Comments on: Shut Up, Kindle

By: RSS Digest Combo - #61,#62

RSS Digest Combo - #61,#62 — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 12:38:51 +0000

[...] Nokia flagship store pulls XpressMusic 5800 TuneBoard: Speaker Keyboard for Mac Reviewed Amazon Retreats on Kindle’s Text-to-Speech Issue NIMH AA Batteries Cooler Master’s 5-CPU monstrosity has your craptop cowering in a corner How [...]

By: Joe Webb

Joe Webb — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 17:31:23 +0000

There is no truth to the rumor that parents would have to join AFTRA as reading to kids would be considered as a performance, and be paid out of kids piggy banks.

The Authors Guild has decided that it will not interfere with people’s right to move their lips when they read.

The Guild is also deciding whether or not to charge an extra fee if people read the same book twice.

This whole thing has an RIAA feel to it, don’t you think? DRM was a failure for the music industry, and this just seems like a replay of it.

If publishers want to sell e-books (and they do), they will allow their content to be expressed in this way. For years, blind readers have purchased scanners to do this very thing for them. Not every book has an audio audience that can justify itself. This is a marvelous way to address those issues, and another benefit for keeping content digital and flexible.

After all, what could be better than having a computer reader rather than a human one who exhales environment-destroying CO2?

By: Whispernet, indeed • Commonplace Cartography

Whispernet, indeed • Commonplace Cartography — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 14:56:41 +0000

[...] John Paczkowski quotes the Amazon press statement. Nevertheless, we strongly believe many rightsholders will be more comfortable with the text-to-speech feature if they are in the driver’s seat. [...]

By: ? Lost in the Shuffle | reabilita.me

? Lost in the Shuffle | reabilita.me — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 07:40:17 +0000

[...] the new Amazon Kindle’s built-in text-to-speech feature has gotten me thinking about my old idea for an audio interface for the Shuffle. If the Kindle can [...]

By: Weekend Update, 2.28.09 | Beth Callaghan | Digital Daily | AllThingsD

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 06:52:22 +0000

[...] the audio book market. Rather than engaging in battle with the Guild, Amazon (AMZN) decided to modify the Kindle’s software to make text-to-speech optional. Meanwhile, the Hearst Corporation announced development of its own [...]

By: Ted Todorov

Ted Todorov — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 05:36:14 +0000

Just pathetic, Amazon, pathetic. I can’t believe they caved to the luddites. Someone needs to inform Mr. Blount the majority of books being published today don’t have audio book versions or many of those that do only offer abridged ones.

But hey, no problem, charging people twice or what the heck, three times for the same book will make us more money. The publishers are quickly on their way to treating their best customers worse than the record industry.

A recipe for disaster once books be they audio or text start hitting the P2P networks.

By: Dave Barnes

Dave Barnes — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 03:20:11 +0000

DRM is stoopid.
It does not do what the luddites (e.g., Roy Blount) desire.