I like my Kindle, and I'm not sure that the newerKindle 2 (or the Kindle DX) improves on the experience that much. However apparently one new feature isn't liked by one group. A group representing writers are complaining that the new "text to speech" feature isn't a right granted by publishers when they release a Kindle version. Personally, as an author, I don't agree. I think I should be paid for my work, but this isn't a separate product or type of delivery, any more than when I read out loud to my kids. An audio book is a separate production, one that has it's own value added by the person reading it.
As people that work with, and are responsible for data, this may or may not affect you. Many of us are constantly building new applications that might mash-up, alter, redistribute, or otherwise affect data in new ways, and make it accessible to others in ways that might not even have existed before. And we usually do this in some commercial way, seeking to make money for our company or ourselves.
As we continue to define how data and information should be controlled, and who has rights to do what, this is an area that I think will affect the way we build applications. Thought none of us will hopefully be liable for the mis-use of data in our companies, it's something you should be aware of. If for no other reason than to be sure that you are comfortable with the way you are using the data in your application.
The way we should view the digital rights of information, of the bits that exist in our world, is still evolving. I wish I could say that it's obvious the way rights should be distributed, but it's not. On this issue, my wife and I disagree. She thinks this is a separate right that people should pay for.
As computers gain new capabilities and features, the line blurs as to what is a valid use of data and what isn't. I'm curious what other think about our rights and how data might be used, or transformed in this case.
Steve Jones
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