Seattlest Curmudgeon: Amazon Book Rental vs. The Library
Amazon wishes it had a sweet view like the library does. Seattle Public Library by simpletoenchant from the Seattlest Flickr pool.
The online-everything powerhouse is looking to add another horse to its digital empire.
Oh, good.
Amazon is considering adding a book rental feature to Amazon Prime, the $79-per-year subscription service that gives users access to streaming video and discounted or free shipping on many items. Hailed as "Netflix-like", this addition to Prime would allows users a monthly allowance of "older titles."
While some are taking this as fuel for the "books are dead" debate (yawn), we at Seattlest find it more offensive as a exemplar of the unquestionable dominance of wanting what you want, and wanting it now. The Veruca Saltification of our times, if you will. Which we will.
Are Americans so lazy, have we prioritized convenience to the point that you can't even be bothered to get yourself to the library to rent a book, FOR FREE? Are we so obsessed with the gratification of our instant desires that we can't be bothered to be on the waiting list to place a hold? Since when did anticipation become passe?
And please don't bother with the talk about how this allows users to bypass the queue of holds clogging up your ability to get the freshly-released, ultra-popular books you want in a matter of seconds (depending on how strong your wireless is, that is). The book rental feature would be for "older titles," remember, which is code for "backstock unlikely to be inconvenienced by the presence of other people's similar tastes." Essentially, books that you could easily waltz into a library (permitting it is not on forced furlough) and procure.
E-Books in general? Whatever. They aren't necessarily our thing, but it's not like we are total luddites (we're bloggers, right?). We understand that e-books are basically saving the publishing world right now, and if e-books are what it takes for people with the means to purchase their books to read, so be it. This is not the issue.
It's just that as our public libraries, the great bastions of the idea that information and knowledge is most nobly served when accessible to folks of all walks of life (and tax brackets), are undermined by budget cuts and are simultaneously offering this same service, for free, and it would be nice to not see one more example of the commodification (and privatization) of our public spheres. Essentially, leave libraries alone, Amazon.
Just go outside. Go walk somewhere (like a library) and wander around the building and find unexpected things with your hands and your eyes, not with your mouse and a digital list of auto-generated "suggestions." Talk to people and stand in line with the rest of us because these are the things that make us human. Utilize our gathering spaces, expand your daily horizon and prioritize the experience and not the satisfaction of desire.
Kind of just like reading does.
