Pages

2/15/2008

Digital Themed Bookstores

Via USA Today, Borders opens bookshelves to digital services

"At the Borders concept store, new themed book islands are built around lifestyle genres, including travel, cooking and health. The digital centers, meantime, are geared to welcome people of all levels of tech know-how. Staffers will guide customers through the process of burning music to CDs, downloading songs to most digital music players (except iPods, which, for now, work only with Apple software) or books to a Sony digital reader. They'll even print the cover art and fold it into a CD cover for you."


Interesting.

PS: Thanks Matt for forwarding.

4 comments:

Cycho Librarian said...

So while we're dithering over whether to provide CD-burning capabilities on public PCs, the for-profit industry has beaten us again... when will we learn?

Anonymous said...

I like having CD/DVD burning capablities (DIVX anyone?), but I point everyone towards USB flash drives instead mainly because they're re-writeable and fairly inexpensive even for a student. You can get 8GB Microcenter-branded drives for 29.99, and 4GB Kingston for 24.99. Even the Macbook Air has a USB port.

Plus, you can install these useful applications on your drive. And the list continues to grow.

sowens said...

So am I way off base here by saying that I suspect that Borders is selling the original CD's prior to showing customers how to copy the content? I figured that was how they were avoiding copywrite issues and the RAAT from bankrupting them with fines, or hunting down the customer to fine them as well. Since we do not sell things in libraries, wouldn't we be kinda violating copywrite and other issues if we were to provide this service?

Anonymous said...

Hey folks,

It's not all bad. We shouldn't assume that giving them the capability to burn CD's means that they are stealing and/or abusing copyright laws. Most of them are making copies of their own stuff (music, pictures, etc.). Here in Vitual Village of PLCMC (http://plcmc.org/Locations/mainVirtualVillage.asp) the public has access to burning CD's and have for a couple of years now.