can a Used E-Book Market Survive the Legal Attacks?). If you wish to loan the book to an individual you have to proceed through a limited avenue to do so. Because of the nature of digital content, we are still trying to find the correct analogies which to guide us in user rights and content holder rights. As of now, user rights are much more restrictive than their analogue or traditional counterparts.

Once I discovered Audible I haven't been inside a bookstore. In fact I just downloaded Divergent and am literally about to start the series right now. I know I didn't buy the material, I bough access to the material, and that's ok because as soon as I'm don with it I'm removing it from my Droid anyway to save memory.

 

[Fiddytree]

Once I discovered Audible I haven't been inside a bookstore. In fact I just downloaded Divergent and am literally about to start the series right now. I know I didn't buy the material, I bough access to the material, and that's ok because as soon as I'm don with it I'm removing it from my Droid anyway to save memory.

For some folks, the transition is great ( I also like Spotify for music and Netflix for TV-and sometimes movies). However, the need for DRM-free, transparent mainstream content is pretty real. This was why it was important for Apple (and Amazon, and others) to strip themselves from the DRM shackles when it came to music. However, in some mediums (namely books, films, television shows, and magazines), it has been far too fashionable to rely almost exclusively on DRM mechanisms for protecting and enhancing content owner agendas.

 

[AlbqOwl]

There is something magical--spiritual maybe is a better word--about holding a great, beautifully bound book in one's hands. And to own such books has been one of life's pleasures for me and mine.

Nevertheless, the logistics of owning all the books you want to read for pleasure, for information, for research, etc. can eventually become overwhelming. So you walk through our house and see shelves of books in every room, boxes containing the overflow of books, and others stacked on and under the coffee table, amongst the software on my desk, or within bookends on tables. And eventually you begin to feel like an episode of "Hoarders" and acknowledge that there simply is no more reasonable room for any more books. And yet when I go to cull them, donate them, give them away, parting with them feels like giving up my first born.

The Kindle was a perfect solution. I have the luxury of previewing an excerpt before buying. And once I do buy I have my Bible, an unabridged dictionary, medical books, lay law books, and a broad collection of reference books and books to read for information and pleasure. read and unread, on one light, easily transportable, and easy-to-read device. And now that I'm on a much stricter budget in retirement, the cost is minimal compared to what I used to have to spend on a good book.

The best of both worlds.

 

[PirateMk1]

Got a link?

I have had it happen to me personally with my MSN music when they had the store and Microsoft had DRM on their music. I had to revive a old computer and get a program to convert the music I PURCHASED into DRM free format. I will not buy protected music anymore or protected books. The only caveat being I have the means to readily convert and strip the DRM which I do, and it is legal to do so. They are DRM free or they don't get bought is the general rule for me none the less. I do business now with the likes of Baen a publisher I read a lot of books from or other publishers and authors I like directly and just purchase real objects from amazon.com and the like.

 

[PirateMk1]

Utopianism aside, can you realistically forecast the impact of such publishing? Can you honestly picture in 10-20 years that the publishing industry will dramatically alter?

It already is with a lot more authors self publishing and publishing houses selling directly now. Baen is one of the ones leading the charge. They have many of their authors older works that are free as a way to get people to sample and hopefully buy future works. It works well for them. I know I like their system and I happily pay for my favorite authors. People are more then happy to pay a reasonable charge to read their favorite authors. There are plenty of studies that show conclusively people wont pirate near as much if the material is reasonably priced and easily accessed.

 

[radcen]

Here's an ad that was on my Facebook page...



Note the wording, as phrased by Amazon... "OWN THE E-BOOK".

No disclaimers. No asterisks. No indication of any kind that "own" doesn't mean anything other than what the vast majority of reasonable people take it to mean.

 

[Patrickt]

I suppose there are nitwits who are shocked at this. Not me. When I left Colorado I left 70 books I'd bought. They "belonged" to me. Now, they belong to someone else. That's life.

