5 ms·

I can ship a 30 year old paperback of it for my personal use to my home for 60$, that is true. I'm not sure what else you are trying to tell me. Do you persona

I can ship a 30 year old paperback of it for my personal use to my home for 60$, that is true. I'm not sure what else you are trying to tell me. Do you personally think that is a good offer?

claudiawerner 6y ago
I think it's genuinely ridiculous; academics working on really important topics for the current age, from society, to legal theory, to anthropology, to novel engineering are gatekept by publishers. I've wanted to read the full text to a paper I thought I will gain a lot from, something I can cite in an argument, something to enrich me and make me think. I can't do that, because I don't have access to the paper/book/whatever. At best, I have access to an inconvenient quarter of it on Google Books. I can't buy it for less than 60 euros, sometimes much more. I genuinely think that the fact academic work is hidden inside ridiculously expensive books and publisher paywalls is a reason why some people have given up on trying to change the world. They literally can't afford access to the tools that will support them or they can argue against. The independent researcher is at best five years behind current theories, and at worst dead.
- zxexz 6y ago
  In a sense some may find this more of a band-aid than anything else, but I've found 95% of the book I want to read are available through libgen[0] and close to 99% of papers through sci-hub [1]. Sure enough, the book referenced in the great-great grandparent to your post is on libgen and I now have a PDF. It really is unfortunate though, that there are a great many books one can only get a physical copy of for many times what they originally cost. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_Genesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_Genesis [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sci-Hub https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sci-Hub
  - morlockabove 6y ago
    I wonder if you could take payments in bitcoin to print out epubs/pdfs of books in high quality, bind them, and ship them to people. The bitcoin's to avoid the copyright ninjas; you could try to silk-road the whole operation. It'll be easier once we have better drones and automated cars.
    - zxexz 6y ago
      Honestly, I'm more inclined to just mail someone some cash in exchange for their services printing/binding/mailing the book back. Seems a little more straightforward than transferring bitcoin and having a noisy drone drop a book on my lawn. Plus, why would I want all my transactions on a public ledger? ;)
      - swirepe 6y ago
        I don't have any bitcoin, but I would pay extra to have a drone wake up my neighbor's dog every time I buy a book.
      - morlockabove 6y ago
        Of course, whenever I say bitcoin, think monero. And if you know their address, so do the feds ;)
- swirepe 6y ago
  How do you feel about crime? http://library.lol/main/7C31067F2CA96B8CB3F8661CA680B656 http://library.lol/main/7C31067F2CA96B8CB3F8661CA680B656
  - claudiawerner 6y ago
    I'm great with it! Thanks for pointing me, though my point was more general, I suppose - unfortunately libgen doesn't have everything, hence my 'five years' remark :)
- zamfi 6y ago
  Everything you say is true, but an additional part of the problem is that books/papers/whatever tend to lag behind thinking and discussion by 1 to 5 years too. If you’re not an insider, it can be extra hard to have a voice in the conversation.

I can ship a 30 year old paperback of it for my personal use to my home for 60$, that is true. I'm not sure what else you are trying to tell me. Do you personally think that is a good offer?

claudiawerner 6y ago

I think it's genuinely ridiculous; academics working on really important topics for the current age, from society, to legal theory, to anthropology, to novel engineering are gatekept by publishers. I've wanted to read the full text to a paper I thought I will gain a lot from, something I can cite in an argument, something to enrich me and make me think. I can't do that, because I don't have access to the paper/book/whatever. At best, I have access to an inconvenient quarter of it on Google Books. I can't buy it for less than 60 euros, sometimes much more. I genuinely think that the fact academic work is hidden inside ridiculously expensive books and publisher paywalls is a reason why some people have given up on trying to change the world. They literally can't afford access to the tools that will support them or they can argue against. The independent researcher is at best five years behind current theories, and at worst dead.

zxexz 6y ago
In a sense some may find this more of a band-aid than anything else, but I've found 95% of the book I want to read are available through libgen[0] and close to 99% of papers through sci-hub [1]. Sure enough, the book referenced in the great-great grandparent to your post is on libgen and I now have a PDF. It really is unfortunate though, that there are a great many books one can only get a physical copy of for many times what they originally cost. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_Genesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_Genesis [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sci-Hub https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sci-Hub
- morlockabove 6y ago
  I wonder if you could take payments in bitcoin to print out epubs/pdfs of books in high quality, bind them, and ship them to people. The bitcoin's to avoid the copyright ninjas; you could try to silk-road the whole operation. It'll be easier once we have better drones and automated cars.
  - zxexz 6y ago
    Honestly, I'm more inclined to just mail someone some cash in exchange for their services printing/binding/mailing the book back. Seems a little more straightforward than transferring bitcoin and having a noisy drone drop a book on my lawn. Plus, why would I want all my transactions on a public ledger? ;)
    - swirepe 6y ago
      I don't have any bitcoin, but I would pay extra to have a drone wake up my neighbor's dog every time I buy a book.
    - morlockabove 6y ago
      Of course, whenever I say bitcoin, think monero. And if you know their address, so do the feds ;)
swirepe 6y ago
How do you feel about crime? http://library.lol/main/7C31067F2CA96B8CB3F8661CA680B656 http://library.lol/main/7C31067F2CA96B8CB3F8661CA680B656
- claudiawerner 6y ago
  I'm great with it! Thanks for pointing me, though my point was more general, I suppose - unfortunately libgen doesn't have everything, hence my 'five years' remark :)
zamfi 6y ago
Everything you say is true, but an additional part of the problem is that books/papers/whatever tend to lag behind thinking and discussion by 1 to 5 years too. If you’re not an insider, it can be extra hard to have a voice in the conversation.