[Web4lib] Kindle vs. Accessibility

[Jesse Ephraim]

The issue of the read-aloud flag with the Kindle will ultimately be moot.  It isn't going to affect what people do, or how they access the text of the books.

Once something is digitized and made available to the public, it is "in the wild." Control over distribution falls by the wayside, just as it has with music and movies.  SOMEONE will jailbreak the Kindle.  SOMEONE will find a way to strip the "no audio" flags out of the files.  SOMEONE will find a way to make the files readable on any device out there.  The files will be distributed on BitTorrent and its successors.  The masses of tech-capable folks out there will always be one step ahead of the publishers and other authorities, because they have numbers on their side. Publishers, authors, Amazon, etc. can recognize this and reformulate their business plans, or they can fight it and lose in the end, like the music and movie industries. 

Issues of right and wrong, legality and illegality, and so forth are not going to change user behavior.  That's just the reality of it.  The best thing that the publishing industry can do is figure out how to still make their profit without alienating their customers.

The market has shown that people are willing to spend a dollar (U.S.) or less on a non-DRMed song.  The magic price point for ebooks hasn't been found yet, but it is going to need to be dramatically lower than it is now.  The Kindle's flags are going to be seen in the same light as DRM on music.  

The issue of author profits vs. publisher profits vs. Amazon profits is one that those parties will have to work out among themselves.  In the meantime, Amazon is alienating a portion of their potential user base, just as they have done be stripping sales ranks off "adult" materials. 

- Jesse