I read David Pogue's articles as soon as they hit my inbox. I'm an avid fan of ebooks and ereaders (electronic book readers...) so his article on the publishing industry's copy-protection issues with ebooks was a hit with me. It would seem the publishing industry is going to revisit the problems music industry had with Napster and iTunes. Read Pogue's article if you're interested in this stuff. I did, and here's what I posted as a comment to that article.
December 17, 2009 Link
This is a timely article. Last Christmas my wife bought me a Sony eReader PRS-505 (okay I bought it and gave it to her so she could gift it to me). I LOVED it, having never used one before and only having seen them. My wife isn’t as technically inclined as I am, so she was suspicious, but she eventually tried out my eReader. She LOVED it, and I bought her one for her birthday (she got to keep that one). Luckily, the Sony eReader Library software allows you to register multiple devices (up to five?) so we can “share” our ebooks that way. As far as I know, that’s no different than iTunes allowing multiple iPods to use the same library. So I’m fine with the limitations as they stand.
But wait. The other day I went to the Sony eReader store and found out that the PRS-500 would no longer work with the new eReader Library software due out on Dec 12th. The 500 used BBeB and not ePub so you have to SEND AWAY your PRS-500 for updating, or trade it in for a new one. Yeah - that doesn’t work for me. My panic went away when I realized it was the model PRS-500 with the problem and not the “500 series” like the PRS-505 that had the problem. Whew!!
As for the issue of moving content from one device (manufacturer) to another, I believe that should be allowed. It’s no different than sharing books among friends and family. Sure you can’t copy physical books (in a practical sense), but for the most part, I think it will prove to be like the music experience - publishers won’t shrivel up and die, they’ll find new and creative ways to take money from us. If they don’t, they deserve to shrivel up and…
Last thought. As a result of having bought an eReader, I find that I end up buying more ebooks than I used to buy books, and read more too. It also turns out that if I’m given a physical book or someone loans me one, I more often than not go and buy it in ebook format so I can read it on my eReader. When I’m traveling I can take all my books with me, and when I’m at home, I don’t have to deal with big format paperback or hardcover books. Although I will say that both books and ebooks hurt when you drop them on your face as you fall asleep reading in bed.
— Cesar