Z-Library is back, alas

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by BionicGecko

One point not mentioned here though is the fact that those purchases are not transferrable to your progeny after death. As far as I know, typical DRM laws allow a person to remove DRM for their own usage only; descendants reading e-books de-DRMed by their parents are effectively committing piracy.

Physical books (or compact discs or DVDs) remain in the family. As we are moving towards a completely digital media landscape, we are depriving our children not only from potentially valuable assets, but also from the sheer pleasure of re-discovering works which, at least, entertained their parents, but also possibly had a major role in shaping their identities. This is a pretty hefty price to pay for adjustable font sizes and the like.

That is a very "pie in the sky" view. Most of my reading material will not be wanted by any of my kids or grandkids. When we started purging our print books, very few were wanted by anyone in the family. I rarely buy books anymore, most are borrowed, because I don't need to keep them after reading. Of course there were exceptions to that, but most were unwanted.

We had a garage sale some years ago, and couldn't give old fiction books away.

As far as DVD's...check some you've had for 15+ years. There is a good chance the disc has degraded and can no longer be played. Even when stored in good covers away from light, the physical disc can and will deteriorate. And out of our large collection of DVD movies, very few would be wanted by family members. Because the younger generation has moved away from physical containers for their shows/movies/music.

One big exception to the above...vinyl records. They don't deteriorate if well cared for. And they sound better on a good system.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by issybird

And seriously, what percentage of anyone's library consists of absolute gems compared to the dross of everyday reading?

More than 98% from 25.000.
The dross is on the reader.

[isarl]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

More than 98% from 25.000.
The dross is on the reader.

A collection that size with that proportion of gems immediately brings to mind Smaug and his hoard, a delightful bit of imagery. May you find many more literary riches to add to yours!

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by issybird

I think the reality is that nearly all of those books accumulated by parents in their lifetimes end up in the dumpster at death, and those are the few that survived moves and general pruning over time. In short, this is a sentimental take on physical books that doesn't reflect the reality. Books are heavy, bulky and deteriorate and as anyone's who's tried knows, no place wants them when you want to get rid of them. And seriously, what percentage of anyone's library consists of absolute gems compared to the dross of everyday reading?

It's like baseball cards; they're only valuable because Mom threw most of them out when the kid went off to college.

That was not true in our case. My parents weren't readers, but they accumulated a modest paper book library, all of which I devoured as a child, teenager and young adult, many of the books I read more than once. I still have most of those books and they're precious to me, I won't get rid of them. But yeah, no one will want my digital library. I'm basically the only reader in the family (my maternal grandmother was one too, but she's long dead).

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by BionicGecko

One point not mentioned here though is the fact that those purchases are not transferrable to your progeny after death. As far as I know, typical DRM laws allow a person to remove DRM for their own usage only; descendants reading e-books de-DRMed by their parents are effectively committing piracy.

Pure scaremongering and Corporate propaganda.

The civil contracts that claim that about digital products may be illegal and invalid.

No content provider is going to sue a descendent that has been given a digital library for personal use, in case they lose. They would have to prove a loss. It's not at all like digital content copied to all and sundry or uploaded and shared or sold on the Internet.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

That is a very "pie in the sky" view. Most of my reading material will not be wanted by any of my kids or grandkids.

Yeah, the only heirloom book I have is a copy of David and the Phoenix that my mom read as a kid. And since the book is widely available in print and digitally, the main appeal is its age as a physical object. I can't imagine anyone will want the collection of 1's and 0's that make up my digital library.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by issybird

I think the reality is that nearly all of those books accumulated by parents in their lifetimes end up in the dumpster at death, and those are the few that survived moves and general pruning over time. In short, this is a sentimental take on physical books that doesn't reflect the reality. Books are heavy, bulky and deteriorate and as anyone's who's tried knows, no place wants them when you want to get rid of them. And seriously, what percentage of anyone's library consists of absolute gems compared to the dross of everyday reading?

It's like baseball cards; they're only valuable because Mom threw most of them out when the kid went off to college.

My son definitely will not want my books. I am in the process of donating my physical books. I have already gotten rid of the hardbacks. The paper books are going in a few weeks.
Apache

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Quoth

No content provider is going to sue a descendent that has been given a digital library for personal use, in case they lose.

You're probably right, but I don't like living under the paradigm of "have oppressively stupid, unfair rules on the books, and just trust that the powers-that-be will not be willing or able to enforce them."

To paraphrase Batman:
"If we believe there's even a one percent chance that a corporate lawyer may sue us, we have to take it as an absolute certainty…."

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by ApK

You're probably right, but I don't like living under the paradigm of "have oppressively stupid, unfair rules on the books, and just trust that the powers-that-be will not be willing or able to enforce them."

Also eventually the copyright expires.
This is why DRM is evil.