{"id":924,"date":"2009-02-13T07:07:41","date_gmt":"2009-02-13T12:07:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ebookrumors.com\/?p=924"},"modified":"2009-02-13T07:07:41","modified_gmt":"2009-02-13T12:07:41","slug":"stretch-your-head-around-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ebookrumors.com\/?p=924","title":{"rendered":"Stretch your head around this…"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, Kindle 2 is available. The overpricing and specs are here<\/a>. I wanted to mention the\u00c2\u00a0debate that\u00c2\u00a0has cropped up since its release.\u00c2\u00a0You should know that it is a debate that we could only be having in\u00c2\u00a0the FUTURE, in some sort of spacey metropolis<\/a> with robots<\/a>. Sorry, I love saying things like that.<\/p>\n

It goes like this. Kindle 2 has a text-to-speech function that allows you to sit back and listen to your eBook when\u00c2\u00a0 your little eyes are tired from all that reading–but you just can’t\u00c2\u00a0put the thing down.\u00c2\u00a0Early reports suggest Kindle 2’s text-to-speech is\u00c2\u00a0better than the average conversion software, but it is what it is.<\/p>\n

\"authors_guild\"<\/a>

Authors Guild<\/p><\/div>\n

So the \u00c2\u00a0Authors Guild<\/a> got word of this and\u00c2\u00a0leapt into action. (I always imagine them wearing capes and masks because it’s more fun than imagining them in frayed sweaters and coffee-stained blouses…)\u00c2\u00a0The\u00c2\u00a0Guild argued\u00c2\u00a0that the process of turning that text into speech was the same as making an audio book.\u00c2\u00a0That got the red lights flashing because Amazon.com has the rights to sell the book, not\u00c2\u00a0a recorded version of it. Yah?<\/em><\/p>\n

Engadget.com<\/a> has quite a funny back and forth on the argument here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This should be interesting to watch\u00c2\u00a0as it plays out. Text-to-speech is the same as reading an eBook out loud so the converted result isn’t an audio book… or is it?<\/p>\n

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