Big Brother?
Nothing, it seems, stays simple.
As I wrote yesterday, I enjoy the compactness and convenience of reading a book on my little Palm Pilot. I buy books from the eReader site and download them as Palm files. Even more fun, I have some wickedly clever software that enables me to transform free downloads, from Project Gutenberg and other eBook sources, into the eReader format and load them into my Palm. It’s simple. I love it.
But now comes Amazon with the much ballyhooed Kindle, and suddenly the world is a lot more complicated.
Not the device itself–maybe it’s cool, maybe it’s not. Frankly, I stopped caring what physical features the Kindle might have when I heard about the 1984-style Big Brother controls Amazon was putting on its content…
It’s bit scary when you look at the fine print: once you’ve downloaded your purchase, you can read it. But don’t try to resell it, share it with a friend, or paste a quote from it into your blog. Certainly don’t try to do as I do–i.e. use some shareware to put load up public domain books. Amazon is way past that kind of innocence. Try it, and they may just cancel your account instantly.
What’s really scary is that, whatever you do, Amazon will know, due to the monitoring features of the Kindle. And since the books you bought and paid for are still, in effect, under Amazon’s control, cancellation could make your entire library suddenly disappear. At that point, your Kindle will be about as useful as a roofing shingle. Want to know more? The matter is well-aired in detail by writers Cory Doctorow here and Mark Pilgrim here
Bear in mind that Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is the man who said, in 2002: “When someone buys a book, they are also buying the right to resell that book, to loan it out, or to even give it away if they want. Everyone understands this.” Is this the same Jeff Bezos? Maybe that Jeff Bezos has been hijacked by his evil twin.
Still want a Kindle for Christmas? I don’t. I’m happy with my plain Jane Palm Pilot.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I’m not a techno reader and whether in the future I will become one…well, that my friends remains to be seen. However, what Bill has described as Amazon’s control: the monitoring, the disappearing library at the whim of a large corporation, smacks of George Orwell’s 1984 and its Ministry of Truth.
Personally, I love holding a book in my hand, the feel of the paper, are the edges rough or smooth, is the paper thick or thin, what does it look like under the dust jacket — Oh, and yes…I prefer hardbacks!
As I have stated before, I also love books on CD (although Books on Tape sounds better), especially if the main character(s) have a particular accent. Nonetheless, with either format, I have rights and I have control. As Bill quoted an early Jeff Bezos, I can sell it, loan it, give it away. Hell, I can sleep with it, travel with it, choose to never read it, read and re-read it, and I can put it upon a shelf and know that it’s there waiting patiently.
So I better not get a Kindle for Christmas. And if I do, I will reserve my right to return it!