[GRLUG] e-Books rule at Amazon

[Ron Lauzon]

On Thu, May 19, 2011 at 1:30 PM, Bob Kline <bob.kline at gmail.com> wrote:
> *  Does one have unlimited access to a
>    digital version?  i.e., if I want to reference
>    a book three years later, will I be able to?
>    I'm really looking for an online library.

It depends.  At Amazon, Publishers can place more restrictions on the
number of times their eBook can be downloaded.
Also, Amazon Swindle... er... Kindle eBooks can be read ONLY on a
Kindle.  So you might be able to read them 3 years later, but only if
you have a Kindle.

Also, keep in mind that Amazon has offered "protected" digital content
before, only to drop support for it later on.  The suckers.. er...
customers who "purchased" that content were left high and dry.

> *  I know that GRLUG members have both
>    the Amazon and the Barnes and Nobel
>    readers.  I'd appreciate comments about
>    the pros and cons of each.  Amazon claims
>    it has 950K digital books now.  I don't know
>    what the corresponding figure for B&N is,
>    but that would be a factor too.

I will not pay money for "Protected" content.  "Protected" content
cannot be purchased.  What you are purchasing is a license - a very
limited license - to read the eBook on a specific reader for a limited
time.

So I've never gotten any electronic content from B&N or Amazon.  I get
all my eBooks from other sources without Digital Restrictions
Management contamination.

-- 
Ron Lauzon - rlauzon at acm dot org
   Homepage: http://7lauzon.home.comcast.net/
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