Slashdot Mirror
Obama Announces e-Book Scheme For Low-Income Communities
An anonymous reader writes: The White House has today launched an initiative encouraging top book publishers to supply $250 million worth of free e-books to low-income students. Partnering with local governments and schools nationwide, President Obama hopes that the e-book scheme will support low-income households who significantly trail the national average for computer ownership and digital connectivity. At Anacostia Library in Southeast Washington, D.C., Obama announced that libraries and schools in poorer communities would be supported by the scheme and efforts would be made to increase internet access at these establishments. Publishers involved in the program include Penguin Random House, Macmillan, Bloomsbury, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster. NGOs, such as book donation charity Firstbook, and public libraries will also be working together to develop apps to support the digital reading program.
ebay here we go
he wants a library? how innovative. if only we had a place where we could go and look at books for free.
Libraries already do this. How about supporting the vanishing middle class?
How many ebooks in 250M worth of FREE ebooks?
$subject_desired filetype:pdf
'We are trying to prove ourselves wrong as quickly as possible, because only in that way can we find progress.' RPF
we don't need no stinkin' books.
'Free' e-books will become 'affordable' e-books until they become 'rent for a limited time' e-books. Just as soon as the paper book industry shuts down from lack of demand and there are no more pesky books left that can be handed from student to student.
I can't think of a better plan to entrench the book market in a 'rent not own' business model than to kick off the whole process with a big dose of 'free'.
My mom regularly borrows ebooks from the library in regional Australia. The system used is called Bolinda Borrow Box. Sounds like it works pretty well. Only epub is supported though, no no kindles.
Meanwhile, here in Manila Hernando Guanlao, 60-something, converted his whole house into a library (http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-19547365), to honor his mother and father after they died. He said: "As a book care-taker, you become a full man.
If it acquires resources on instantiation like a duck, then its a shared_ptr<Duck>
That would be a good title.
Left MS Windows for Linux Mint and never looked back!
Vote for Bernie in 2016!
So exactly what use are low-priced e-books to people who don't own computers?
How the heck are they going to afford the ebook reader?
This is a great plan Obama. Bully businesses to do it since you can't get socialism officially passed through Congress . . . Yet.
Teaches those who produce nothing useful for society, to keep on doing nothing because the aid will only perpetuate in various forms throughout their lives. The brainwashed libtards keep the great welfare myth long alive and well.
Kids too lazy to go find a used bookstore like what i grew up on, so we need to spend public money so they can tap a screen and get an ebook, never have to go outside for anything. Thanks Sir President Libtard Obama
Now I wonder who thought that one up... "You get the eBook for free saving you 5.00-10.00 encouraging you to read" The fine print forgot the required iPad/Tablet/PC. Save 10.00... But spend the 500.00-3000.00 to read it. Brilliant.
We already have libraries full of books and ebooks. If Kindles could be loaned out like books and enough copies of ebooks were available for the additional demand, we could do this with much of the infrastructure we already have. Plus, by keeping the ebooks in libraries we ensure that each book can be read by dozens or hundreds of patrons.
One would think America doesn't have real problems. Oh wait, we just ignore everything and spend more money we don't have. I wonder how many of "his" friends are going get rich off this. Remember the Obama phone scam? Oh well.
These will be popular........
http://www.amazon.com/Pimpolog...
http://www.amazon.com/Dealing-...
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
Unfortunately, the poor are forced into substandard schools........
The per pupil funding in Baltimore is one of the highest in the United States.
http://articles.baltimoresun.c...
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
Leading oligarchs in the publishing industry, who faced with the possibility of having to send their kids to public schools unless they raise some serious cash have convinced the Obama administration to invest in the ebooks for disadvantaged communities program. By taking over 250 million from the dumb white middle class crackers who actually believe programs like this actually do things, they can afford to hire dozens of white middle class beurcrats who will administer this program on the behest of the disadvantaged youth. These jobs will be starter jobs for crackerz just getting into the government service racket, and are probably their first jobs after graduating ivy league colleges. THe oligarchs at the top will of coarse rake in millions. By allowing the community of government beaurcrats take care of the disadvantaged youth of America, we can assure that the dumb fucks who are working at mcdonalds, and safesway for 7.50 an hour will be able to read some government approved literature, and so will not have to find a better job, or heaven forbid open a business for themselves.
There is no such thing as a free lunch. The only people who can help the poor people out are the poor people. Every single do good help the poor program is really just a let's pay a bunch of people with connections to the powers even more money, because they don't make enough as it is program. Best for the poor people to steal books honestly than to try to come by it via government handout. A good reading program would be to keep libraries open past 7 pm. Noo we can't do that because the big barnes and nobles stores have lobbied congress to prevent that so you have to go to their stores. It is all coruption
He is bringing relief to the poor people stuck in a book desert.
Obama is giving $250 million to big publishers and some software developers so that they can deliver out-of-copyright books that "the poor" could have downloaded for free from Project Gutenberg and Google already. All Hail our Crony Capitalist in Chief.
... giving up on copyright protection.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
'nuff said. I read more annually than twice my income.
