Maybe not so DUM

Gruber says

So the Kindle proposition is this: You pay for downloadable books that can’t be printed, can’t be shared, and can’t be displayed on any device other than Amazon’s own $400 reader — and whether they’re readable at all in the future is solely at Amazon’s discretion

Here’s the thing, if the experience of purchasing and reading books on the Kindle is great, none of the objections matter. Worrying about whether I’ll be able to read my purchased books in 50 (or 10) years isn’t even on my radar. If I wanted a collectible item I’d buy a real book. And I don’t care if there’s no way to share, that’s a theoretical problem in my life. As for not being able to read them on any other device? Fine with me, since I just *bought* the device I’ll be reading them on.

I know, DRM is evil and all that, but at first glance, the Kindle appears to give me what I’ve wanted, a nice way to purchase, carry and read all the material I’d even want, in a single-purpose, deliberately computer-free device. I love books and suspect the Kindle will help me read more of them.

I’ll give the critics one thing, it certainly is fugly, that’s for sure.