Apple should lead the move to DRM-free ebooks
I like books. I also own a lot of them. When moving recently, I realized just how many: Even after disposing of a third of my collection, I still have a couple of thousand. And boy, do they take up a lot of space—it’s one of the things that makes ebooks so attractive.
On the other hand, those dead-tree books are free from one of ebooks’ most onerous encumbrances: digital rights management. That lack of DRM means I can read them wherever and whenever I want—well, as long as I have light. For ebooks with DRM, though, the publishers and retailers get to dictate how they can be used, read, and shared.
I’ve embraced ebooks, in part to save on buying more shelving. But because DRM prevents ebooks from having the same flexibility as print books, I’m loath to buy them for anything more than books I only plan on reading once. But that doesn’t have to be the way it is, and Apple could lead the way to change—it’s done so in the past.
Changing history
It seems at times unbelievable that we’re all now used to having music without DRM, but still have books that depend on what platform we use.
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