Enjoy Digital Ownership and Public Libraries While You Still Can | Hacker News Reader

Enjoy Digital Ownership and Public Libraries While You Still Can

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21 pointsjrepinc8 comments

I think the Audible Android app removing digital purchases has more to do with Google's recent decision to enforce taxing digital purchases 30% than a nefarious plan by Amazon to end purchases.

That said digital "ownership" has never been a thing. It's always long term rental and ridiculous that companies are allowed to call it "buy"ing. Other than a handful of companies like Baen and GOG doing DRM free stuff digital purchases are littered with language about it being a license, that they can take it away anytime, etc.

I really think publishers shouldn't be allowed to give such unfavorable terms to libraries either.

Hopefully libgen will keep being the best public digital library. This is where I get most of my ebooks and if I don't find something there I'll just buy it and upload.

Subscribe models may be even better for scraping multiple of books to get them there

There is no digital ownership. Not anymore at least. When everything you created is in the cloud, good luck owning it. Games from 15 years ago still work because they need just a computer. Now the games need half of internet to start.

I'm more terrified of widespread illiteracy than I am of, "subscription capitalism." Give me a decent life and send me an invoice every month; I really don't mind living that way. That's more or less what the American Dream has been since the 20's.

What about when you can't afford it?

What about when you can’t afford food?

Realistic solutions: EBT is available in my state. I don't know about yours. Local food pantries can help but one of the biggest, "poverty lifehacks" is belonging to a religious community-- I lived at a Gaudiya Vaishnava (Jaya Nitai!) Temple for some time and was fed handsomely just for being a part of the community. One's mileage may vary.

There are workable solutions to problems. Don't believe the media limbic hate machine!

Respectfully I've been there and the solution at least in my case was to pull my head out of my ass, get help from other humans for medical conditions that hold me back in life, and get enrolled in college which was free for me because I'm considered a kind of, "vulnerable person."

There are solutions for America's vulnerable people that really exist. I'm proof of that if you and our respective reader don't mind me saying so.

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