Big Kindle is Watching
Score one for Gutenberg. The New York Times reports that Amazon.com deleted books from Kindles that weren’t supposed to be sold. I am probably the millionth person to note the irony that the books deleted in such a Big Brother fashion are George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm. I checked, and I have copies of both books still on my shelves.
I wrote in Chronicles a while back that “one doesn’t have to be a Luddite to see the limitations of the appeal of such electronic media—especially given the almost instant obsolescence endemic to nearly every kind of electronic equipment.(Imagine how unsatisfied those who pay $400 for an Amazon Kindle that holds 200 e-books will feel when version 2.0 sells for half the price and holds twice the text.)” It never even occcurred to me that Amazon.com would be surreptitiously deleting books from Kindles. I guess it never occurred to their customers either.
Is this supposed to be a real argument?
(Imagine how unsatisfied those who pay $400 for an Amazon Kindle that holds 200 e-books will feel when version 2.0 sells for half the price and holds twice the text.)”
I don’t know, when I was in grad school and had a couple thousand books, it was a real pain in the neck to schlep them from place to place. Finally, I gave up and sold most of them to a used book store for beer money.
Every means of communications has its limitations. Books are durable, but heavy. The problem with the scenario you describe isn’t so much the limitations of electronic devices, but the fact that copyright law doesn’t recognize ownership in the electronic manifestation of the book the same way as it recognizes ownership of the physical book itself. Reform copyright law and you get the right outcome. Pay once for 1984 and keep it forever.
From the first day I heard that the name of this product was “Kindle”, it brought to mind Fahrenheit 451. I guess they’re living up to (my interpretation of) their name.
In all fairness, I paid half as much for this laptop as I did for my last one. It’s twice as fast and has twice the storage capacity.
But the Amazon debacle paves the way for a bit more golbalism. Apparently those books are public domain in half the world.
Hopefully Kindle will inspire some other company to start selling a cheaper, DRM-free (that stands for “digital rights management”, but the term is a misnomer as the rights certainly don’t belong to the purchaser) reader that has a similar screen and better memory.
I expect that such readers will be hugely successful but will not kill print at all. Most of my friends have mp3 players (I don’t), but we all spend more on vinyl than on any other format. Why? Because it’s nice. They look good, the old ones are cheap, the new ones are beautifully packaged (and sometimes come with free mp3 files) and the places that sell them are fun to visit.
Wow! The irony. While I can understand why Amazon wanted to delete these items; the manner in which they did so leaves a very uncomfortable feeling.
I don’t own a Kindle, and now I am questioning whether I want one or not.
[...] (Baltimore Sun’s Read Street blog) Amazon sends Orwell to “memory hole” (AFP) Big Kindle is Watching (American Conservative) Amazon recalls (and embodies) Orwell’s 1984 (CNET [...]
[...] Big Kindle is Watching [...]
Six months ago bloggers (notably Stephanie at UrbZen) warned about this kind of thing.
See:
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/07/25/kindle-see-we-told-you-so/
This device has appealed to me for a long time — until a few days ago what I thought was a steep price kept me from taking the plunge. Now I’m so glad I did! I’ve had my Kindle almost a week, and have devoured three to four books. Here are my first impressions.
1) The size is perfect. I was seriously considering the Kindle DX, but then chose not to go that direction because it was just too big. I don’t need another 8″ x 11″ notepad to carry — I have enough of them as is. I want something small and streamlined that will hold a LOT of books.
2) The readability is very good. While there may be a bit of glare at times from a nearby light inside, or the sun outside, tilting the screen just a little will remove it. The adjustable font sizes are wonderful, and easy to change.
3) Downloading books is easy. I live in an area where the Whispernet coverage is spotty, but there is always the option of downloading to my computer hard drive then transferring to the Kindle. The download speed is also very fast — in less than a minute a full book is available for reading. The books can also be kept on archive at Amazon if the Kindle becomes too cluttered. I’d recommend keeping a copy of the book on one’s hard drive as well if space is needed on the Kindle.
4) The “feel” is right. I was wondering how I would react to having a Kindle in my hands compared to a regular book. Would I miss the turning of pages and the sensation of a bound volume at my fingertips? I actually don’t miss them — I enjoy the Kindle being so easy to use. I am glad the page turning buttons are on both sides, for they give my hands a bit more flexibility while reading.
5) It is worth the money for a heavy reader. When you read as many books as I do, what to do with the books already read becomes a huge problem. As a pastor who has been in the ministry almost 30 years, my library is very large. I’ve converted my reference titles to a digital format with Libronix Bible software (also reviewed here) but there is still the problem of what to do with everything else. Now I’m able to streamline my library even further by reading digital versions of books I purchase regularly. Once the book is read, I keep it on the Kindle, transfer it to my hard drive, or leave it on Amazon. The reduction in hassle of handling and storing paper books is WELL worth the small price paid for the device. If you don’t read much, then you’d probably be better off not having a Kindle and just sticking with the traditional paper versions.
6) The battery life is superb. The battery will last about four days with the download function enabled. If the download function is disabled, it will last much longer. Charging can be done via an AC outlet or through the USB connection.
The only shortcoming I see with this device is that the titles can’t be transferred from one Kindle to another. With my wife being a librarian, it is only a matter of time until she will have one as well. Under the present arrangement with Amazon, books must be purchased and downloaded for each individual account.
If you’re considering a Kindle and read fairly often, I’d recommend taking the plunge. You’ve always got the 30-day return period to try it. I do believe however, you’ll be very pleased!
Ah, yes. So very Luddite.
In two weeks I’m leaving for a half year in Latin America, where can’t get the pulp version of TAC. I’ve bought a 79 buck Kindle so as to take my library (or 90% of it) along with me. 5 oz. of an elegant little reader to take 3/4 of my periodical subscriptions and millions of books along with me.
Rod Dreher’s presence on your mast head has just enticed me to re-subscribe, but for the next 6 months I won’t be able to receive the print version. I’m buying a print subscription anyway. Is there anyway I can subscribe digitally via the Kindle? Please forward my inquiry to the subscription department if there is. Thanks.