[SGVLUG] The right to read... and today's students

[Dan Buthusiem]

I actually bought a combo for the CCENT / CCNA which came bundled with
extra content. Once I opened the box, broke the seals for the disks, and
put the disks into my computer, I quickly found almost all of the
advertised materials on the disks were "lite" or time sensitive (45-day
demo of a DRM-ed ebook which wasn't Android compatible). For me to have
"full" versions of everything in the box, the cost of this bundle would go
from $60 to somewhere between $300 and $400. The whole reason I bought it
was to get around fighting for a spot in a class. I've found ways around
some of the limitations (physical hardware access, for instance). The thing
that burned me the most was how there was no mention of the limitations
until I spun up the disks, voiding all terms of being able to return it.

That first link was a scary read. It's exactly what all of these devices
with locked boot loaders are paving the way for. I've already shifted my
purchasing to only support platforms which are open, or at least
unlockable. It's also why I don't see myself ever owning a Chromebook. Why
should Netflix have control over how I choose to run my machine? They serve
me to earn my money, and any of my computing devices are just that - mine.
Any business who forgets who they're working for deserves to lose revenue
until they either learn the error of their ways, or go under. I guess only
time will tell how many others open their eyes and adjust their spending
accordingly. Granted, I am a current Netflix subscriber, but the moment
they start to kill access on my rooted Android devices, they'll lose me.

Sorry for the semi-rant. Spooky find, Matti. Thanks for sharing. :)




On Sep 5, 2012 6:43 PM, "matti" <mathew_2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:

>
>
> Do you recall Stallman's "The Right to Read"?
> ( Feb 1997 in Communications of the ACM )
>
> http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
>
> Well, now we see what he predicting occurring more and more
> frequently:
>
> September 3, 2012
> With 'Access Codes,' Textbook Pricing Gets More Complicated Than Ever
>
> https://chronicle.com/article/What-Is-an-Access-Code-Worth-/134048/
>
> http://lukethomas.com/the-textbook-industry-greed-its-getting-worse/
>
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