Comments on: Gizmodo explains the E-Babel problem http://www.teleread.com/drm/gizmodo-explains-the-e-babel-problem/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:28:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Travis Butler http://www.teleread.com/drm/gizmodo-explains-the-e-babel-problem/comment-page-1/#comment-1160173 Travis Butler Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:14:38 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2010/03/11/gizmodo-explains-the-e-babel-problem/#comment-1160173 Just to be contrary, I'll point out that while it is indeed possible to 'rip' a book, it takes a huge amount of time and effort compared to 'ripping' a CD; you've got to scan it page by page (and if you're not careful, break the spine while you're doing so), OCR it, proof the OCR, and finally convert it to your e-reader format of choice. There's no comparison whatsoever to how easy it is to grab a song off a CD, or even a movie off a DVD. So yeah, while you can nitpick about truth-in-technology, in practical terms, they're absolutely right - scanning a book is so much work that very few people are going to do it, and almost no one in the 'general public' audience that they're talking about. In real-world usage, they're correct - the choice for the average reader will be between buying a legit copy and stealing a bootleg copy. Scanning will never enter into it. (In fact, even at minimum wage, the time-cost of scanning a book will be more the price of a legitimate copy; I've never had a personal scanning project take less than 3-4 hours, or $21-28 @ minimum wage rates.) Just to be contrary, I’ll point out that while it is indeed possible to ‘rip’ a book, it takes a huge amount of time and effort compared to ‘ripping’ a CD; you’ve got to scan it page by page (and if you’re not careful, break the spine while you’re doing so), OCR it, proof the OCR, and finally convert it to your e-reader format of choice. There’s no comparison whatsoever to how easy it is to grab a song off a CD, or even a movie off a DVD.

So yeah, while you can nitpick about truth-in-technology, in practical terms, they’re absolutely right – scanning a book is so much work that very few people are going to do it, and almost no one in the ‘general public’ audience that they’re talking about. In real-world usage, they’re correct – the choice for the average reader will be between buying a legit copy and stealing a bootleg copy. Scanning will never enter into it. (In fact, even at minimum wage, the time-cost of scanning a book will be more the price of a legitimate copy; I’ve never had a personal scanning project take less than 3-4 hours, or $21-28 @ minimum wage rates.)

]]> By: Yoda47 http://www.teleread.com/drm/gizmodo-explains-the-e-babel-problem/comment-page-1/#comment-1160155 Yoda47 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:15:42 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2010/03/11/gizmodo-explains-the-e-babel-problem/#comment-1160155 I love the quoted part in the article... especially "You can't rip a book" Thing is, if one has lots of time on your hands, you can type it. If your lazy, you can scan it. Oh, and you can do this with library books, so you don't have to pay for it either. Not that I'm advocating this in any way, just pointing out that DRM is stupid AND pointless. I love the quoted part in the article… especially “You can’t rip a book”

Thing is, if one has lots of time on your hands, you can type it.
If your lazy, you can scan it.
Oh, and you can do this with library books, so you don’t have to pay for it either.

Not that I’m advocating this in any way, just pointing out that DRM is stupid AND pointless.

]]> By: Peter http://www.teleread.com/drm/gizmodo-explains-the-e-babel-problem/comment-page-1/#comment-1160154 Peter Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:34:23 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2010/03/11/gizmodo-explains-the-e-babel-problem/#comment-1160154 "You can't rip a book" is, of course, flat-out wrong. Not only can you, people have been doing so for at least ten years, and it's still the dominant source of books on file-sharing networks, not DRM-stripped commercial releases. Then again, it's a Gizmodo article, so expecting technical nous is probably futile. “You can’t rip a book” is, of course, flat-out wrong. Not only can you, people have been doing so for at least ten years, and it’s still the dominant source of books on file-sharing networks, not DRM-stripped commercial releases. Then again, it’s a Gizmodo article, so expecting technical nous is probably futile.

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