Comment on Amazon is changing what is written in books
balder1991@lemmy.world 2 months agoLike… if the book is digital, why do you have to borrow and return? This makes no sense. They want to replicate a bad experience that doesn’t need to exist, what’s the point of that?
Hazor@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Pleasing the copyright holders. I don’t know how it is for the Dutch national library, but with a system used by many libraries in the US there’s a cost to the library based on the number of times it’s checked out, so more revenue for the copyright holder and the digital middle man. Allowing you to have the e-book indefinitely would be, at least in their minds, no different than giving it away. 🤷
balder1991@lemmy.world 2 months ago
This could be solved in other ways. For example, the software can simply track what % of the books are actually read without this extra step of borrowing and returning. Just like when you listen to music on Streaming services that label gets more.
Imagine if you had to select the specific album in music streaming service and choose to borrow it for x days, having to “return” it and borrow again if you wanted to keep listening, and being limited to 4 albums at a time.
tamal3@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Good point in pointing out the discrepancy between music streaming and book borrowing. Online libraries in the US are managed by some kind of digital rights software, which seems to essentially allow libraries to own a limited number of digital copies of a book. Streaming services like Tidal and Spotify seem to pay out a tiny amount of money to artists each time content is streamed. Is it something about library budgeting that doesn’t allow for this? Is it just historical baggage that hasn’t been rethought?
The music streaming model is honestly terrible for musical artists, so I’m not saying that’s necessarily the direction we should head. But you’re right that I’m not limited to listening to a song just because someone else is, and it would be extremely helpful if the same applied to library books.
As it is, when I have time to read I put in the request to borrow a book, and then it becomes available 1 to 10 weeks later (whether or not I’m ready to read it at that point). Then I only get 2-3 weeks to fit reading it into my schedule. It doesn’t work out half the time as I get busy with other things… So how is it not easier to pirate it or buy it? I love and support my library, but golly this digital system is dysfunctional.