Comments on: Never Mind Legal Issues; Kindle not good choice for libraries. Period. http://www.librarystuff.net/2008/01/30/never-mind-legal-issues-kindle-not-good-choice-for-libraries-period/ The library weblog dedicated to resources for keeping current and professional development Sun, 12 Feb 2012 05:33:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Chris Weiss http://www.librarystuff.net/2008/01/30/never-mind-legal-issues-kindle-not-good-choice-for-libraries-period/comment-page-1/#comment-18431 Chris Weiss Thu, 31 Jan 2008 16:32:47 +0000 http://www.librarystuff.net/2008/01/30/never-mind-legal-issues-kindle-not-good-choice-for-libraries-period/#comment-18431 Aha, you're correct, I didn't click through the link - It's my first time on this site and I didn't realize the author's name was the actual story link - I clicked the title of the article which went back here. I agree that the model you talk about isn't at all feasible. I do think the Kindle could be used as a content tool for libraries though, with some changes from Amazon. I would think they would be receptive to facilitating this as it would get more Kindles out there, and thus more potential Amazon customers. Aha, you’re correct, I didn’t click through the link – It’s my first time on this site and I didn’t realize the author’s name was the actual story link – I clicked the title of the article which went back here.
I agree that the model you talk about isn’t at all feasible. I do think the Kindle could be used as a content tool for libraries though, with some changes from Amazon. I would think they would be receptive to facilitating this as it would get more Kindles out there, and thus more potential Amazon customers.

]]> By: rochelle http://www.librarystuff.net/2008/01/30/never-mind-legal-issues-kindle-not-good-choice-for-libraries-period/comment-page-1/#comment-18385 rochelle Thu, 31 Jan 2008 02:00:35 +0000 http://www.librarystuff.net/2008/01/30/never-mind-legal-issues-kindle-not-good-choice-for-libraries-period/#comment-18385 Hi Chris--I'm guessing you didn't actually click through and read the whole thing. The $2500 figure comes from my calculating how much it would cost to load up the Kindle with books (supposedly holds 200 titles). I guessed at an average price of $10/title. Libraries already loan ebooks from other vendors, to patrons who have ereaders. The Kindle ToS prohibits transferring content, so content and machine are a package deal. As someone who is responsible for a materials budget at a public library, I can't justify loaning 200 titles to one person for 2-3 weeks. I just doesn't make sense. Hi Chris–I’m guessing you didn’t actually click through and read the whole thing. The $2500 figure comes from my calculating how much it would cost to load up the Kindle with books (supposedly holds 200 titles). I guessed at an average price of $10/title.

Libraries already loan ebooks from other vendors, to patrons who have ereaders. The Kindle ToS prohibits transferring content, so content and machine are a package deal. As someone who is responsible for a materials budget at a public library, I can’t justify loaning 200 titles to one person for 2-3 weeks. I just doesn’t make sense.

]]> By: Chris Weiss http://www.librarystuff.net/2008/01/30/never-mind-legal-issues-kindle-not-good-choice-for-libraries-period/comment-page-1/#comment-18364 Chris Weiss Wed, 30 Jan 2008 22:25:07 +0000 http://www.librarystuff.net/2008/01/30/never-mind-legal-issues-kindle-not-good-choice-for-libraries-period/#comment-18364 I'm not entirely sure what you're referring to in your post. Kindles cost $400, not $2500, and I'd imagine the library system could get them much cheaper if they came up with a compelling argument to the manufacturer. More importantly, why would the library loan the device? The better model is where the consumer already owns the device and the library only loans the "rights" to read the digital document on it. In this way, there are no physical assets for the library to keep track of at all. There would still be plenty of logistical things to sort out, but disqualifying the Kindle based on cost (and a wildly inaccurate one at that) in a single scenario isn't particularly valuable. I’m not entirely sure what you’re referring to in your post. Kindles cost $400, not $2500, and I’d imagine the library system could get them much cheaper if they came up with a compelling argument to the manufacturer.
More importantly, why would the library loan the device? The better model is where the consumer already owns the device and the library only loans the “rights” to read the digital document on it. In this way, there are no physical assets for the library to keep track of at all.
There would still be plenty of logistical things to sort out, but disqualifying the Kindle based on cost (and a wildly inaccurate one at that) in a single scenario isn’t particularly valuable.

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