I've always had a bit of a grudge against e-readers. To start, I'm a bit of a collector. I like records over mp3s, DVDs over netflix, and shelves of books over staring at my computer screen. I think having a digital device is distracting, and takes away from the authenticity of flipping through a book. A few years back I was gifted a Barnes and Nobel version of a kindle, a Nook. To be honest, I never even turned it on. I ended up giving to a friend that was interested in it.
So this new feature of the Kindle 2, reading your book to you for you, astonishes me. I get it, technology is a beautiful thing. It can do almost anything for you. Heck, I thought my boyfriend was a little crazy for listening to his book on CD version of the Rum Diaries every time he drives back home to Massachusetts. But the Kindle 2 kicks it up a notch. I can't help but think maybe it was made because we are growing to be a lazier society, just as Pixar's Wall-E predicted.
More importantly, from the moment I heard of the first kindle, I have felt for the authors. It is a little different now with more modern writers who are used to the technological advances, but it still changes things. I definitely feel authors aren't getting the same credit that they could have in the past. But the Kindle 2 takes ripping them off to a whole new level by not paying anyone for the audio rights. I 100% agree with Paul Aiken's statement that the authors should be awarded licensing fees and royalties, it should be illegal to use the audio feature without permission and without paying.
It's a hard copyright argument to swallow. There are lots of grey areas with copyright and it's hard to make an executive decision of what is right and what is wrong. Michael Kwon fron the Electronic Frontier foundation says the audio readings are not derivative works just robotic translations, and that the copyright act only protects public performances. An extremely valid argument, much like subtitles or something. But I think it should be up to the authors to give permission to allow kindles to use the audio feature for their works. More importantly, have the opportunity to record their own. Who knows how much a robotic translation could spoil their book, and perhaps not translate some interactions in a way they weren't meant to be. Like Scott Turrow said, Shakespeare wouldn't have been successful under today's circumstances. Could you imagine listening to Hamlet in a robotic translation? (For some comedic relief here's Nathan Explosion from Metalocalypse trying to read Othello: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0gC7EnsYFs) What will this do for older books that are read aloud by robots?
Through all these technological challenges, Techdirt.com reports that more books are being published today, and more people are reading and writing books. So perhaps these reading devices are improving the writing field across the board. But I do think it's important to respect the authors rights and give them the choice to have their book read by a robot, or have the opportunity to have their book recorded and used on the devices that way you can get the books full potential without a robots interpretation.
Mindy,
ReplyDeleteDo you really think that because technology is beginning to brighten kids wither their new products that it's getting them to read and write more? I honestly don't feel like technology is helping, I feel like it's butting in and trying to make products that they think will be best for the kids, teens, or adults, but I think it's just hurting the schools now because they bring their technology to school. Most schools don't allow that which means they can get them taken away, why chance that when you can have a book to take home and bring to school without getting it taken away? I am kinda on the technology side and I'm also not on the technology side. It's hard to choose a side and express my feelings towards. But for short, that's my feelings about technology. I'm big on technology, I never liked reading books, but after school was over and I wasn't forced to read books, I actually did read for a while on my own.
-Tiffany
The read aloud technology that is becoming available to all products that support ebooks can be seen as a blessing and a curse. More people may become more exposed to books and purchase more books than they do now because they are essentially audiobooks On the flipside, I did not give a lot of thought into kids in school. They should still be required to read books because they need to know how to read to survive in life. I was thinking more about adults who just do not have time to read.
ReplyDeleteHey Mindy!
ReplyDeleteReally great blog post this week! I love that you drew a parallel between the movie Wall-E and our lazy society. I thought I was the only one who ruminated over such things with OCD paranoia. While I don't agree with your general stance on the matter I do like your suggestion about authors choosing whether or not to make their work available with the voice over option. I think that would be a good compromise. But my other concern was for those who are visually impaired, who I feel have the right to use the voice over feature anytime they want to accommodate their disability.
I thought your post was very well put, and i agree with you on many levels. We talk in my other class about what starring at a screen all day will do our minds in the future and it is scary that the side effects are not really known. What is even more frightening is the young age some children begin engaging in the use of electronics liek the kindle, ipad, or iphone, and what it is doing to them socially, emotionally and physically is something i would like to know more about but i am convinced it cant be good. I do have a kindle and i appreciate its convenience with things like movie streaming, internet access, and reading my large textbooks that i would rather have in my pocket than on my back.
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