UPDATE: Before I'm even done with that train of thought, I see that Barnes and Noble has come out with a free app, Nook, that allows you to share your ebooks. Questions surfacing now include, can I share books I've already purchased through iBooks? Does it allow you to share your ebook with other ebook readers besides just the iPad (e.g., Kindle, Sony)?
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Can you share?
Perhaps my biggest gripe about the iPad is that I am unable to share the books that I read with others. Okay, so that isn't entirely true. At least not if I'm using the Kindle app and share my username and password with another person so they can access my library (or vice versa). But these types of restrictions aren't placed on regular old paperback books, which I continue to buy and almost always share with friends. The issue is one of copyright infringement. If you have a file that you duplicate and distribute, well, then this would absolutely be copyright infringement, assuming the copyright hasn't expired or you have one helluva lawyer who can otherwise argue your way out of court. But, if the ebook I buy is locked down in such a way as to prevent duplication, why is it that I can't send out my copy for a friend to read in the same manner I would loan a paperback book, giving up my copy and essentially transferring (leasing?) ownership to another person? And now I'm thinking that if Apple is preventing me from using my property in a way that is within my rights, well, then I can sue Apple for violating my rights of ownership.
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The Nook is B&N's own eReader, and one of the features they trumpeted the loudest when they introduced it is that you can share books. What they don't say as loudly is that you is that you can only share it for two weeks, and only once per book, and even then only if the publisher allows it.
The Kindle, Sony Reader, etc. wouldn't know how to borrow a book from a Nook, so it's only with other people using Nook (either the reader itself or one of the various apps).
I have a Kindle and I miss sharing books too :( But I guess since I paid $10 for a $25 hardcover, I can't complain too loudly.
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