Reply #6: Well, that's pretty shitty news for college students [View All]

"A DRM'd one-time-use book would not only be attractive because publishers would earn more money, but electronic text books would be able to be sold for a fraction of the cost, cutting out book stores and creating a landslide marketshare shift by means of that huge price differential."

A DRM'd one time use textbook? No, thanks. I've been out of college for years and years and I still refer to one of my old texts on occasion. Used books often have important bits highlighted and have notes in the margins. Digital media devices can be "bricked", meaning they are frozen in a nonactive state or otherwise need to be restored, thus deleting all data on the device.

I don't like this aspect of Apple's tablet idea, and I hope they axe it or alter it such that these concerns are dealt with; otherwise, if I ever get one, I'll simply not use those particular services.