Kindle? I think not.

I recently went onto Amazon and was browsing around when I noticed they were advertising their new eReader, the Kindle, for $400. I admit I was interested. I love reading. I would love a way to carry many books in a small package. I would love to avoid the PIA it is to read from a backlit screen like a laptop or monitor. I would love an eReader that is small, but not too small. I would love a service that provided me with many titles.

So I started looking over the reviews. Four hundred bucks is a lot of cash for an eReader, it seems to me, and before I jump into anything, I want to know what I’m getting into, what I can expect and if I’m really going to get the use of the device.

After reading several articles and reviews, I’ve decided I won’t be buying this product or, likely, any product for reading books that functions in the way the Kindle does.

While I was reading the article “Should I Buy a Kindle,” I noticed the following bit in the “Cons” list:
…Amazon has installed software that records what I am reading and when I am reading it and sends this information back to Amazon. I really don’t see why Amazon should know what books I am reading and when. They will know what I have bought anyway, as I have to buy kindle books through them – why should they know that I read book such-and-such for 2 hours at 1 am last night etc. etc. It starts to feel like something out of George Orwell’s 1984.
I presume that apart from marketing, the reason is to detect if you are abiding by Amazons terms and conditions. If you are not (for example, if I did figure out a way of sharing the kindle book I bought with my wife on her kindle) this spy-ware will detect it and Amazon can then cancel your Kindle service (you will also lose access to all the books you have read).
I really do not like the idea that Amazon could suddenly remove access to my whole reading collection that I might build up over several years.
While I understand that Amazon and book publishers in general need to protect themselves from illegal copying of their books, I feel that the way they have made the Kindle and the way the terms and conditions of this product are written takes away the users rights and also their privacy. Until these things change I will (sadly) have to stick to conventional books.
What a shame.
Here is a quote directly from Amazons terms and conditions for the kindle
“Information Received. The Device Software will provide Amazon with data about your Device and its interaction with the Service (such as available memory, up-time, log files and signal strength) and information related to the content on your Device and your use of it (such as automatic bookmarking of the last page read and content deletions from the Device). Annotations, bookmarks, notes, highlights, or similar markings you make in your Device are backed up through the Service. Information we receive is subject to the Amazon.com Privacy Notice.”

I then read the related article here by the famous (infamous?) software activist and GNU Project lead, Richard Stallman (wiki link) (link to his own homepage) about copyrighting, electronic publishing, DMR and what it could possibly mean for the future and freedom of reading. This short and to the the point article is called “The Right to Read“.

After reading the review and the article it occurs to me that buying electronic books to read electronically is a huge problem. I may well purchase a book and let a friend borrow it or give it to him. No hassles. I might go to a library and read books for free. Heck, I can even go to B&N and buy a coffee and read one of their books without buying it (come on, admit that you do it!) for free. I have even gone to B&N, done my homework and used their books for reference material (not that I think this is healthy for libraries).

I also belong to Audible and download audiobooks to which I listen on long drives or when I’m chilling out at home. I can burn these books to CD for listening, if I like or loan them to friends. No one knows to whom I’m giving my books, when I’m getting them back ( and how many of us have lost good books to friends who don’t return them?) and how much he or I have read of them.

I’m certain that I’m not comfortable with Amazon putting restrictions on who I can loan my books to, when I choose to read them (after all, they can lock your account and deny you access to books that you’ve already purchased because, in actuality, you didn’t purchase them at all as much as bought the right to use them).

Music of course suffers the same problem though I’m less concerned because, frankly, music is far more of a luxury and if I like it, I’ll buy it if not or if I don’t have the money for it, no big deal. Reading – that’s a whole different ball of wax. The free exchange of information in libraries, between friends and the intellectual stimulation that comes from sharing with strangers and friends is vital.

Also, while I don’t particularly care if someone knows I’ve read the Marquis DeSade’s books, you might not want anyone to know (especially if you are running for office, I bet!) and I should be free to loan my copy to you until your curiosity has been, um, satiated. Knowing that some company is checking on my (and your) reading habits bothers me intensely. If I am ever concerned about a book I’ve chosen to read, I still can pay cash and no one but me and the bookseller knows. I’m not sure this should change.

Don’t get me wrong – the eBook technology is awesome! I would love to cart around two hundred books on my Kindle, even if it meant I could only purchase through Amazon. I can easily think of 200 books I would put on it right now…unfortunately, I wouldn’t own the books, wouldn’t be free to do with them as I like and would have to allow someone to look over my shoulder every time I flipped a page.

Amazon: Forget it. Speaking as a liberal and a Green Party member – I would rather cut down a tree!