Cleveland Public Library Readies E-book Downloads

rtphokie writes "C|Net is reporting that the Cleveland Public Library is making ebooks available. Sounds like the 1000 books in the system initially will feature more than just public domain titles including 'the latest from authors such as Michael Crichton, Clive Barker and Joyce Carol Oates.'" The article also mentions that "only a limited number of each eBook will be available, and after a preset number of days, the eBook will lock out the current reader so another patron can check it out." A good time to re-read The Right to Read.

Comments

*sigh* will they never learn?

[Com2Kid]

Ok first off, yah to Cleavland for at least trying this idea.

But major "why are you pulling this con?" to Overdrive for trying to convince ANYBODY that client side, err, well, heh, anything, is safe at all.

Listen, it has already been proven that without trusted hardware (which is not going to come along until consumers start trusting the companies) that NO DRM solution is secure. No matter what. Worst case, things have to be brute forced, but since the unencrypted data passed through the clients computer somewheres along the line, heck, there is your weak point right there.

Now if somebody figured a way to encase the decryption key in some sort of VGA dongle so the actual decrypted data was only ever sent over the VGA wire, but even then, doing it cheap and such, heh. No go.

Re:*sigh* will they never learn?

[js7a]

it has already been proven that without trusted hardware (which is not going to come along until consumers start trusting the companies) that NO DRM solution is secure....

Even with trusted hardware, or a VGA dongle, or whatever, the media still has to get to the display on some wires, from whence it can be re-recorded to unencrypted files. Palladium is a very expensive joke.

How did this work out ?

[Gyan]

"...and after a preset number of days, the eBook will lock out the current reader so another patron can check it out."

in conjunction with

"...including the ability to download books onto PCs and PDAs and create a portable eBook that can be read even when patrons are offline."

I'm assuming that the portable eBook created will be encoded with a 'lock' date.

I think it will work on a modest scale. It will be broken and pirated quickly.

But frankly, there's nothing like holding and reading a real book by the bedside or on the go.

ePaper, where are you ?

Re:Prediction:

[irc.goatse.cx troll]

Offtopic, so I'll drop the +1 Bonus.

This comment reminds me of that commercial where the kids are playing with the educational toys teaching them to spell, and the dad comes in and says 'put the toys down, go study', kids put it down, then pick it up, etc.
Commercials like that disturb me, To see a father so out of touch with his childs life. Those things are like $45/ea, did his wife just go out and spend close to $100 on stuff for his kids without him even knowing it? Does he not care about his kids enough to know what they're doing?
I know I'm taking this too far, but damn that bothers me.

Re:eBooks isn't bad by nature

[Com2Kid]

• There seems to be a lot of people missing the argument when it comes to eBooks. Publishers and authors have a
• right to profit from there work regardless of what it is.

Uh, no.

They have the right to TRY AND PROFIT from their work.

NOBODY has the RIGHT to PROFITS.

Companies just THINK they do.

PURSUIT of happiness folks, PURSUIT, not all packaged up and left on your front doorstep for you by Uncle Sam.

Now the companies do the have RIGHT to sue my ass in court for theft if I steal it though. :)

Re:Temporary

[BWJones]

Law books, those rows of reporters the TV lawyers always have in the background, are still a favorite for many, especially the older lawyers. But the convenience and power of electronic versions -- corrections and hyperlinks and potability and so on -- are winning out, even those the reading experience is inferior. It's pretty hard to juggle 20 of those big books.

We have the same problem in medicine. It used to be that new residents would walk around the halls with *all* their coat pockets bulging with pocket manuals and notes etc... making it a major pain in the ass when you had to move quickly or needed to find something quick in one of those damn pockets.....

However, some of the more recent M.D. grads are finding out about the convenience of a portable PDR, Harrisons Principles of Internal Medicine, clinical reference guides etc... and the only thing you have to worry about now is caring for the Palm pilot in thier lab coat and keeping it charged.

In fact, speaking of medical handhelds, the Apple Newton was almost perfect for medical use. It had a large hi-res screen, could accept lots of memory, was fast, very flexible, and was extremely rugged (having dropped mine more than once). I was truly sad when Apple killed the Newton division as I am one of those holdouts that really wishes Apple would bring back the Newton in some flavor with some flavor of OS X and the Quartz rendering for text.

Re:No.

[PotatoHead]

I am not sure this is the entire story. Music is better on CD. In some cases, quite a bit better. So the experience is similar, but not quite the same. This difference can be enough to warrant a purchase.

There is more to the experience though. The packaging of the CD, cover art, liner notes and little freebies seem to make quite a difference to a lot of people many of whom also would not care about the sonic quality differences between CD and mp3 / ogg.

There is also the purchase process. Going somewhere or doing something to get a copy of a recording adds something to the value of that recording. --A tangible thing. You get something real to represent your investment in the music. You also get some sense of support for the artist in question. Yeah, the current system is broken, but it does not have to be.

Maybe you go with friends and have a coffee or catch a movie or some live music. You also get a memory that would not come from a download.

Live music is also quite a different experience. You could easily consider recorded music a promo for the real thing. Live performances have lots of energy. Many people are there sharing their reaction to the performance. You gain an understanding of the group that can add a lot to your perception of the music.

Downloads do not tell the whole story just as e-books don't.

Which system?

[GrouchoMarx]

Does anyone know what software they're using to enforce this? It could be Palm's, but it could be another as well. Either way, I'm certain it will lock out GNU/Linux users. And, of course, trying to find a way to read such books on Linux will be a felony. (Hey, Dmitry, up for another challenge? :-)

I read ebooks. I buy ebooks. I pay for them. I only buy unencrypted, public format ebooks. Anyone else can bite me.