The battle for the right to lend ebooks has begun. It is being fought in board rooms, in backrooms, and in bedrooms. It is being fought at sales counters and at circulation counters, by web counters and by bean counters. It is being fought on land, at sea, in the air, on the net, and in outer space. It is being fought on both sides of the Atlantic. Sinister u-boats have been spotted lurking off the Jersey coast, waiting to sink errant ebooks.
If I had it in me, this is the point where I would launch into some rousing rhetoric in the proud tradition of Henry V at Agincourt, of Teddy Roosevelt at the foot of San Juan Hill, of FDR, and of Churchill. To the ramparts, readers! We must save the lending library!
Alas, I don’t have it in me, so let’s just look at some recent developments. Read More »
