<p>While I&#8217;m a fan of my <a href="http://www.amazon.com/kindle-store-ebooks-newspapers-blogs/b?_encoding=UTF8&amp;tag=rufanrediproduct&amp;linkCode=shr&amp;camp=213733&amp;creative=393193&amp;node=133141011&amp;ref_=topnav_storetab_kinc"> Kindle</a> (and the Kindle app on my phone) I <a href="http://blog.offbeatmammal.com/post/2007/01/12/eBooks-why-I-still-dont-subscribe.aspx"> still</a> have a problem with the whole ebook pricing and licensing model and it&#8217;s best summed up with this picture&#8230;</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Image001" height="166" src="/images/2011/08/image0011.png?w=300" width="433" />

</div> </p> <p>So, I can buy a license to read the book I want (admittedly in a very convenient and handy package) for 8 bucks, or pick up a new paperback copy for half that. If I want second hand (and many of the second hand books on Amazon are indistinguishable from new) I pay a tenth of that.</p> <p></p> <p>Okay, so the downside is I may have a pay a little for shipping, and wait a couple of days rather than get instance over-the-air gratification but when I get it…. It’s all mine.</p> <p></p> <p>I don’t have to worry about a licensing issue making the book I’ve bought disappear. I don’t have to get anyone’s approval if I want to lend a copy to a friend, leave it in a coffee shop for a random stranger or sell it at our local Half Price Books to further my addiction (when I moved from Australia to the US I think books weighed more than any other item we shipped!)</p> <p></p> <p>I don’t have a problem with authors getting paid (I want them to keep writing after all!), I understand there are costs with marketing and distributing a book (but when it’s just bytes and electrons it’s a lot less than producing a dead tree format, and no risk on inventory) but this feels like a very one sided step into the future.</p> <p></p> <p>With my Zune Pass subscription I get an “all I can eat” subscription plan for music I can consume on my Zune (which also provides in-car listening), Windows Phone and laptop so I don’t worry about the fact I don’t actually own the content (though with Zune Pass you do get 10 credits a month to download to own tracks) and I know that the artists are getting paid behind the scenes</p> <p></p> <p>I would love a Kindle subscription service that lets me grab any book I want and read it. Every time I enjoy a book the author (and of course publisher etc) would get part of the monthly subscription (encouraging them to write better books!) and I wouldn’t have this hang-up about not being able to decide what to do with the book when I’ve read it.</p> <p></p> <p>I don’t think that eReaders like the Kindle are a fad. I think there is more evolution to come in both the reader hardware and the retail channels as the hardware gets smarter and cheaper and the author/reader relationship maybe gets redefined … but at the end of it all I really hope that the love of reading and the art of writing are what wins out…</p>