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viktor_haagHmm. Well, I've now seen two separate articles on the intarwebs about Bezos' latest notion (some might say folly): an e-book reader that uses a thin-on-the-ground, closed system wireless network to deliver content to owners on a subscription basis. On the one hand, I can see that this product might just be a replacement, not for books, but for more transitory forms of written content (newspapers, magazines, blogs). Maybe it will succeed as an iPod for words rather than tunes.
On the other hand, I can't help but feel that this gradual transition of creative content over to a service-based, subscription model is somehow, well, offensive.
When I buy a book, I buy a book, dammit. And why would I not want my hundreds of dollars to be invested in an e-book reader onto which I could load whatever PDF or HTML content I wanted to load, using open wireless networking standards (like 802.11 WiFi), rather than only the content that my service provider saw fit to provide?
Somehow, this product here makes me feel more sanguine about the whole "inevitable deprecation of the paper book". On the other hand, I can't help but notice how much more expensive the iLiad is than Bezos' new "Kindle"...
postscript: in today's Register, we have this: "One plan is to reduce the cost of books through advertising ... books in Kindle can contain adverts which are updated daily."
So, apparently, the solution to e-books is to turn them into television.
On the other hand, I can't help but feel that this gradual transition of creative content over to a service-based, subscription model is somehow, well, offensive.
When I buy a book, I buy a book, dammit. And why would I not want my hundreds of dollars to be invested in an e-book reader onto which I could load whatever PDF or HTML content I wanted to load, using open wireless networking standards (like 802.11 WiFi), rather than only the content that my service provider saw fit to provide?
Somehow, this product here makes me feel more sanguine about the whole "inevitable deprecation of the paper book". On the other hand, I can't help but notice how much more expensive the iLiad is than Bezos' new "Kindle"...
postscript: in today's Register, we have this: "One plan is to reduce the cost of books through advertising ... books in Kindle can contain adverts which are updated daily."
So, apparently, the solution to e-books is to turn them into television.
