I have 741 books in my room. Paper. Almost all used from the beginning. I have obsessively documented them in Excel (although i twitch with excitement over the possibilities every time Marc Smith appears with his little barcode reader/Aura). I love lending my books to people, provided that they follow my neurotic rules (particularly: no removing of any object found inserted into book and please insert some sort of tender love and attention… strawberry jam is fine).
When i started listening to Audible.com, i professed my love and convinced all of my friends that this was the best thing since sliced bread. I rave about a book that i read or tell a friend that they must read it. Then, the inevitable horror comes. They ask, simply and politely, may i borrow it? I turn bright red, lower my eyes and mumble apologies, stammering out that i can’t… that the technology forbids me… that fair use is dead… digital first sale requires that i sell the whole book collection, not just the one… aa files can’t be transferred…
It sucks, really. What the hell is the use of a book that you can’t lend? I’m completely devastated. My role of friendly hub librarian is being destroyed by technology. The joy i give people by lending my books is being replaced by embarrassment. I find myself stifling any speech about the books i read on Audible, not wanting to face the inevitable interaction. Will all the lenders in the world find their positions in the social stratosphere usurped by capitalists?
Why can’t i just have the digital equivalent to my little Excel file that says “lent to XX”? Why can’t i just be forced to re-acquire the book before lending it out again? I do this all the time (or i’m forced to buy a new copy myself… i’m on copy #17 of Stone Butch Blues). I want a lending solution for digital technology damnit!
I find it hard to tell you
Cause I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It’s a mad world
We’ll need a book plug-in (and more development) of Trifecta: http://dream.sims.berkeley.edu/trifecta/
Tears for Fears-song, hate the fact it rings too damn true…
These aren’t very simple questions, and I’m sure you’re aware that Lawrence Lessig has been writing about this issue for years now.
A paper book is something that you can’t read when you lend it to someone, but an audio book would be. It’s essentially the same issue with most DRM/digital right issues.
Honestly, I can’t think of a better resource for your query than Lessig’s “Free Culture”, which you can download, listen, lend, rip, mix and burn.
If you like bar code readers, check out RFID. It’s where all the libraries are going (SFPL) or have gone (Oakland Cesar Chavez, Berkeley Public).
One of the fundamental probelms RIAA and the like are facing with their “piracy” issues is that they are going against one of the more intrinsic parts of human nature – the social act of sharing that works as a set of social signals within a structural hierharchy of relationships. In plain speak – people buy books and music not just because they want to listen or read it, but because they want to share that knowledge, the giddiness of sharing the cool find and having someone else find it cool too. We are social animals, but the computer world is built by people who either
1. want to make sure they can get every penny for everything (sharing is aweful, the publishers association actually considers libraries the worst offenders in terms of profit loss… just think about it, libraries let people read books WITHOUT buying them! the HORROR!)
2. built by people who are either antisocial to begin with or largely choose to ignore that people use technology not for the technology but for the social interactions that technology has the potential to create/augment/change/motivate…
I consciously choose to not use the ipod for its intense anti-sharing qualities. I will never subscribe to audible or anything else that tries to force me not to share. I’ve bought more CD’s because someone else burned me a copy of something and I liked it and bought more and bought it for others, than I have just because I found out about it through advertisement. I’ve bought books because I borrowed one and loved and wanted to give it to someone else, but the social rules of borrowing meant that it would’t be proper to lend a lent book. There are social structures and norms that already exist in cultures that use sharing as a form of propagation both of knowledge and of consumption. Companies that produce forms of entertainment like books, music, etc… don’t seem to realize that… they have put so much effort into trying to stop people from the fundamental social act of sharing and they wonder why it doesn’t work…
The bottom line is that fair use regulations, if enforced by for-profit corporate entities, will kill the model of free lending libraries as we know them. Personally, I consider access to information via libraries to be one of the tenets and cornerstones of a free society. As Irina mentioned above, corporations have no love for libraries; it’s just been mostly unpopular to go after them voraciously and overtly as they have in other arenas. But all of the precedent-setting that is going on now will eventually be targeted at library-models.
Can you imagine an institution of higher education without an extensive, _free_ library? Start doing so.
I don’t have all the solutions to this problem, but I know the answer is to not totally capitulate in fear of corporate interests. Let’s face it – there has got to be a reality check here between a “crime” of sharing audible.com book content and, say, shooting someone in the face. Remember those “skateboarding is not a crime” stickers from the 80s? Perhaps we need an “information sharing is not a crime” campaign for the aughties.
Finally, you can actively subvert this “everything is a piece of [someone’s] property” paradigm by doing things like releasing your original works for free to the world community at large. Use Creative Commons to put the restrictions or parameters for use on your material that you are comfortable with. But, for heaven’s sake, don’t believe the hype that this model we’re now being smashed under is the only game in town. It’s not. It’s nonsense.
I recall reading Snow Crash for the first time and thinking how other-worldly the economy of information that existed in Hiro’s reality seemed to be to me. Not anymore. It was a portent, and we’re living that reality now.
As for the iPod, don’t hate too much on it. It may appear to be somewhat “closed” as you see it, out of the box, but recognize that Apple had to make some concessions to get the thing from concept to market. After all, it’s just really a glorified hard drive. The ways to use it are as endless as your imagination.
The bottom line is that fair use regulations, if enforced by for-profit corporate entities, will kill the model of free lending libraries as we know them. Personally, I consider access to information via libraries to be one of the tenets and cornerstones of a free society. As Irina mentioned above, corporations have no love for libraries; it’s just been mostly unpopular to go after them voraciously and overtly as they have in other arenas. But all of the precedent-setting that is going on now will eventually be targeted at library-models.
Can you imagine an institution of higher education without an extensive, _free_ library? Start doing so.
I don’t have all the solutions to this problem, but I know the answer is to not totally capitulate in fear of corporate interests. Let’s face it – there has got to be a reality check here between a “crime” of sharing audible.com book content and, say, shooting someone in the face. Remember those “skateboarding is not a crime” stickers from the 80s? Perhaps we need an “information sharing is not a crime” campaign for the aughties.
Finally, you can actively subvert this “everything is a piece of [someone’s] property” paradigm by doing things like releasing your original works for free to the world community at large. Use Creative Commons to put the restrictions or parameters for use on your material that you are comfortable with. But, for heaven’s sake, don’t believe the hype that this model we’re now being smashed under is the only game in town. It’s not. It’s nonsense.
I recall reading Snow Crash for the first time and thinking how other-worldly the economy of information that existed in Hiro’s reality seemed to be to me. Not anymore. It was a portent, and we’re living that reality now.
As for the iPod, don’t hate too much on it. It may appear to be somewhat “closed” as you see it, out of the box, but recognize that Apple had to make some concessions to get the thing from concept to market. After all, it’s just really a glorified hard drive. The ways to use it are as endless as your imagination.
I know your using your excel method in organizing… but maybe you want to check this program out… it’s small and so cool…
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/12713
I’m up to 112 audio books… and wanted a cool way to keep it organized the program is free and awesome. All you need to do is go to the amazon.com find the ISBN number (it’s in the product description) copy and paste and bam!!! Try it… a simple but amazing program.
On a semi-related note, I find it fascinating that commercial ventures like Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble are becoming the sources of record and the research facilities of choice for so many, supplanting the role of the public library. I wonder what the implications of that, beyond the obvious, will be.
[ Google Domination ]
Google continues its march forward towards total global information domination by introducing two intriguing new dimensions to its offerings, to wit Google Print and Google SMS (both in beta). The former’s mission statement reads as follows: “Google’s …