The Future Of Libraries In The E-Book Age | Hacker News Reader

The Future Of Libraries In The E-Book Age

npr.org

21 pointsjamesbritt17 comments

Wow, how much will constantly relicensing an ebook cost our library system?

Sounds great for publishers, they finally get more money out of those damn public libraries who have been undermining their profits for over a century!

Today, the books at the library are used and handled so they don't last forever either.

What really is the difference then?

What really is the difference then?

Artificial scarcity imposed by incumbent interests will be considered a bug, and someone will "fix" it.

"File sharing is the library of today" - Mika Sjöman

"If I buy a book and read it, and then give you the book to read, I have broken no laws. Why is that not true for all media?" - Michael Moore

Obviously, because you didn't 'give you the book', you made an (illegal) copy and kept the book too.

so will you be happy if I overwrite the original file with zeroes 7 times?

Not the issue. Its different to give a book away, versus copying and giving an unlimited copy to someone. You retain the right to own the original, regardless of whether you burn it, lose it, put it in your library. This is not rocket science.

you don't prohibit a person who loaned a book from you to photocopy or take notes from it, do you?

Yes, a gift implies that you lose the instance you owned. I see that as a problem. But what if it were solved? If someone could duplicate your meal, or your master paintings, or any good you own, how could you deny her without being immoral? How would you justify exclusivity?

It happens we do have a True Duplicator: the internet. It only works on digital goods, but it already matters a lot. The lack of exclusivity makes anyone lucky enough to be connected wealthier, at very little cost. Again, how can we justify the exclusivity?

My conclusion is that the illegality of the copies only proves the immorality of the law. We ought to find better solutions.

The article forgets a step; it puts the question "will libraries become obsolete?" on the table. That assumes the book itself will not disappear, which is a very questionable assumption.

My prediction is that books eventually will disappear completely, and only nichebooks will be left. Encyclopædia Britannica becomes Wikipedia, novels become blogs, FAQ books become StackOverFlow-like websites, education materials become wiki's, how-to books become tutorial websites. And so on.

Print books will remain, but as a print edition based on the digital incarnation. The next generation will look to books as we look to magnetic tapes and CD's.

You cite only non-fiction reference material in your examples. I'd say that the book has more staying power in fiction. There's just something nice about reading a book to relax, curled up on your couch by the fireplace. That's different from opening a book to learn/check something you need for work.

The kindle and ipad do well enough to replace physical books for curling up by the fireplace, but the abstract concept of the book seems safe to me, for fictional pieces at least. Of course, none of us can really know until we get to the future. :)

I've got to disagree. Libraries are not just a book repository. They are community centers and often the location of free or low-cost workshops. They are places to bring your kids on a Saturday to listen to stories. And librarians are a vast treasure trove of information. Libraries also provide free internet to those who don't have it, access to computers to those without. I take for granted the 3 computers I own with the internet connection that is always available but this is still considered a luxury.

As for losing the print editions or print editions being based on the digital ones, I certainly hope not. I can't imagine sitting in front of my laptop, or holding a nook, or reading on an iPad for hours. But that's my personal feelings and often see people on the T with their ebook readers.

Yea, they really need to emphasize the community center / place of learning aspect. Dale Dougherty from MakeZine was discussing how we might start to including a workshop for making things in a library. If you guys haven't seen http://techshop.ws - I think it's a great model what libraries could incorporate into their services to maintain relevance.

I fail to see how blogs can replace novels.

HarperCollins says "unlimited access to books isn't commercially feasible" - well boo hoo HC! The VAST majority of book authors don't make enough money to survive, yet we still have those books don't we? Maybe youre little more than irrelevant and exist only because youve got the lawyers to back you up.

This shit pisses me the fuck off... Where am I wrong?

Can't libraries just own the digital content for unlimited licensing but restrict membership to people within residential limits? You must live within x miles of library to rent the book. The only hard part might be proving residence.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com