tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11761373.post6143832597957696394..comments2023-05-19T10:45:51.868-05:00Comments on Fine Whine: Let's Bunch Up Our Skivvies; Another WTF MomentVirginia Llorcahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08354795459855491623noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11761373.post-58803355760368069862013-02-18T08:22:10.439-06:002013-02-18T08:22:10.439-06:00All the doom and gloom about Amazon is just a bunc...All the doom and gloom about Amazon is just a bunch of fear mongering. It's not going to kill the publishing industry, and it's not going to push other merchants out of the market. Actually, I see that "used ebook store" thing to be a big load of crap. <br /><br />The whole reason that there's a market for used physical books is that they get dinged up in their use. But a digital copy doesn't get dinged up--unless it gets corrupted, and then it's totally useless anyway. One electronic version is just as good as its copy (so long as DRM doesn't come into play). So maybe a digital used book store would give you the ability to transfer the books to someone else and recoup some of your cost in buying the book... but why would someone do that if they could just buy a copy straight from Amazon? And why would Amazon or anyone else WANT that to happen, since it would be cutting into their own sales figures? Unless they just want to get the patent so that no one else can get the patent first and undercut them (that, I think, is where the rubber meets the road).<br /><br />The problem with these business models is that they're leveraging a technology (the internet and computers in general) that was designed for open communication. The very basis of its creation was to connect the world and facilitate open dialogue and sharing of information. Therefore, when you take a technology designed for the express purpose of sharing things, and then try to modify it into something that prevents the sharing of things (or, sharing of things only when it's allowed), there are always going to be ways to get around it.<br /><br />Companies like Google are the ones who really have their shit straight. They embrace the open source mindset, going with the flow rather than against it, and they've reaped incredible benefits because of it.<br /><br />Jonathan<br /><a href="http://www.ireadabookonce.com" rel="nofollow">www.ireadabookonce.com</a>Jonathan Wilhoithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17330197977238770900noreply@blogger.com