KindleGate

[mgriffin]

I'm open to the idea of digital media, but a little troubled by overly proprietary DRM schemes.  In other words, I might be open to buying digital music or a digital book or even a digital movie for download, but I really don't like the idea that once I've purchased the item, I might run into trouble in the future when trying to use my digital media on a new device.

It appears the DRM scheme for Amazon Kindle e-books leaves your "ownership" of the media you've paid-for and downloaded almost entirely subject to the complex rules imposed by Amazon and the specific publishers of individual books.  As you might guess, the rules are different for different books and you might run into a problem if you keep buying new Kindles or other Kindle-reading devices (such as a iPhone or iPod Touch) and transferring your files to those devices.  And worse yet, there doesn't seem to be a central way of managing your licenses.  Read this horror story if you've purchased a Kindle or considered purchasing one.

http://www.geardiary.com/2009/06/21/kindlegate-confusion-abounds-regarding-kindle-download-policy/

I've considered buying one of the upcoming generations of Kindle but there's no way I'll proceed until I can back up files and ensure that no matter how many devices I purchase, I can use the media I own on ALL my devices, in perpetuity.

[SunDummy]

I don't get the Kindle - I can see a use if you load it with reference manuals, so you don't have to haul them all around to worksites etc. (although a laptop serves the same purpose...), but for novels, etc. - seems like a very expensive solution to an imagined problem.  My paperback books are cheap, I don't care if they get dirty or stolen or forgotten on an airplane, and when I'm done with them I can pass them to friends, or sell them, or donate them to the local library, or just put them on a shelf for a potential reread later in life. 

The Kindle can break, get stolen, etc.  It just seems like one more thing I'd have to take care of, and it's expensive to boot.  And the DRM problems make it a non-starter as far as I'm concerned. 

Besides, after reading a really crappy Stephen King book, you don't get the satisfaction of using the digital file as toilet paper...