What if Harry Potter 5 Was an E-Book?

hakkikt sent a link to a highly speculative what if story on Harry Potter 5 as an E-Book. The suggestions are pretty extreme- going so far as to saying that this one book could change the fates of the publishing industry, book stores, and could even make E-Books more then a pipe dream. Personally I'd love to see it available digitally, but I still want a real hardcover copy, and I can't imagine hundreds of thousands of kids staying up late at night with laptops under their covers instead of the far more traditional book & flashlight. Food for thought, but I can't really take it seriously.

Comments

I thought it was crazy, but ebooks rock.

[JosefWells]

I could never have imagined ebooks being any good. But My friend said it was great, so I read "The Big U" on my m100. It was amazing. Sounds crazy, but it is easy to pick up/put down real fast since it holds your place automagically. Your arms/hands don't crap trying to hold it open in various contorted ways. Reading in the dark is really easy on your eyes (and spouse) with the backlight. I recommend everyone give it a try.

E-books: Media hedgemony - enforced by "coolness"

[DunbarTheInept]

What started with DvDs is now happening with eBooks, then - to force the adaption of a new technology with evil side effects, just make sure it's the only format available.

The media middlemen, such as publishing firms, want to keep themselves firmly entrenched in a world where their middleman position is becoming less useful to the consumer. They're doing a good job of it so far. The technique they are using is to use patent and copyright to control not just the content, but the way in which you are allowed to view it. But they've got to give those of us who give a damn about fair use a reason to ignore our convictions and accept the middleman's control.

The way they seem to be doing it is to force their control over all new forms of technology, thus leaving those who care about fair use with the awful choice of "stay obsolete, or accept our control - your choice". E-books and DVDs are both doing this. Since the new technology is also the restrictive technology, when people start adapting the new technology because it's really cool and neat, they end up giving up their control unwittingly. Eventually the old technology stops being supported. Movies start being available ONLY on DVD and not on tape anymore. Books start being available ONLY on E-book and not on paper anymore. Soon even those who are willing to stick with old technology to avoid the hedgemony don't even have that option anymore. The choice becomes one of "accept the hedgemony, or totally forego every work of culture and entertainment being put out and stay out of the loop."

This sucks. What do I do about the upcoming 4-hour director's cut of Fellowship of the Ring on DVD? I want very much to have it, and I don't mind one bit giving the money in the form or royalyties to those who created it, and to New Line studio for having the guts to put their necks out on the line financing it. But how do I do this without simultaneously supporting their part in the engineered the DeCSS slander, er, I mean "trial"?

And that's just the way they want it. They want to make sure that I cannot seperate the two. And thus, an obsolete system of middlemen who aren't needed anymore in today's economy get job security by forcing me to pick between giving up on fair use, versus giving up on participation in modern culture.

And of course, as a side effect of this, open source software *also* has to give up on participation in modern culture, and I think that's what irks me the most, actually. I don't think the media execs are really interested one way or another in open source. But they are interested in preserving the hedgemony through content control, and as a side effect that ends up meaning there can't be open source methods to access the content they put out.