July 27th, 2010 Brian Herzog
One problem with busy days like yesterday is that I am focused just on what’s in front of me, and miss out on what’s happening elsewhere. After work yesterday I was catching up on news and blogs, and found a few stories I thought were significant and wanted to share (you know, besides that whole leak thing):
An odd conflux of issues yesterday.
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Posted under Library, Random | No Comments »
March 25th, 2010 Brian Herzog
I usually don’t like just reposting things unless I have something intelligent to say about it. Regardless, here are a few news stories I noticed recently that seem to be flying under the radar (intelligent commentary optional):
The Life of Raj Patel
Sure you’ve heard of Raj Patel and his books The Value of Nothing and Stuffed and Starved - but did you know he is the messiah?
Neither did he, but the folks of Share International are treating him like Brian, despite his denials, because they know Only the true Messiah denies His divinity. (via)
Overdrive Announcements
Two Overdrive stories: one about LEAP, their New Program for Visually Impaired Readers, and another about a program to Offer Honor System eBook Lending for Libraries, so no DRM. Both worth investigating.
Free Music, as in Free Lunch, as in No Such Thing
Also on the DRM theme is a Library Journal article about a new music service called Freegal, from Library Ideas, LLC and Sony. Interesting in that this service will
- have no DRM, just plain old mp3 files
- require no content manager software
- trust people to follow copyright law, instead of just assume they’re criminals
- charge libraries per download, rather than an annual subscription (or rather, a “minimum annual commitment” which can be managed on a weekly basis)
All good news, but I’m curious to see how the pricing model works - it’s not like anything else used in libraries, is it? And who out there thinks a website called “freegal” might get blocked by sex filters?
What Do You Know About Knowr.com?
Not a news story, but I got a press release about Ooga Labs’ new Knowr.com, billed as a “Question and Answer site that ties to the users social graph … to create a vibrant knowledge network.” What I liked about it is their approach:
At first, we had thought that people … could use our service to share what they know with each other, both within their own particular industries, and in exciting, boundary crossing ways. With a little research, we saw that these groups already have vibrant communities online.
Then we quickly noticed teens and other Facebook super users are using services like this to conduct informal interviews of each other and celebrities.
I’m not entirely sure what it does, or why, or that it isn’t already being done, but I did like that they decided to use existing web platforms (in this case, Facebook) to integrate with, instead of building a whole new networking tool. Good approach.
However, since it requires a Facebook account, that leaves me out.
Tags: drm, ebooks, freegal, knowr, leap, libraries, Library, news, overdrive, public, raj patel See Also
Posted under Library, Random, Resources | 2 Comments »
December 2nd, 2008 Brian Herzog
While with my family for Thanksgiving, my nephew Jake showed me his latest toy car - Lightning McQueen, with a boot.
He loved it, because it was something new from his favorite movie. But the more I thought about this particular toy, the more I wondered about life in general.
Whose idea was it to sell kids a toy car that is designed not to roll? Where’s the fun in that? Lots of kids’ toys don’t do anything, I know, and rely heavily on imagination to make them fun - but this defies even that. It seems like the gratification comes not from playing with the car, but just from owning it. Personally, I think this is a Very Wrong Message to send to kids, but that’s not why I’m bringing this up.
It also occurred to me was that this booted toy car is very similar to downloadable media with DRM (because I have a tendency to relate every single aspect of my life back to libraries).
Patrons can get some limited joy out of them, but the built-in handicap of DRM is contrary to how (I think) downloadable media is supposed to work. DRM doesn’t render downloadable audiobooks completely useless, but it does derail their potential and makes enjoying them unnecessarily difficult.
I asked Jake why he liked this car, since it didn’t roll, but being three years old, he just said he wanted it because it was Lightning McQueen. I tried to get him to play with his brother and me as we zoomed cars that did roll back and forth to each other across the floor, but he just sat on a chair holding his new car and looking at it.
As an uncle, I felt bad that the limitations of Jake’s new toy kept him from playing with us. But he didn’t seem upset, and I figured he’d eventually realize that looking at a car that doesn’t work isn’t as much fun as playing with one that does.
As a librarian, I feel like every downloadable media option available to us has a boot on it, and people are afraid to get down on the floor and start rolling cars around. We’re timidly exploring “free-wheeling” options, and I am hoping libraries and Jake quickly come to the same realization.
And I know I might talk about the wrongs of DRM too much, but it just bugs me.
Tags: audio, audio book, audiobooks, book, car, cars, digital rights management, download, downloadable, drm, libraries, Library, lightning mcqueen, media, mp3, public See Also
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December 4th, 2007 Brian Herzog
In each of the DVD copies of “Live Free or Die Harder” purchased by my library, we found the little insert shown here.
I’d never seen this before, but it is instructions on how to download a digital copy of the movie, from the DVD itself, to your computer (or portable device through your computer).
That’s novel. It looks like a one-shot deal, as in, you can download it once (using the code on the card, which is internet-verified), and that’s it. No downloading to your computer then sync’ing to a device later, or to multiple devices. But still, for those people who purchase the DVD, it’s a nice thing to offer an easily-accessible digital format.
But bad that it can only be transferred once.
And bad that it requires an internet-verified code.
And bad that it doesn’t work on iPods, PSPs, or Zunes.
And bad that it’s yet another failed attempt at trying to control how people use the products they purchase.
digital rights, digital wrongs, drm, dvd, dvds, libraries, library, live free or die harder, public libraries, public library
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