I just officially cut the cord. Good riddance, AT&T!

[mp170.6]

What bothers me about the new age of digital media is we're being sold non-transferable licenses to use a product -- not the product itself.  Some will say, well, Netflix is much different and I agree to some extent.  We get access to a huge collection of movies and shows that we could never afford otherwise. 

 

The area I struggle most with is e-books.  In return for a small discount in price, the content is stored in the cloud, but it's incumbent on you to supply an E-reader or tablet device (which won't last beyond five years), or a computer, plus internet access.  You can't sell "used" e-books.   I'm not sure you can give them away either.  Once you get started with an Amazon Kindle, it's a perpetual money pit from there on out just to preserve access to your books, all with zero chance of recovering any of the money paid in.  

[NrM]

What bothers me about the new age of digital media is we're being sold non-transferable licenses to use a product -- not the product itself.  Some will say, well, Netflix is much different and I agree to some extent.  We get access to a huge collection of movies and shows that we could never afford otherwise. 

 

The area I struggle most with is e-books.  In return for a small discount in price, the content is stored in the cloud, but it's incumbent on you to supply an E-reader or tablet device (which won't last beyond five years), or a computer, plus internet access.  You can't sell "used" e-books.   I'm not sure you can give them away either.  Once you get started with an Amazon Kindle, it's a perpetual money pit from there on out just to preserve access to your books, all with zero chance of recovering any of the money paid in.  

Well the selling point for an e-book is how much more convenient it is.

[RallyMo]

Well the selling point for an e-book is how much more convenient it is.

 

It's soooooooooooooo much more convenient.

 

Or just slightly so, actually, and only for certain kinds of content, which is why ebook sales are leveling off in terms of market share.

[mtangelsfan]

Well, to me there is one pretty big convenience and one smaller one.  The bigger one is being able to get a new book at the push of a button any time of the day any place as long as there is internet.  The smaller one is travel, I love reading while I travel and not having to pack a bunch of books is really nice.

[red321]

I absolutely love my kindle. I can read a book via my kindle, or iphone, or kindle fire. I can pick up where I left off wherever. I don't have to find space on my book cases for another book. I can take multiple books with me on a trip. I have access to a huge library of books, either free (older books) or ones I couldn't find anywhere else. .

 

A growing number of authors are insisting their books be sold without DRM, which does allow you to move books between devices (granted you have to figure out how to convert between formats).

[RallyMo]

Yep, there's convenience to be sure. I love e-books. I just don't think the leap in convenience is as dramatic as it is with other media for the person who reads one book or thereabouts at a time.

[mp170.6]

I absolutely love my kindle. I can read a book via my kindle, or iphone, or kindle fire. I can pick up where I left off wherever. I don't have to find space on my book cases for another book. I can take multiple books with me on a trip. I have access to a huge library of books, either free (older books) or ones I couldn't find anywhere else. .

 

A growing number of authors are insisting their books be sold without DRM, which does allow you to move books between devices (granted you have to figure out how to convert between formats).

 

I'm with you 100% on the convenience factor. 

 

What I was eluding to earlier is that Amazon having near-monopoly control over (new) e-books is not a good thing since we can't sell "used" e-books.  Amazon by all accounts seems like a well-run company but what if that changes?  This is a totally different playing field from what we are accustomed to.  If someone bought a Ford F150 truck and hated it, they could sell it and recover at least some of their investment, or maybe give it to a family or friend.   

 

All of this is out the window in the digital world.  We can't sell used e-books, we can't give them away, we can't let friends borrow them, and in order to preserve access to our collection, we must upgrade our technology every few years. 

 

For working class folks like us, this is probably an acceptable compromise -- but what about retired or disabled folks on very fixed incomes trying to survive on $700 a month?

[Tank]

the convenience factor rocks, especially for travel and space on bookshelves. i also like that it is less expensive than a hardcover or many paperbacks.

 

i don't have an issue with not being able to resell.

 

if there are books that i want to have in my hands, i'll buy them, but that's not very many these days.

[arch stanton]

I occupy two households in two different countries every week. All my books and music are on my ipad. I pay for all of it as long as they don't make me hunt for ways to do it. I would never use someone else's work for my personal financial profit or as part of anything I'm trying to sell.

 

When it comes to tv I pay for both MLB and MiLB packages and NFL during that season. I give my password to my uncle who is a 72 year old lifelong Dodgers and Rams fan living out of market and on a pension that isn't quite what it was supposed to be. No remorse about that. We have good enough internet in the houses to handle streaming live.

 

No Netflix or other services over here so I get the programs however I can. I have a multimedia hard drive full of stuff that I do not know the origin of but at least I can watch House of Cards and True Detective. 

[Tank]

it seems to me that the idea of sharing your password with others is one the tv/cable/satellite companies don't really have a problem with otherwise they'd make the password only able to be used at one location.

[HaloMagic]

That would prevent a paying user from accessing something they pay for away from their primary location. So no mobile, no vacation, and moving becomes a nightmare.