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Cloud computing: Friend of snoops and control-freak governments? Kindle zap just a hint of the future?
July 21, 2009 | 7:12 am
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By David Rothman
Amazon’s Orwellian zap is just a hint of the risks ahead, if you extrapolate from past TeleBlog entries and the writings of experts such as Harvard’s Jonathan Zittrain, shown here.
How about cloud computing, especially as it relates to e-books?
This is one reason I’m so keen on people being able to store their own copies locally—no zapping allowed!—rather than entrusting their libraries to Amazon, Google or any other company.
Remember, if corporations can deny you access to books or spy on you, how about the governments to which these companies must answer? The loathsome Patriotic Act is an example of Washington’s power-grabbers at work.
Several relevant links:
- Lost in the Cloud, by Zittrain, in the New York Times.
- Zittrain’s warnings in his book The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It.
- Why 2024 will be like Nineteen Eighty-Four?, by Farhad Manjoo in Slate.
Technorati Tags: Jonathan Zittrain,Farhad Manjoo
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Comments:
What if you stored your books locally and used cloud computing resources to store encrypted back-up copies?
Hi, Paula–good question. Always a possibility. But suppose the books are available only on “the cloud” and the company doesn’t want you to download them?
I can indeed see a role for cloud computing, but it had better be done right.
Thanks,
David
David,
If they’re *only* on the cloud, that’s bad for all the reasons mentioned in the post. I agree that that would be a terrible situation.
What about this, David:
Let’s say there are two types of ebook service, just as there are two types of movie DVD services. There’s rental, and there’s purchase. Rental is like Netflix. You have the option of downloading the movie/book electronically, or you can get it on a physical medium. Either way, you must “return” the movie/book before you can get another one.
If you want to purchase the movie/book, you can also get it either way, but it’s yours to keep *in your possession*. If you desire, you can also back up the book/movie electronically, encrypted so that no snooping can take place, or not encrypted if you don’t care about privacy. Conversion service also available so you can keep up with new media and/or use the book/movie on different devices. Backup and conversion services could be offered through third parties or by the ebook vendors.
Well, Paula, either service is MUCH better than cloud-only.
Of course, we’d want ePub to catch on solidly enough so conversion isn’t essential in most cases.
Thanks,
David
Yes, but even with ePub, some day there might be a new standard that would make conversion attractive…or even necessary.
Well, though no one can say for sure, let’s hope the day is far off. Luckily the alphabet and all that aren’t changing
Thanks. David