http://www.economist.com/blogs/babba.../11/steal_book
*I should confess right up front that I love hard copy books. I love the feel of the pages, the smell of the paper and ink (and potentially the coffee that was spilled on the cover ages ago). So, while I like the idea of the kindle's (and others of its kind) compact/travel friendly usability, in the end I just love the sensation of a hard copy book between my fingers. So, I haven't caved and bought a kindle yet.
And this article isn't really helping to change my mind anytime soon...
The article brought up the good point that we don't really "own" this type of electronic media (e-books). We don't have the right to sell it or pass it along to a friend in the same way we would if had we bought its hard copy counterpart. I never really thought of this, but now that it has been brought to my attention, I don't really like the idea of it. If I purchase something, I want the rights to do with it what I please (within reason, obviously). For me, one of the great joys of books is the ability to pass them along to a friend once I'm done with them. But with these devices, you can't pass anything along without giving them the kindle and effectively losing your entire reading source.
So what if Amazon will let me loan out an e-book "for a whole 14 days. Just once, ever, per title. If the publisher allows it." That seems like a horrible marketing strategy. When I see something with so many limitations on it, I am more wary of the product (*think of those pharmaceutical ads that say, "ask your Dr. about brand X... unless you are a living, breathing, human being, in which case brand X may not be suitable for you"*).
I understand the internet and its litany of networking opportunities opens up these e-books to be more widely shared than conventional books. But there has to be some happy medium where buyers aren't completely devoid of privileges and publishers/authors aren't completely devoid of profits.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Are you happy with you kindle/ipad/etc?