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A lot of excitement over the Kindle 2. I’m not a Kindle user, but as an avid book reader and book buyer (more buying than reading these days), I find it hard not to be excited about the convenience and superpowers the Kindle bestows. (Not to mention access to Kindle-only books!)
However, what becomes of libraries, research, and the sharing of books? Libraries (and just simple act of being able to lend a book) did more to democratize knowledge than arguably anything in history. (I will not rush to coronate the web, it hasn’t been around for even one generation yet). Will libraries be permitted to “lend” in an era when books are digital only, and DRM’d or locked in a device? What happens to access to books for the poor and those in less developed countries? Will economically-distressed book publishers embrace enabling sharing for their electronic books, or will they go the way of the RIAA and the recording and movie industry, and use their new found digital IP powers and fight tooth and nail to keep the dissemination of their books tightly controlled? Will sharing books be “illegal?”
Thoughts? Has there been any comment by Amazon or the book industry on digital books, libraries, and person-to-person sharing?
February 12, 2009 at 3:40 pm
I think Google’s response would be: “we’ve scanned all the books from some of the world’s most extensive libraries and those are available to all.” So, if you accept this as an answer to “what happens to libraries”, the question becomes: what devices are ubiquitously available to the poor; the disenfranchised; and those living in developing nations that enable them to access this new digital library? The rising generation of smart cell phones is one answer. Mass-distributed Kindles could be another. And the rising generation of “cloud” laptops yet another. For those who can’t afford to buy any of these devices, centers, such as libraries, can be a place where laptops, for instance, are located and available for free use. It’s not as awesome as carrying a dog-eared novel from the local library on the subway or into your favorite cafe, but it’s a start.
February 12, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Google certainly covers a segment of literature. And that may be part of the answer. Assuming we as a society are comfortable being reliant on the charity of a single private company for providing that service. Given the longevity of companies, particularly tech companies, I don’t think that’s an answer. We’d be better with libraries as public institutions or with the diversity of several benefactors starting libraries, as did the robber barons of old.
But those books aside.. how do one borrow Stephen King’s Kindle-only book? Or trade it. Or even buy it for a dollar second-hand?