Well, it's been a god damn long break between diatribes. but its taken the recent move by Harpy Collins to get my ire all afire. and what is it? They have instituted a new restriction on ebook lending to just 26 checkouts, their equivalent of a digital shelf life. What in blazes? First Amazon with their own little propriety anti-library pro-money kindle, and now this. You could mention the whole Boarders fiasco, but gentle ereaders, your kobo will still be safe. This really gets to me.
A recent article in the Believer focused on the fact that ereaders are really trying to simulate the world of the book, where the technology has so much more to offer than replicating an experience of the printed word. Even Julio Cortezar stepped out of the linear world of words with his novel Hopscotch, so why haven't digital books deigned to offer more? Possible because writers are not exclusively focusing on this medium, and publishers don't know how to market it.
What they do know however is how to restrict libraries from promoting ebooks to a wider readership. Having reviewed ebooks and eAudiobooks for my library recently it is clear that publishers are really out to protect their content (and all the power to them, they are out to make a profit anyway). even reviews of ereaders leads to the Kindle being the most user friendly, but what about library friendly?
I've sat on the fence along time over the issue of proprietary driven ebooks, and still don't own an ipad or ipod for similar reasons: I'm not up for restrictions. Which of course brings me back to Harper Collins. if my ebooks are to be restricted to a device, and now my ebooks are to be restricted to a shelf life, it will really be a backwards step in advancing digital media. For now, I think I'll stick to reading books, blogs and Believer.
