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E-book Museum At the Library of Congress? (teleread.com)

Posted by timothy on from the museum-of-future-obsolescence dept.

David Rothman writes: Back in 2003, Slashdot ran TeleRead's call for a brick-and-mortar international e-book museum at the Library of Congress. The proposed museum would focus on the devices and other technology rather than the content. It still isn't too late for such a project, and TeleRead is again advocating the idea. Content, too, actually would benefit -- considering that proprietary formats and DRM can imperil the future readability of e-books. Meanwhile, a small-scale e-book museum is about to open in Paris and is looking for donations. A worthy cause!

4 of 19 comments (clear)

  1. Dumb idea then. Dumb idea now. by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 2, Interesting

    >> focus on the devices and other technology rather than the content...Content, too, actually would benefit -- considering that proprietary formats and DRM can imperil the future readability of e-books

    This was and is still a dumb idea. Concentrate on exporting the content in an open format and f*** the devices, proprietary and otherwise. It's not like many mere mortals can physically get to DC anyway to use a bunch of archaic devices, so the end goal should be "open format content accessible from anywhere".

  2. Re:Dumb idea then. Dumb idea now. by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Exactly. Open Format = Investing in our Future for Everyone. Closed Format == Short Term Greed.

    One of the reasons books have survived so long is because you don't need yet-another-stupid-obsolete-device to find them useful. Public Accessibility is the WHOLE point of a library.

    Now if this was a "Tech History Museum" they might have a point ... but it's not.

    --
    Why is StackOverflow hostile to the less experienced? Everyone was a beginner at one point

  3. Re:Essentially a "device museum" by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 2

    Isn't Congress populated by dinosaurs, though? That's relevant!

  4. Re:Dumb idea then. Dumb idea now. by The-Ixian · · Score: 2

    Wait, why is this a dumb idea?

    How can you correlate the presence of a museum with a lack of effort toward content standardization for e-books?

    That's like saying airplane museums shouldn't exist because we haven't standardized on a single flying machine design.

    --
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