3 ms·

But everybody knows what a library is and grassroots booksharing (aka drop off your old paperbacks in an agreed upon public place) is already a thing, so maybe

by morsch 4y ago

But everybody knows what a library is and grassroots booksharing (aka drop off your old paperbacks in an agreed upon public place) is already a thing, so maybe not a dystopia? Also, buying books second hand is incredibly easy and cheap. And buying a license for an ebook is incredibly convenient and also tends to be rather cheap.

AlotOfReading 4y ago
Why do you think ebook licensing is cheap? The big 5 all have "metered" licensing, where licenses expire and require repurchase after either a certain period of time or a certain number of checkouts. These are usually set up so that every ebook will have to be repurchased every 1-2 years. Furthermore, ebook prices are usually between 1x-3x the physical list price depending on publisher, date of publication, and popularity.
- lejalv 4y ago
  Concur. E-book pricing and licensing conditions are so out of tune with the cost of distribution that it is easy to see piracy as a form of protest.
  - morsch 4y ago
    Some physical books cost 3 bucks, new, others are 30, some textbooks 150 USD. Distribution costs have little to do with it. Not that I'm defending predatory textbook pricing, I totally support copying those 150 USD textbooks, whether it's digital or, old school, photocopier copies.
- morsch 4y ago
  Interesting. It's more like 0.5x to 1x of the paperback in my experience, buying mostly English books on Amazon Germany. Sometimes considerably less, especially for older books, eg I just bought a fantasy trilogy from the 80s for like 2 bucks. And, like I said, real convenient. Also I'm talking about "buying" an ebook as a consumer, the licensing model for libraries might be terrible for all I know. It's certainly still pretty terrible for most library members. I imagine digital lending is terrifying for the publishers.

3 ms·

But everybody knows what a library is and grassroots booksharing (aka drop off your old paperbacks in an agreed upon public place) is already a thing, so maybe

by morsch 4y ago

AlotOfReading 4y ago
Why do you think ebook licensing is cheap? The big 5 all have "metered" licensing, where licenses expire and require repurchase after either a certain period of time or a certain number of checkouts. These are usually set up so that every ebook will have to be repurchased every 1-2 years. Furthermore, ebook prices are usually between 1x-3x the physical list price depending on publisher, date of publication, and popularity.
- lejalv 4y ago
  Concur. E-book pricing and licensing conditions are so out of tune with the cost of distribution that it is easy to see piracy as a form of protest.
  - morsch 4y ago
    Some physical books cost 3 bucks, new, others are 30, some textbooks 150 USD. Distribution costs have little to do with it. Not that I'm defending predatory textbook pricing, I totally support copying those 150 USD textbooks, whether it's digital or, old school, photocopier copies.
- morsch 4y ago
  Interesting. It's more like 0.5x to 1x of the paperback in my experience, buying mostly English books on Amazon Germany. Sometimes considerably less, especially for older books, eg I just bought a fantasy trilogy from the 80s for like 2 bucks. And, like I said, real convenient. Also I'm talking about "buying" an ebook as a consumer, the licensing model for libraries might be terrible for all I know. It's certainly still pretty terrible for most library members. I imagine digital lending is terrifying for the publishers.