
Why I started reading more once I got rid of my books - ryanwaggoner
http://ryanwaggoner.com/2010/11/how-i-read-more-by-getting-rid-of-my-books/
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Mithrandir
From [http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-
se...](http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.html) :

The Amazon Kindle e-book reader (whose name suggests it's intended to burn
people's books) has an Orwellian back door that Amazon used in 2009 to
remotely delete Kindle copies of Orwell's books 1984 and Animal Farm which the
users had purchased from Amazon.

From <http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/freedom-or-copyright.html> :

We still have the same old freedoms in using paper books and other analog
media. But if e-books replace printed books, those freedoms will not transfer.
Imagine: no more used book stores; no more lending a book to your friend; no
more borrowing one from the public library—no more “leaks” that might give
someone a chance to read without paying. No more purchasing a book anonymously
with cash—you can only buy an e-book with a credit card. That is the world the
publishers want to impose on us. If you buy the Amazon Kindle (we call it the
Swindle) or the Sony Reader (we call it the Shreader for what it threatens to
do to books), you pay to establish that world.

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ryanwaggoner
Nah, no more than buying the original iPod helped usher in a dystopian future
where the music industry controlled us all. Just the opposite happened; once
the industry shifted to digital, the anti-DRM pressure rose to the point where
DRM could be done away with. It's already happening with ebooks; look at the
torrent networks.

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davidw
That "what about the kids" thing seems to be a popular theme... I wonder about
it myself in my own thinking about the Kindle:
<http://journal.dedasys.com/2010/11/26/kindle-thoughts>

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ryanwaggoner
Yeah, I ultimately decided that it's probably more our nostalgia and
attachment or our own way of life than anything else; just like our
grandparents probably lament the downfall of records in favor of digital
music.

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davidw
It's not just that. Going from records to tapes to CD's for instance was all
pretty linear. Not being able to physically look through what you've got is a
different matter altogether though, and part of what I feel dubious about. How
are they supposed to just browse around, picking up things, having a look?
Something like the Kindle is still a bit crude for that sort of thing.

~~~
ryanwaggoner
Well, I don't plan on having kids old enough to be browsing most of my books
for at least another decade. Have to think the technology will have evolved
quite a bit by then.

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jacques_chester
Synchronicity. In the last few weeks I've been thinking about getting rid of
most of my books, for two reasons:

1\. They make moving much harder. I'm young and I would be interested in
working in different places. Owning too much stuff can tie me down to one
city.

2\. Before long it won't be possible to unload my second-hand books at the
book exchange. Kindles are taken up mostly by hardcore readers and they will
probably drive a lot of book exchanges out of businesses. I need to act now
before other Kindle owners come to the same realisation and flood the market
with their paperbacks.

