2 ms·
The place where e-books leave me lacking when they have DRM is the ability to loan them or transfer them. It is a lot easier to get a friend to read an importa
by projektfu 6y ago
The place where e-books leave me lacking when they have DRM is the ability to loan them or transfer them. It is a lot easier to get a friend to read an important book than to get them to buy it. But I can’t lend the kindle copy, which is the format I can read best.
- pfranz 6y agoIt depends on if it's "allowed" for that specific book, but Amazon has had a system for lending ebooks to friends and family for years. https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GJUXNRAHSH6LX6FA https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=...
- projektfu 6y agoThat functionality is enabled for about 1 in 20 titles in my collection, and sufficiently well hidden that I can't imagine most people know it exists. E-book publishers don't see the value in lending. Look at how they are clamping down on the number of copies available to libraries. To them, every loaned book is a lost sale.
- pfranz 6y agoI agree it's not widely used and not known about. What surprised me is that I know older family members, who are otherwise fairly technically illiterate, who actively share ebooks using their Kindles. Another older family member, where their local library is very hands on with helping them. They both know way more than I know about what's possible and how to do it. Another, I believe separate program, is family sharing (it's not a loan you can both read it simultaneously). I'm not sure if that's a separate privilege the publishers must opt-into, but I have used it the one time I tried.