The Kindle has been deemed a bad deal by the tech savvy because it involves a ridiculous level of DRM and control.
Prior to this incident, blogs revealed if a user's Amazon account is shut down - for dubious TOS violations such as returning "too many" books - this will remove access to ALL content purchased from Amazon. Essentially, you're paying hundreds of dollars for a device you never own, because it can be bricked by the seller. Any time the Kindle goes online, it's through the Amazon server giving them complete access to the device. It's why the Kindle - and specifically Amazon's attempt to monopolize e-books with it - needs to fail. It's trying to create a world where you never own content, just license it.
The reason the iPod isn't as evil is not that Apple is benign, but that mp3 technology is less proprietary and the device is a stand alone tool. You don't need to buy any music from Apple to use the iPod and if Apple tried to use the iTunes to remotely erase iPod files, not only would people flee to other players, they'd use "unauthorized" programs to operate their iPod.
Unless the Kindle becomes something which can be used without any direct Amazon involvement, it's a monopoly scam.
This said, Amazon sells mp3s without DRM and Apple doesn't, so it's not that the entire company is horrible, just this one business plan.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2009-07-18 02:44 pm (UTC)Prior to this incident, blogs revealed if a user's Amazon account is shut down - for dubious TOS violations such as returning "too many" books - this will remove access to ALL content purchased from Amazon. Essentially, you're paying hundreds of dollars for a device you never own, because it can be bricked by the seller. Any time the Kindle goes online, it's through the Amazon server giving them complete access to the device. It's why the Kindle - and specifically Amazon's attempt to monopolize e-books with it - needs to fail. It's trying to create a world where you never own content, just license it.
The reason the iPod isn't as evil is not that Apple is benign, but that mp3 technology is less proprietary and the device is a stand alone tool. You don't need to buy any music from Apple to use the iPod and if Apple tried to use the iTunes to remotely erase iPod files, not only would people flee to other players, they'd use "unauthorized" programs to operate their iPod.
Unless the Kindle becomes something which can be used without any direct Amazon involvement, it's a monopoly scam.
This said, Amazon sells mp3s without DRM and Apple doesn't, so it's not that the entire company is horrible, just this one business plan.