My eBooks Soapbox

Don't get me wrong...

I have moved on with just about every avid reader I know who has switched to an e-reader device or app. Which does incite a twinge of guilt because I used to work for, and understood the inner workings of, an independent bookstore.  But just as with dinosaurs, I suppose that Darwin's Theory will take hold in this arena too though I doubt that bookstores will completely disappear. The big stores have a foothold on e-books right now and I suspect that a few of the smaller independents will adapt and survive in some manner. Hey, the cockroaches did–for what that's worth.

We have a sentimental–if not speculative–attachment to our history. We nurture it. We hold on to it. We pass it on. In the case of books, I don't doubt that there will be, still, a continuing demand in the future. There's still nothing like the ability to touch, feel, and see centuries-old stitched and bound volumes. I love my collection of first edition and autographed books from favorite writers and artists. Photo books are increasing in popularity. I sure can't seem to part with my old English textbooks and I continue to add to my stick-built bookshelf despite my growing database of e-books.

At an average price of about 10 bucks a book, corporate predictability is getting me pretty pissed off. Add to that their systemic logic of locking my books with DRM is enough to send me over the edge. And, NO, I'm not talking about having an "entitlement" behavior. I respect authors rights to be paid for their work. I have little liking for the Walmart mentality. I am certainly more than willing to pay for my book, in digital or hardcopy format.

But when I am paying for an e-book that, though a decade old and still in print, is costing me almost as much as a new release and equal to that of its trade or paperback counterpart, it gives me pause. When I find that it is locked with DRM, my bitter behavior comes to the surface.. Illogical? Unreasonable? Unjustified?

Maybe.

DRM is a digital rights management software. It controls who reads a book and how it is read. I suppose that the theory behind DRM is to prevent commercial piracy. The reality, however, is far from accurate. Piracy can happen outside of DRM and it really just comes down to the pimp and the money–and publishers have multiple bed partners to please.

Now put that in your pipe and smoke it. I just spent the better part of the day trying to figure out the ins and outs of DRM removal. I don't have a nefarious plan to open up a black market shop. Over the last few years, I have paid for a number of e-books using Stanza with books from Fictionwise. I also used eReader, Amazon's Kindle and, finally, I have settled on the Nook. With so many places in which these e-books are scattered in, I merely want to consolidate my collection and I sure don't want to have to pay for them all again just because I used different readers at one point.

I do have a bone to pick with Barnes and Noble because both eReader.com and Fictionwise are Barnes and Noble companies. I had to remove the DRM off of these particular books so that I can read them on the Nook. You would think that cross-integration would be allowed.

But that would just be too logical. Too reasonable. Too justified.