How can WoTC get new players buying Essentials?

[Lalato]

Who said anything about DRM? You're selling to people on a specific platform. Sure, those same people could torrent all the files, but Amazon, Apple & B&N have made it easier for their customers to use their respective platforms instead of using torrent.

I fail to see the problem with this model... Unless, of course, one has a huge hard on about anything that remotely smells like DRM.

 

[falcarrion]

Some people have a problem with DRM for the following reason:
In one instance of DRM that caused a rift with consumers, Amazon.com remotely deleted purchased copies of George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm from customer's Amazon Kindles after providing them a refund for the purchased products.
They did have a reason though as these two e-books where unaurthorized reproductions by the company that published and sold it on Amazon.

The following companies use DRM in one format or another:

Digital rights management is used by companies such as Sony, Amazon, Apple Inc., Microsoft, AOL and the BBC.

 

[Beginning of the End]

Who said anything about DRM?

You did.

What, exactly, do you think "the protections built around Amazon Kindle, B&N Nook and Apple iOS" are?

(Although the reality is more complicated: There are DRM-free Kindle books. iTunes has been DRM-free for awhile now. And so forth.)

 

[Lalato]

What I meant by protections is that the folks that own Kindles, Nooks and iOS devices tend to purchase their content. Certainly not all of them do, but there is something about getting content that is fairly priced on a specific platform that keeps people from looking for it on torrent.

The downside of just doing it with PDF is that once one person has it, everyone has it. Sure, that's true of many digital formats, but it's more true of PDF because of its ubiquity. The formats used by these specific devices tend to be less common, and they also tend to have small limitations regarding sharing them outside of a person's immediate family. One can overcome those limitations. It's not impossible or all that difficult... but it offers just the right amount of protection for content providers.

Anyway, this is kind of off track... so we now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.

 

[Beginning of the End]

and they also tend to have small limitations regarding sharing them outside of a person's immediate family.

For the love of...

THAT'S DRM.

 

[Lalato]

Call it what you want, but my understanding is that DRM doesn't allow any sharing at all. These devices do allow sharing, just in a limited fashion. If you call this DRM, then a physical book has DRM too. I can't share my book with every Tom, Dick or Harry that happens to have access to the internet either.

I would agree that it's DRM if it didn't allow me to access my books on multiple devices that I own (which is the real problem with DRM), but that's not the case with Kindle (apps for multiple platforms), or iOS (uses the more common ePub format). Additionally, it allows me to share the books with other people, albeit in a limited fashion.

Would I personally prefer to copy files wherever and whenever I want? Sure. I'm not talking about my personal preference here. I'm talking about a model that allows WotC to offer their products in a digital format with some small amount of protection.

If you want to argue the merits of DRM, please start another thread. I'll be happy to discuss my opinion on it there.

Again, we return you to your regularly scheduled thread.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Meh.

I have a book in my hand. I can share it with anyone I like, for however long I like, and (barring one of my friends not returning it), I can do so again for as long as I care to. The book works without batteries, and without electricity of any sort, so long as there is minimal light.

The odds are good that, 200 years from now, some of my books will still be functional. The odds are vanishingly small that, 200 years from now, your kindle or similar reader will function, or that the format will still be in use.

We are, right now, in the VHS-or-BetaMax? phase of e-readers, with the added sting that, even if you choose right, you are not buying a thing, but merely licensing the right to use a thing in a limited capacity.


RC

 

[falcarrion]

There is nothing wrong in liking a book in paper format or electronic format.
But I could argue with you that by using a solar charger I could read with out the cost of electricity in the convential way.

As far as how long a book lasts depends how well it is taken care of and how well it is made. There is no proof how long a e-reader will survive. They haven't been around long enough to know. Besides if it lasts longer then I do thats fine with me. I don't need it after I'm gone.

There are alot of advantages to e-readers and tablets, and computers. For those with vision problems, being able to increase the font size is a major boon for them. The amount of books I can carry electronicly is way more that you can carry in paper format. I'm not locked into only one device to read a book.
For example I buy a book in the knidle format. I can read it on a kindle, or my computer, or my ipad. And soon you will be able to read it on an Android devise.
If you can't already. Also in some e-reading software you can click on a word you don't know, and up pops the definition.
You can't do that with a paper book.

 

[BryonD]

I hate DRM.
But I actually really like my Kindle.

When I purchase content for my Kindle I do it eyes wide open knowing I am not buying the same thing as I am when I buy a book. And the difference goes beyond just lack of dead tree. I am just buying the ability to read the product, not truly own it. I take that into account when I choose whether or not to buy and certainly the price I am willing to pay is different.

You just have to consider what you ARE buying and the price for THAT, rather than comparing e-books to books.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Also in some e-reading software you can click on a word you don't know, and up pops the definition.
You can't do that with a paper book.

Unless the book is a dictionary.....

(But point taken. Each method has its own ups and downs)