 

[ChezC3]

This right here is why I only purchase out of print or copyright expired full collections that they offer for like 99 cents --$2 on kindle. The minimal fee is worth me not having to search the web and have them all at my fingers tips. If they pull this crap I'm out $20-30 tops. Otherwise I buy the real deal and lately I wait until I can make a trip to Half-Price Books where I can get almost new books for literally half the price.

I still use Amazon exclusively for online buys as past dealings with BN.com have forced my hand. But like with any capitalist conglomerate once they price the competition out of business they become scumbags of the highest order. Amazon ain't quite got there yet but time is on their side.

 

[Henrin]

It's been known for a while that you don't own anything you bought for your kindle. It doesn't make much difference though since the protection they put on their books is pretty crappy.

 

[Cephus]

That's exactly why, the second I buy an e-book, I also go out and pirate it so I have a backup copy that nobody can ever touch.

 

[Visbek]

Am I the only one that knew about this? I thought that, once you "bought" the books, you owned them. I'm a little frustrated about this. Once I bought my Kindle, I "repurchased" all my favorite books and put them on the Kindle, and then donated the books. So I have had to pay for them twice, which is bad, but now I don't own them?

Nope. You've basically licensed them.

This has been discussed for years, anti-ebook and anti-Amazon/Kindle people were in a high dudgeon about it when ebooks first started taking off. It really is not new, or news, nor are we n00bs to digital content. Despite that fact, I assume most people don't have the slightest idea that they don't "own" software and digital content in the same way they own a physical book or piece of hardware.

 

[poweRob]

You don't own your Kindle books, Amazon reminds customer - NBC News

Am I the only one that knew about this? I thought that, once you "bought" the books, you owned them. I'm a little frustrated about this. Once I bought my Kindle, I "repurchased" all my favorite books and put them on the Kindle, and then donated the books. So I have had to pay for them twice, which is bad, but now I don't own them?

I think I recall something similar in apple's itunes policy.

 

[poweRob]

I guess Im never going to have this problem since I never buy e-books, all my books are made of actual paper. There's nothing better than having your own private library in your house with shelves of books, its a sign of elegance and class.

nerd!

 

[poweRob]

This post really tempts me to give a snarky response. Dang it, can't help myself.

You could just use a public library that will get you whatever you want in a short amount of time (and free access to all their digital content, which is growing). The only benefit you don't get from a public library you'd have in a private one is the ability to impress random people with its look. Then again, if you have the money to afford a private library you could probably find something more impressive to do with a room.

I used to love the public libraries. However, since America has a policy for handling homeless druggies and mentally jacked up folks as being 1) throw them in jail and/or 2) let them wander the streets... they tend to migrate to the public libraries anymore. Stepson got mugged outside of the Phoenix public library on central a few years back.

 

[Cephus]

I used to love the public libraries. However, since America has a policy for handling homeless druggies and mentally jacked up folks as being 1) throw them in jail and/or 2) let them wander the streets... they tend to migrate to the public libraries anymore. Stepson got mugged outside of the Phoenix public library on central a few years back.

The other problem is, public libraries simply don't have the selection that bookstores do and physical bookstores simply don't have the selection that somewhere like Amazon has. You can't walk into a library and get the latest book by your favorite author. Physical bookstores have limited shelf space and sell out. That's never the case with e-books.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

You don't own your Kindle books, Amazon reminds customer - NBC News

Am I the only one that knew about this? I thought that, once you "bought" the books, you owned them. I'm a little frustrated about this. Once I bought my Kindle, I "repurchased" all my favorite books and put them on the Kindle, and then donated the books. So I have had to pay for them twice, which is bad, but now I don't own them?

I keep having to remind authors about this.
They counter with 'but you can offload your books' - yes, you can, if they aren't DRM and if you can figure it out. It doesn't mean you OWN the book, though. It just means you circumvented Amazon's policy.