Never before has a major consumer electronics device remained so mysterious so long after shipping. Amazon won't tell the press even the most basic questions, including: 1) who designed it?; 2) how many have been sold?; 3) how is Kindle Book money divided between Amazon and publisher? and MANY OTHER QUESTIONS.
9:48 AM * PERMALINK * 6 comments
Like The Raw Feed? Then you'll LOVE the FREE Mike's List newsletter!
Find Me On:
Mike's List Newsletter
Cell Phone Version
About Mike Elgan
Columns
Search
Old
Secret Link
Twitter
Technorati
RSS Feed
FriendFeed
Facebook
Google
Digg
Computer America
Other Blogs
And More!
AD: Master Windows 7 with Chris Pirillo's Windows 7 Tips eBook!
MORE MIKE ELGAN STUFF
The World Is My Office
Three Seconds of Genius
Mike's List
The Book of Kindle
Enchiridion
The Spartan Diet
The Spartan Diet Blog
Comments:
Honestly, I'm surprised anyone cares about this information -- or about the device at all. The last thing we need is another DRM-laden device dictating what we can't do with stuff we bought.
Why are you surprised? Only something like 5% of the population (I'm making this number up -- I have no idea) even knows what DRM stands for. Nobody cares.
Mike Elgan
I care. That is why I read computer magazines, techno-stuff and of course The Raw Feed. I enjoy finding out where things come from, how they work, and who designed them. Humans were designed, I believe, to be curious, and I am curious about these things. I am not curious about movie stars dating habits, nor football stats....but other people are and I think it is great that we can all pursue what interests us. Long live the Raw Feed because I like my info raw, and I find this stuff kinda cool....But I truly agree with Chris is the last thing we need is another DRM-laden device dictating stuff to us.....!
I agree that DRM sucks but it serves a purpose in the overall grand skeem of things. Without DRM Itunes would have never been possible. The record companies would have never given rights to their music. The ipod forced competitors to inovate. I think that technology is what's important here. Kindle is not the first of its kind. As you may/maynot know Sony started the e-ink movement about a year ago. Now comes Amazon, a non player in the electronics competition world, with a good jab. I'm sure sony is currently wiping their tears and working on a Kindle killer. Can you see the pretty COLORS!! So please go ahead... make a big fuss about the Kindle and sell mellions. I want my e-ink multimedia palyer already!!!
Hmmmm... let's call a book is an ARM device. It is illegal to take that Analog instance of intellectual property to a copier and steal multiple copies for your own bad self.
There is a fine line between excess on the part of the media managers, brokers, publishers and excess on the part of the consumer.
When the consumer wants to download everything at no cost then nothing has value. There has been no legitimate market for thieves and there should not be.
Authors deserve to be paid.
Thieves deserve to be punished.
We just need to devise a system that delivers each their reward fairly.
Let that serve as context for this comment:
Kindle now puts books in your hand for less than the paper versions. That will save some trees (hooray!) and deliver a better value to the consumer (hooray again!) We'll have to wait and see what the other costs and abuses turn out to be, but I for one am excited about this concrete and positive step toward new models to legitimately reward creativity and deliver it to honest consumers.
Let the thieves whine.
Lest you think otherwise, I am a supporter of open source development and GPL and its derivatives. I think that when volunteered, free content is a beautiful thing. It is not the only business model (yes, it IS a business model.) Direct pay for content is still legitimate.
There is no justification for taking content that is offered for sale without paying for it, whether it is music, a book or an operating system.
Anyone who takes content in this way a petty thief. A shop lifter.
Issues that will need addressing are the DRM equivalent of book lending and donation. Those are certainly fair use. They may be mitigated by
lowered cost that an expanding digital market will bring. They may be new problems that need a better solution, but I think it is great that Amazon has taken a bold step in what I see is a good direction, even without a complete answer to all the DRM issues.
This Death before DRM seems to me an orthodoxy that is far too rigid for its youthfulness. I do find it odd that members of this church regularly cash paychecks while denying payment to individuals far more creative than they...
Another point to consider -- the acceptability of a device like this depends on available content, and new, mainstream content at that.
Copyright protection is an absolute requirement for mainstream book publishers: Without DRM, e-book readers cannot succeed.
Mike Elgan
Post a Comment
<< Home