Beth wrote on January 1st, 2010 at 06:58:12 PMBoing Boing co-editor and science fiction author Cory Doctorow lectured about “How to Destroy the Book” at the National Reading Summit back in November. Varsity.ca provides the text of this ode to books and to free and open formats. Doctorow discusses some of his favorite issues, including DRM and the damage DRM causes to legitimate consumers. He also discusses his love for the written word and expectations consumers have when purchasing a book.
Even though I’ll have a nook in another month, I intend to limit eBook purchases to open formats so that I can own the eBooks I buy and transfer them to other devices in the future. Recent threads about EPUB-formatted books magically changing to PDB have concerned me, as I have no intentions of purchasing eBooks that are compatible with only one device/reader, and I’d rather not be placed in the position of having to illegally crack eBooks that I’ve purchased.
Does DRM bother you? Do you consider future usage of your eBooks when purchasing them?
DRM doesn’t bother me when done right. Would I prefer not having DRM, sure. But let’s face it – it’s a part of our life and time to get used to it. It’s not new, our DVDs have it, BluRay discs have it, iTunes music used to have it, eBooks have it, all online TV/Movie streaming/purchasing/renting has it, HDCP imposes it on your equipment, etc, etc.
To me, ePub is the best DRM we have for books. Right now my nook can buy encrypted books from Barnes and Noble… or Sony… or Kobo… or soon Google, and any number of indie publishers. It can also read DRMed library books (also ePub). I actually prefer what Sony’s done so far, retrofitting ePub into all of it’s readers, converting their books to ePub and allowing free redownloads in the format. From what I understand, Barnes and Noble is using a form of Adobe Digital Editions encryption that only works on nook so far – but hopefully, that will change with future upgrades to the platform. With Borders partnering with Kobo, this only promises to get better.
Contrast with Amazon (our readers only, our formats only) and you’ll see the worst side of DRM, which is why I dumped my Kindle for a nook.
BTW: Since I stated I prefer Sony’s style to Barnes and Noble – why did I buy a nook? Simple, I LOVE wireless access. My most frequent time to purchase a book is while browsing the same book in a brick and mortar store (I can’t be alone – why else is Borders and Barnes and Noble jumping into the market so heavily). Sony’s only model that has this type of access is $140 more than the nook and has a touch screen which affects the quality of the screen (not to mention the fingerprints as well). That’s why I like the hybrid nook with a plain, legible eInk screen and a touch LCD that turns off while you read.
I’m a stubborn person with tastes largely outside of the mainstream. I have only ever bought one item from the iTunes Store (a Pixies original back when they were originally reuniting because it was the only way to buy the tune and hymn was available). On the other hand, I have had a subscription to eMusic for over seven years, and they offer DRM-free MP3s that until recently could be downloaded as many times as you’d like. (Now I think you’re limited to five downloads and some number of back-ups.)
I, too, find EPUB attractive. I’m looking forward to eBooks not being tied to a particularly device, and I do think the explosion of eReaders and eBook vendors in 2010 will force Amazon and BN to pursue more open marketplaces. (The Kindle’s DRM scheme is also one of the main reasons I did not purchase Kindle, but I’m not happy hearing about EPUBs turning into PDBs without warning/notice/choice.) I also found the prospect of having a brick-and-mortar store attached to my eReader a gigantic plus since I live fairly close to a BN store.
I have not had opportunity to play with Sony’s eReaders, unfortunately, but they visually do not appeal to me. (Using one could, of course, completely change my opinion.)
Are any of the multitude of devices that will be debuting at CES next week attractive to you? There are several new eReaders, including Que, Alex, Mirasol, etc. Looks like next week will be very busy.