Save trees, keep a lot of material in one reliable readable device, the Kindle. I envision a possibility of a couple of years of college education and reviews saved in one place. Easy to transport. Never having to deal with previous students’ highlights and notes (although sometimes, if the previous student was a good one, those notes were helpful).
I don’t know how colleges could make the extra money they do by reselling if a Kindle, and the concept of a complete college education on the Kindle, might cut down on a student’s ability to sell last semester’s books, thus raising money for the next round of required book purchases. But it would be great to have updated versions as one progressed in their chosen career, to reference what the latest, greatest new theories are, without having to do new research.
Problem with that is: what if you wanted to find the old information? What if you disagreed with the update version on your Kindle and wanted to reference what was originally taught? Or what if you wanted to compare previous beliefs to current beliefs? You could not because the updates would have already been done, without your knowledge and permission.
Hmm, I see a flaw here. A high school student in Seattle is suing Amazon because his notes on the “1984″ (Orwell) e-book he purchased for his Kindle were wiped out along with the book. Gone. No advance warning. Just poof, and it was gone.
The reason? According to CEO Jeffrey P. Bezos, the company found out that the electronic editions were pirated. (First of all, how does a company that sells books for a living, offer a pirated book without knowing about it? Don’t they have huge departments that would check that sort of thing?) The company apologized to their Kindle owners and refunded the money, but did not give prior notice. In fact, according to the lawsuit, Amazon never disclosed that it “possessed the technological ability or right to remotely delete digital content purchased through the Kindle Store.”
That changes the concept of “if you buy it- you own it”. Perhaps the Kindle should be classified as an electronic book rental device with prices adjusted accordingly. If so, then that could solve the “resell” rights of paper books compared to electronic books. Of course, there is always that nagging feeling in the back of our heads: what would happen if the world ran out of batteries in some disaster and all of our information and books were stored on electronic devices that we could no longer access. OK, maybe a bit paranoid. But what “if”.
What “if” the information made available in an electronic book was determined not acceptable to society because of a current popular political belief, and that government ordered the information to be deleted for “security” reasons. How would Amazon, a major corporation in fear of being shut down, react? If they can delete a book without telling you, they can also change passages to make it “politically correct”. It seems extremely dangerous to leave a gaping hole in our hard fought “freedom of speech”.
Debt Relief Guide!
Freedom of knowledge is important to the growth and evolution of any society. We must protect that. Just because companies have access to our personal devices in order to service us with “upgrades”, does not give them the right to change their minds about what they originally sold to us. Too many companies that have this electronic access are hiding behind their Terms of “Service”. They state that, essentially, they reserve the right to change their minds to their benefit, whenever they want, whether the consumer likes it or not. They can also post the changes on a website that the consumer is unlikely to check daily. The terms state that it is the customer’s responsibility to check for these updates. Ok, so that let’s the company off the hook.
There is nothing the consumer can do because the consumer cannot use their present service without agreeing to the terms. That is like holding the consumer’s head in a vice. We all hope that the “changes” will be palatable, but it leaves us all in a very vulnerable position.
The Kindle is a great idea for saving paper resources.
Controlling the masses with the fine print is not a good idea. It looks like the US government will have to enter into another round of laws to force companies to treat their customers with respect and consideration. The consumer will have to be the ones that expend energy pushing this, when all that is really wanted is to purchase the electronic product, service, program and have it delivered, as is, to enjoy. Without all the extra sneaky cover-our-ass-just-in-case-we-can-make-more-money underhanded tactics.
Just be nice. Do the right thing.
