
The Book vs. The Kindle - kqr2
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/07/book-vs-kindle
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conorgil145
I think that the Kindle would be much more successful if it allowed many more
formats than just the Amazon approved books (in Topaz format i think).

If I could carry around all of my kindle books and a pdf of my homework
assignments and free e-books found online etc etc I would be much more
interested in buying a kindle.

Also, I never actually read the Terms & Agreements for services, but for the
kindle it apparently does matter because Amazon is remotely deleting books
that people have legitimately purchased. There is another post on HN with an
article about it. If Amazon could delete things on my Kindle I would never get
one and stick to the good old paper versions.

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andreyf
_If I could carry around all of my kindle books and a pdf of my homework
assignments_

New kindle supports pdf (and anything you can translate into pdf).

 _Amazon is remotely deleting books that people have legitimately purchased_

If you defined "legitimately" as "gave money for", yes. Legally, no. Just
because I pay money and think a transaction is legal doesn't make it so.

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conorgil145
_Just because I pay money and think a transaction is legal doesn't make it
so._

That is true. However, that is again Amazon's fault because they sold him the
book without having the rights to do so. Instead of admitting their mistake
and using excellent customer service to fix the problem they just deleted the
book without any thought for the customer. They could have sent him a paper
copy without him even asking, notified him before the deletion so he could
save his notes and/or dealt with the publisher directly and obtained the
rights to avoid the whole situation.

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andreyf
I wonder if the authors consider it thinkable that even given the negatives
(which exist), I'm (sometimes) willing to give up some rights for the
convenience of starting to read a book immediately and having it always
available?

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sound2man
As a book collector, I love print editions of books, but digital books are
inevitably going to become more prevelent. And while I don't think paper books
will be going away any time soon, ebooks will take their toll on bookstores.

Just as digital music (arguably) has not hurt record sales, it has (again
arguably) had its toll on bricks and mortar music stores. It is a way of life,
and love it or hate it, it is inevitable.

~~~
run4yourlives
There is a big difference between books and music/video. With books, it is not
only the content but the medium that is part of the experience.

A paperback is lightweight, cheap, durable and independent of other resources.
Most importantly, a book as an experience is a long, drawn out affair. Books
take hours to enjoy, so it's of little importance how many I can carry at a
time.

Music/movies have the opposite effect ~ they are shorter durations of
entertainment, so the more I can carry, the more I can enjoy the experience.
The major advantage of digital music is that I can carry my whole library with
me in my pocket. Even if I could do this with my bookcase, there is little
reason for me to do so. This defeats one of the major advantages of kindle.

I don't disagree with anything you say, but I don't think the death of the
book will happen any time in our lifetime, or our children's lifetime to be
honest.

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gcheong
It depends on how you read. I am often reading several books at any one time
(obviously not simultaneously) so having the ability to read one book for a
while and then effortlessly switch to another at any time/location is a big
plus for me. Having had the kindle dx for a while now, I find it pretty much
equivalent to reading a paper book and I don't miss the paper versions at all.

~~~
jfornear
I do the same. I read easier books that don't require in-depth understanding
on the iPhone Kindle app, and I go ahead and buy books that I know I'm going
to have to look back to again and again.

