Comments on: Another Reason Not to Get an E-Reader

By: Virginia

Virginia — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 19:29:37 +0000

If you buy a print book with a credit card, whether from a brick-and-mortar store or online, isn’t that information tracked and analyzed? Or if you use a rewards card from a particular store? It comes down to what level of “invasion” or “risk” you personally consider acceptable. I love the convenience of my e-reader enough that I don’t mind so much if someone is tracking how fast I read (it seems like an especially trivial concern when I already willingly gave the company my address, phone number, email, and credit card information in order to purchase the ebook…).

By: Gil

Gil — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 15:31:40 +0000

I don’t think the issue is not whether is right or wrong for them to access an information as personal as MY side notes in MY own freaking e- book. I think the main violation is in the fact that we don’t know this is happening and we don’t have the option to a link saying: ” No, I don’t want any tracking or access to my readings”. Obviously we all love literature , we love books and we need technology. Corporate Business is business , and success and consumer behavior is based in this tactics , but I would really appreciate to be asked before they get “all up in MY business” even if It is to suggest books that I will end up loving after I read them. I don’t have an e-book. I wanted to buy one, but now that I know this… I’m really having second thoughts.

By: Stephanie Griffin

Stephanie Griffin — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 02:22:15 +0000

I recently went to the dark side and purchased a Nook. As soon as I downloaded a copy of a newspaper I received an email asking me if I wanted to subscribe to it. That was irritating, yes, but I don’t put anything on my e-reader that I want to hide.
I could care less if they know how fast I’m reading a book. They’ll never know the reason WHY I’m highlighting something. I could be doing research, or writing a paper on the book for a class, or maybe I just like the way the sentence sounds.
The only people who should be worried are probably the criminals, who might be building a bomb or something. I don’t know, I’m not a criminal!
I think people should just calm down about the whole thing. If you want your reading to be that private, buy your book at an indie bookstore, with cash! I’ll continue to buy both regular and e-books from my local indie but not from Amazon, who is certainly an evil empire.

By: Lois

Lois — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 23:47:44 +0000

@Kris – FYI, I’m pretty sure the author is a woman (Josie). Just so you know.

@Frank – I tend to agree with you. There is a trade-off to having the services and convenience of digital. It’s this sort of ‘invasive’ analytics that gives us the search results we want when we Google something or lets you know when your friends have used an online service or site, which makes me more inclined to trust it. Of course there’s a line, but I don’t think tracking our reading habits (and only if we buy those particular devices that do this, by the way) is crossing it – not when it’s only used to more effectively create and target the products and services we want.

Also, I think the author’s attitude to not only digital but also publishing in general is extremely old-fashioned. It reminds me of 19th-century idealistic notions of writing and publishing. Like it or not, it’s a business and an industry – deal with it. How someone who makes their living off of it can deny this is beyond me.

By: CS Perryess

CS Perryess — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 16:19:35 +0000

Amen.
Here’s another example of Big Brother of the corporate nature going places he doesn’t belong. It causes one to ask, “Where are we going & what are we doing in this handbasket?”

By: Kris

Kris — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 15:44:40 +0000

Frank said: “If you want your life to be private then we should be discussing this in person in a sound proof room.”

That’s a pretty ridiculous statement. He wants this article to be public, and his reading to be private. They’re different things. I want the fancy dress I wear to be public, my trip to the bathroom private. Different things. The author did not say he wants his LIFE to be private, he said he wants his reading to be private. Making sweeping overgeneralizations in a rebuttal can be an effective way to cloud the issue, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re not reading what he said, you’re reading what you have a pat response for.

Additionally, your comments about indie authors are not at all related to the topic.

Frank said: “There is no place to hide anymore. Rather than fret and fight I take it in stride…”

That’s fine. And others wish to draw a line, tilting at windmills or not, by saying “This is not okay with me.” For what it’s worth, that’s the only way things change, when enough people saying “This thing that exists and seems unstoppable is not acceptable to me.”

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 14:34:11 +0000

To those of you who see no dangers in corporations being able to collect all kinds of data about your lives: talk to some Chinese dissidents. You can be jailed, and tortured, for what you read.

By: Pat Dolan

Pat Dolan — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 20:29:47 +0000

Jenny, if you want others tracking your behavior so they can recommend books, fine. You should be able to sign up for that. Josie and I should be able to opt out. Rather than being the dinosaurs that you suggest we are, perhaps we are more aware of exploitative uses of eavesdropping and want to retain our privacy.

By: Frank

Frank — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 17:42:25 +0000

If you want your life to be private then we should be discussing this in person in a sound proof room. Our lives are no longer private unless you live on an island without any telecommunications. If Amazon or Barnes is recording how I read so what! That is the price of admission for the discount of E books over hard copy.

There is no place to hide anymore. Rather than fret and fight I take it in stride and focus my energies on words and pursuits that make a difference in my life and the lives of others.

Indie authors, in fact indie anything has a rough time until they learn to use the tools that are out there because of technological advances. You cannot be just an author anymore. You must be part promoter and sales person to get your book or project noticed. In my opinion that is the biggest change in the past 20 years.

Frank

By: Larry Moniz

Larry Moniz — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 16:50:01 +0000

There’s always a way to file a lawsuit, but to what avail. First, there’s tacit consent by merely purchasing a tablet or other reader — unlike something that is a necessity, such devices are a luxury. Like it or not, the simplest way to protect your privacy is to avoid using one.