There's a whole bunch of things you're allowed to do with books that you own: sell them, give them away, lend them out -- stuff you can't do with your ebooks, by and large. Why not? Because ebook sellers characterize the transaction that you undertake when you plunk down your money as a "license" and not as a sale. You don't buy an ebook, you license it -- hence all the fine-print "license agreement" you click through at regular intervals in the course of paying for and reading books.
But everyone knows that's a shuck. Buying books is what we do. Owning books is what we do. To get a sense of how ingrained the idea of buying and owning ebooks is, have a look at this screenshot from Amazon, shown after a "license" to a book: "Now that you own your Kindle book..." it begins. If you own it, rather than a limited license to it, then you should get the full suite of ownership rights. Let's label this one "Exhibit A."
report this ad
Gus the hacker puppeteer writes, “Many of us hoped the Internet would disrupt the music industry along with all other media industries, giving more power — and more pay — to musicians and songwriters. And yet, somehow the amount musicians get paid each time their songs stream is a tiny fraction of a cent.”
The trademark was granted to discount eyewear company Specsavers, whose slogan is “should’ve gone to Specsavers.” If you object, you have until October 12 to file with the IPO.
Since March, the unnamed genius behind Paperback Paradise has been remixing the often dreadful covers of vintage paperback novels, refining their base material into golden lewd, hilarious new work. (via Richard Kadrey)
With all of the digital information out there—from credit card numbers to Instagram posts to consumer behavior—there’s so much data that businesses struggle with the task of storing, managing, and analyzing the information. That’s why Big Data is one of the fastest growing career paths in the world. Big Data is a giant, intimidating subject, which is why […]
We’re always searching for, borrowing, and losing Lightning cables, and that’s why we are loading up with the Apple MFi-Certified Lightning Cable: 3-Pack.These Apple-certified USB cables let you charge your iPhone, iPad, or iPod via any USB port—whether you prefer your computer or the Apple USB Power Adapter. And since there’s three of them, you never […]
Mophie’s gadgets are reliable, minimalist, and stacked with all the right features. We use these two gadgets to keep our phones, tablets, e-readers, and other electronics charged.Recharge on-the-go with the Mophie Powerstation XL External BatteryThe Mophie Powerstation XL ($39.95) packs enough power to re-charge your phone eight times over. It has three levels of charging, so […]
report this ad
