copyright screws business

[miriam_e]

I've been trying to buy an mp3 copy of Carl Sagan's Contact as narrated by Jodie Foster. I love this audiobook. Years ago I downloaded it via the peer-to-peer networks. I just got paid and decided I'd buy it finally like I always wanted to. However after a couple of hours online trying to buy it I have given up. Not only are most of the shopping websites so badly designed that buying stuff is a royal pain, when I finally found a place I could get it from they have paranoid software to "manage" the files for you. This software is designed for MSWindows or Mac... nothing for Linux, but even if they did offer Linux software I wouldn't want it. From what I gather, the software is not there for the convenience of the user, but to make life harder for the user. As seems to be the case so often now in the United States of Paranoia the customer is treated as the enemy.

So I won't buy it after all. I'll have to settle for the p2p copy I have. It's a pity. I'd like to pay for it. I deeply admire Carl Sagan, his wife Ann Druyan (who adapted the book for audio), and Jodie Foster who narrates it.

Bloody copyright paranoia. Whatever happened to delivering a service to your customers?

Comments

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

I'd love to. Unfortunately almost all ebooks from standard publishers are locked. When you "buy" a locked ebook you are only renting it for a short time. When your computer gets upgraded all your locked ebooks think you have not bought them and refuse to open for you. The one thing you can guarantee with a locked ebook is that it will lock you out. I like reading and re-reading my books years later. You can't do that with locked ebooks. One of the locked ebooks I bought a while back locked me out shortly after I bought it, before I even had a chance to read it.

So I buy unlocked ebooks when I can find them (they are comparatively rare) or simply read free, open ebooks, or re-read my paper books. I already have a few books by Carl Sagan... I'd like more... [sigh]

[dorjejaguar.livejournal.com]

:)
I meant buy a paper book by him, that way you'd be giving him your dough and you'd get to read it.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Yes, you're right. If I want a particular book or author it is quite often the only option available... except downloading peer-to-peer shared ebooks that have the locks broken or have been scanned and OCR'ed from paper. I've done that as a stop-gap in the past, waiting till the publishing industry wakes up... unfortunately I sometimes think the whole financial system may have to go first, they're so feverishly locked into making it as difficult for their customers as possible.

I may yet buy another of his paper books. It won't help Carl as he sadly died about a decade ago, but it will help Ann (co-author and wife) and perhaps some of the causes he promoted: SETI, nuclear disarmament, peace, climate stabilisation, astronomy.

The problem with paper books is where to store them. I already have thousands of the damn things. Whenever I move house I spend days just packing books, and the hire truck is taken up with mostly books. I don't have enough shelves and am surrounded with literally tons of them. You can understand my reluctance to add to that. :)

I have about twice as many ebooks as I have paper books, and the ebooks all fit on a single thumb drive that I can carry in my pocket. They are automatically indexed and the computer can quickly search through millions of pages looking for a particular phrase.

[dorjejaguar.livejournal.com]

Ah, well then, I do understand your preference.
I keep very few of the books I read. I have more now than I have had in many years but I could still probably fit em all into 2 or 3 boxes.
I've always had that tendency to purge things. Don't know why, I just do. I always liked the idea of traveling light even if I don't feel like traveling. :)

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

I envy you. I've always had friends who could do that, and I can certainly see the sense in it.

A number of times I resolved to discard a lot of my books, but I always wimped out after only small sacrifices... I guess that's why it never succeeded: I still see it as sacrifice instead of liberation. :)

I grew up in a family that hoarded books. It must be very deep in my blood. All those books -- they feed me while imprisoning me. But such a wondrous prison.

[dorjejaguar.livejournal.com]

:)
Well, I don't discard them, I either give them away or sell them or trade em for more books.
I just generally know if I want to keep a book around, if I'm gonna be wanting to reference it or read it again. The others I can let go.

Books are lovely though, yes.