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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday July 01 2020, @02:26PM   Printer-friendly
from the gone-with-the-wind dept.

https://www.iafrikan.com/2020/06/30/do-we-really-own-our-digital-possessions/

During 2019, Microsoft announced that it will close the books category of its digital store. While other software and apps will still be available via the virtual shop front, and on purchasers' consoles and devices, the closure of the eBook store takes with it customers' eBook libraries. Any digital books bought through the service – even those bought many years ago – will no longer be readable after July 2019. While the company has promised to provide a full refund for all eBook purchases, this decision raises important questions of ownership.


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  • (Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Thursday July 02 2020, @11:17AM (3 children)

    by PiMuNu (3823) on Thursday July 02 2020, @11:17AM (#1015338)

    > Keep the CD/DVDs indoors in a nice clean, dry place and they should last for many, many years.

    Or go on amazon and buy digital licence and it should last for many, many years. Probably longer than the CDs. Also cheaper.

    Nb: I don't typically buy a DVD drive with my desktop nowadays; I get laptops pre-built and DVD drive is a "non-standard" component for most.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 02 2020, @03:53PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 02 2020, @03:53PM (#1015432)

    I switched to an external Bluray drive years ago. I hook it up on the rare occasion where I need to use optical discs, but most of the time it just sits around. Some things are just better with an external version. I have multiple computers, but just plug the drive in to whichever device I need it on.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 02 2020, @06:23PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 02 2020, @06:23PM (#1015473)

    I just buy the physical then rip it. Why not enjoy the best of both worlds? I have a nice backup AND the digital version, I control both. With digital they can change it on the server and I would never know. Or just like in this article suddenly I can no longer access it.

    Sears once was one of the largest corps in the world. Look at it now. They were the Amazon of their day.

    Also cheaper.
    In most cases I have found that to not be true. Usually the price is slightly higher or about the same. In some rare cases it is a bit cheaper. Usually that is for out of print items and people are just price hunting. At that point it is off to craigs and ebay.

    • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday July 06 2020, @08:53PM

      by Grishnakh (2831) on Monday July 06 2020, @08:53PM (#1017310)

      I just buy the physical then rip it. Why not enjoy the best of both worlds? I have a nice backup AND the digital version...

      Because Blu-Rays are expensive. It's much cheaper to just download your movies from BitTorrent...

      Also, 1000 Blu-Ray movies (in their cases) take up a ton of space. 1000 x.265-encoded movies can fit on a single USB hard drive.