Future of Ideas

Rating:
Summary: Still, the benefits are not here!
Review: Following Lessig's comment, this e-book should now be with speech-functionality enabled, and passages should be copy-able.

This is not the case. The only change is from Acrobat-reader to Microsoft-reader.

I downloaded the first version, but lost it because I was only allowed to activate the e-book on two machines. Since I migrated my data from an old to a new PC (the second installation next to my laptop), I lost it. USD9.95 later, I am still at the same place.

This then points out the fact, that the life-time of e-books is pretty short, something like a PC generation, which normally lasts few years, assuming there is no major crash in-between. That means, that I can not build up a digital library, as I hoped, and what I did with my hard copies.

Furthermore, to read an e-book, one has do register my PC at Microsoft .net, which I do not want to do, and which I think, is also not in the sense of the Lessig's powerful (content-wise *****) book.


Rating:
Summary: Kills all the benefit of a digital book!
Review: I have already bought the paper version of this book, and since I wanted to use it to do the Japanese translation of the book, write some articles, have accurate quotes and stuff, I bought the electronic version.

As with most commercial e-books, this doesn't allow 2lending or copying. OK, I expected that, although not necessarily happy about it. However... It does not allow it to be read aloud by machine. This e-book does not allow printing. And you can't copy a portion of it to the clipboard!

This basically defeats most of the purpose that I bought this e-book in the first place. This thing can only be used to be stared at on the screen! I have a book for that purpose, and it's much much better. I tried to read it on screen, but went back to paper after the preface. And if I try to reverse-engineer this protection scheme, I'll be busted (well, if I were in the US I would).

It's ironic, because the theme of the book is exactly about this sort of thing, how the overprotection of intelectual property destroys the commons and kills off innovation. How we are not allowed to copy and pasete and build upon other's works, not only through law but through code. How these "regulation through code" damages the better use of information and ideas. And how we SHOULDN'T be doing this sort of overprotection.

It's a wonderful book to read, it's implications are deep and thought provoking. But you're MUCH better off getting the paper book for that. At least you can copy a page. This digital version not only gives no additional benefit over the paper version, but even takes away much of it.

Rating:
Summary: Thank you for your complaint!
Review: So intelligent strong criticism like the one above has moved the publisher to free up the restrictions on the Adobe eBook version of this. I am told the read aloud function, printing and cutting and pasting functions have been restored. This is a great example of how consumer activism can have a good effect -- much more effective than the pleas of the author. Thank you again.