Now how exactly did they calculate how much the "free" ebooks were worth? (Smell the oxymoron in that?) Is this some sort of MPAA/RIAA accounting scheme where the price of an ebook is quantified by the price of a physical copy (DVD/CD)? And why focus on the so-called reputable publishers? Can't the government just hire the authors directly and have them put out Creative Commons licensed textbooks (BTW this has already been done by some independent groups)? This is like hiring the mafia to build your house.
I suspect availability of good things to read isn't really the big problem here. You know, because, libraries.
And let's not forget Project Gutenberg, over 46,000 free ebooks.
So how about some copyright reform! Fuck, give the $250m directly to the MPAA/RIAA. Do something about the ludicrous copyright period. Imagine how many more great books would enter the public domain?!
Nothing stops the government from paying lost for substandard things
The poor are amongst themselves, and teacher unions insist on a virtual monopoly on students and laws require schools to attempt to teach the most difficult pre-incarcerated cases. Just let these schools expel the bad kids and teach those who aren't 100% opposed to bettering themselves through education.
Kinda pay full price for the e-books you borrow.
Which kinda suck since when I borrow books in general I never read shit from them.
I can't understand how that's supported / accepted.
I wonder what this cost in the US.
Why doesn't the federal or local government simply commission the books it requires for its educational curriculum? Then give them away for free from a website. It shouldn't be necessary to go cap in hand to publishers begging for a few freebies when the publishers shouldn't be in such a strong position to start with.
So is the USG giving corporate welfare for something already free? Or is the USG subsidizing a service, like they did with nationwide 3G networks? I don't see a happy ending to this. Besides, I remember a slashdot article where e-book publishers demanded a fee of $6 per library borrower. Once again, not free: That's using iShiny to get more money from governments. What happens when the money runs out, or worse, the contract expires before all the books have been read?
Torrenting a couple of thousand books need only half an hour or so.
The poor are amongst themselves, and teacher unions insist on a virtual monopoly on students and laws require schools to attempt to teach the most difficult pre-incarcerated cases. Just let these schools expel the bad kids and teach those who aren't 100% opposed to bettering themselves through education.
You almost had it right. The schools should be allowed to expel disruptive students, hand them over to the police and court system so they can be directed to prison as a pre-emptive measure to protect society. As for the rioters in Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America, they should be identified, arrest, charged, and forced to make full restitution for the damages caused by their collective actions. Afterwards, ship them to Ethiopia with nothing more than a bed-sheet to wear. As for the "free" e-book initiative how will the students afford an e-reader or will these devices be provided for "free" and sold for drugs?
Pardon my cynicism, but...does this make any sense at all? Or is it just about a subsidy for big publishers, plus some stupid political games?
Provide ebooks? The problem this is supposed to solve, according to Obama, is "low-income children lag below their grade level in reading skills and lack books at home". There's a reason for that, and it isn't lack of access to books. It's parents who don't read and don't encourage reading.
And how are they going to read those ebooks? Why...on the upgraded "Internet services for schools and libraries". You know, if you can get those kids to a library, be it a public library or a school library, you could just let them read some of the books that are already there. The thing is: you aren't going to get them into the library, because - see above - they are being raised in families and in an urban culture that doesn't value reading.
Fix the urban culture problem. Get the parents to care about their kids education. Everything else is noise.
Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
How many times will politicians announce yet another initiative to bring broadband internet access to schools and libraries, especially in lower-income neighborhoods? They have been beating this drum for what, 10, 15 years now?
I'd really like politicians to explain why programs like e-rate have failed to achieve their goals and describe how this new program addresses the problems in existing programs.
Oh, and he's 'encouraging' publishers to 'donate' $250M worth of e-books... All Obama has done is asked for donations, nothing more - why limit the donations to $250M? Why not ask for $1BN in donated books and services?
Ken
There are already enough free ebooks on the internet to fill up a 1000 lifetimes of reading. What a waste.
I have access to all kinds of technology, yet I still like the feel and smell of a real book in my hands. It's a visceral thing, I guess, but it's so much better. It's easier on the eyes, I can quickly reference different parts without losing my place, I can write notes in the margins, I can take it anywhere - even places with no power or wifi.
And there's all kinds of books easily available for my kids at their school library, as well as the public library. If you can't get them to read books there, how is an E-Book going to help?
Oh, so it's a kickback to publishers so they can make millions out of digital copies that they can 'print' at micro-cents on the dollar? Sorry, I misunderstood.
Did I miss something?
I mean if they significantly trail national average for computer ownership and digital connectivity, then how are the books supposed to be delivered digitally or even read for that matter?
I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
I hate the spin right from the beginning.
$250M and "free" do not belong in the same sentence in this context.
There is NO such thing as a free lunch and in fact somebody is paying for it.
Such douche bags.
From Publishers Gave Away 122,951,031 Books During World War II: And, in the process, they created a nation of readers:
In 1943, in the middle of the Second World War, America's book publishers took an audacious gamble. They decided to sell the armed forces cheap paperbacks, shipped to units scattered around the globe. Instead of printing only the books soldiers and sailors actually wanted to read, though, publishers decided to send them the best they had to offer. Over the next four years, publishers gave away 122,951,031 copies of their most valuable titles.
[follow title-link for the rest of the article]
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.