
The Future Of Libraries In The E-Book Age  - jamesbritt
http://www.npr.org/2011/04/04/135117829/the-future-of-libraries-in-the-e-book-age?ft=1&f=1008
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hartror
Wow, how much will constantly relicensing an ebook cost our library system?

Sounds great for publishers, they finally get more money out of those damn
public libraries who have been undermining their profits for over a century!

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tomjen3
Today, the books at the library are used and handled so they don't last
forever either.

What really is the difference then?

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CamperBob
_What really is the difference then?_

Artificial scarcity imposed by incumbent interests will be considered a bug,
and someone will "fix" it.

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seanieb
"File sharing is the library of today" - Mika Sjöman

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lukifer
"If I buy a book and read it, and then give you the book to read, I have
broken no laws. Why is that not true for all media?" - Michael Moore

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JoeAltmaier
Obviously, because you didn't 'give you the book', you made an (illegal) copy
and kept the book too.

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borism
so will you be happy if I overwrite the original file with zeroes 7 times?

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JoeAltmaier
Not the issue. Its different to give a book away, versus copying and giving an
unlimited copy to someone. You retain the right to own the original,
regardless of whether you burn it, lose it, put it in your library. This is
not rocket science.

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borism
you don't prohibit a person who loaned a book from you to photocopy or take
notes from it, do you?

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Ruudjah
The article forgets a step; it puts the question "will libraries become
obsolete?" on the table. That assumes the book itself will not disappear,
which is a very questionable assumption.

My prediction is that books eventually will disappear completely, and only
nichebooks will be left. Encyclopædia Britannica becomes Wikipedia, novels
become blogs, FAQ books become StackOverFlow-like websites, education
materials become wiki's, how-to books become tutorial websites. And so on.

Print books will remain, but as a print edition based on the digital
incarnation. The next generation will look to books as we look to magnetic
tapes and CD's.

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geekdesigngirl
I've got to disagree. Libraries are not just a book repository. They are
community centers and often the location of free or low-cost workshops. They
are places to bring your kids on a Saturday to listen to stories. And
librarians are a vast treasure trove of information. Libraries also provide
free internet to those who don't have it, access to computers to those
without. I take for granted the 3 computers I own with the internet connection
that is always available but this is still considered a luxury.

As for losing the print editions or print editions being based on the digital
ones, I certainly hope not. I can't imagine sitting in front of my laptop, or
holding a nook, or reading on an iPad for hours. But that's my personal
feelings and often see people on the T with their ebook readers.

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nickpinkston
Yea, they really need to emphasize the community center / place of learning
aspect. Dale Dougherty from MakeZine was discussing how we might start to
including a workshop for making things in a library. If you guys haven't seen
<http://techshop.ws> \- I think it's a great model what libraries could
incorporate into their services to maintain relevance.

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nickpinkston
HarperCollins says "unlimited access to books isn't commercially feasible" -
well boo hoo HC! The VAST majority of book authors don't make enough money to
survive, yet we still have those books don't we? Maybe youre little more than
irrelevant and exist only because youve got the lawyers to back you up.

This shit pisses me the fuck off... Where am I wrong?

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HaloZero
Can't libraries just own the digital content for unlimited licensing but
restrict membership to people within residential limits? You must live within
x miles of library to rent the book. The only hard part might be proving
residence.

