Have you purchase an e-book form Amazon? Do you know that you don’t own that book? This is a surprise to most when they find out. An e-book is definitely different from a real physical book. Most people believe that they do own it, even if there is nothing to physically hold onto.
” Publishers and e-book sellers take a different view: “You never actually own the books themselves,” says publishing consultant David Amerland. “You own access to them.” This is an interesting concept, when you take a step back and analyze it. It actually makes some sense. My understanding is that loaning e-books is very difficult to near impossible for most people, so now we know the reason.
I have a Kindle Fire, but I have not purchased a book for it. But I have up loaded books to the Fire that I have gathered from the various Projects Guttenberg around the world. It seems copyright laws are not all the same around the world. SO I have been able to grab the Charlie Chan’s from Australia to read when I am unable to hold my physical copies. I also resent that I would have to repurchase books again in e-book form when I already own, the hardcover and softcover versions (Chandler and Hammett are great examples of this).
So with the knowledge that I only have access to an e-book version, I will stay with the hardcovers. Those I know I can loan out to other to read…maybe.