Has anyone heard of the book rental service, BookSwim.com? The concept sounds like a great idea but maybe a bit late for our time? Also, why pay to rent books when you can get them free from the library or used through Amazon.com? I can see the appeal for textbooks but there are so many other rentals sites and schools are leaning towards iPad learning. Exhibit A, my Alma Mater, the Webb School of Knoxville, who is requiring all students to buy or rent and iPad for class in 2012.
It seems the next likely step is to figure out a way for people to rent eReaders and eBooks. Many public libraries already have plans in place with software such as Overdrive and are working with vendors like Kindel to come up with a renting solution. While eBooks take up no physical space and can downloaded in the blink of an eye, how long do they last? Digital media is essentially ones and zeroes, which poses the digital migration question. As new and updated devices hit the market, what will happen to one's digital content? Will ebooks be unreadable by new versions or will they simply expire from our devices? Either way, one cannot loan out an eBook easily, place on their bookshelf or sell it on Amazon. I'm sure 2011 will answer some if not all of these questions.
While I'm warming up to the idea of eContent, I still prefer my "tree books" for now.
Links:
BookSwim
http://www.bookswim.com
Webb School of Knoxville
http://www.webbschool.org/podium/default.aspx?t=134522
Brooklyn Public Library
http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/digital.jsp
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